I had a weird dream the other night, where I found out I had a teenage son. He was a nice young man, headed to college (or possibly in his first year) so that at least turned out OK. I kind of freaked out, though. Mostly because I had no recollection of carrying and giving birth to said son; number two because my family seemed nonplussed by the discovery, too; number three - for it to have worked out, age-wise, I would have been a mite young. Labels: dreams, soap operas, weird
So I asked my mom "Why don't I remember giving birth to this kid?" She looked at me grimly and said "that was a hard year for you." Then (since by that time I thought it was not a dream) I really freaked out and woke myself up.
I think the dream was about to go into One Life to Live territory or something similar.
I am pleased to hear that on the heels of Iron Man's success we can expect an Avengers movie in a couple of years. My love for Batman aside, I am a Marvel girl at heart (Excelsior!) And after you royally fucked up the X-Men and the Fantastic Four you have a chance to redeem yourself with The Avengers. You can roll up the Hulk in that, throw some Iron Man in there, NICK FURY, BITCHES, maybe give Thor and Captain America some dignity, and introduce people to my girl, the batshit crazy Scarlet Witch (check out her occupation as listed on the Marvel.com website: "adventurer; formerly witchcraft tutor, housewife, terrorist" Heh.)
However, you really, really don't have to include Ant-Man in all of this. Seriously.
There's a reason you haven't seed a lot of fans clamoring for an Ant-Man movie: He's a scientist who can shrink to the size of an ant. And talk to ants. In other words, he's a second rate superhero and no one gives a shit. Seriously, I'd rather see a Dazzler movie.
Marvel has a really spotty track record with movies. And by spotty, I mean awful. An Ant-Man movie won't help your reputation.
So in short, please consider skipping over Ant-Man altogether.
This is a press photo from the new tour and its kinda badass, for them. They look like the Four Horsemen or something.
Labels: music
Russian Circles "Station" came out yesterday, the entire album is streaming here. Give me a week and I will have an opinion on this record. They are playing with Daughters everywhere but Chicago, which is interesting to me. I am looking forward to seeing Daughters live. They scare me a little, and that's always exciting.
I was hoping Tankboy could shed some light on Black Kids and why I should care in his recent Chicagoist post, but ... no. I think it's just a matter of taste, and I am so weary of that stripped-down,perky power pop that's all the rage these days. I want some BIG ROCK, but sadly, a lot of what's considered "hot" in that vein seems to be boring 70's throwbacks like The Sword and Wolfmother.(Sorry Wolfmother fans, the best I can say about them is they are OK.) Does it Offend you, Yeah? intrigues me. A lot. Aggressive dance music is always fun. But their name annoys me for some reason.
I dunno how I feel about Zechs Marquise as a band yet, on first listen they are like "Mars Volta for kids!" but I am loving them for being named after a Gundam character. Nerds!
I wrote a review of Santogold's CD for ALARM that was published this week. I resisted the blog buzz for awhile because everyone was going on about her being the next M.I.A. and I was still stuck on her days with Stiffed. But the album is very good, and she hasn't left her Black Rock Coalition influences/affiliations behind.
Sid and I went to the Violet Hour last night. I don't want to descend so quickly into Internet hyperbole, but it really does have the best cocktails in Chicago, IMO.
I am no expert on spirits, but I can pretty count the places I go for decent cocktails on one hand. Most bars idea of a cocktail taste like Kool-aid and Gordon's, and folks chug 'em down because frankly, they are not that good. Back in the day, Patrick and I would go to the Signature Room at the John Hancock building when we wanted to feel "classy" and drink classy grownup cocktails, but they were not so much good drinks as much as they were nine dollar drinks. Not so at Violet Hour, where you will savor and nurse that motherfucker for as long as you can because that drink is an event.
Violet Hour is pricy, but after one sip of my Sidecar I was all "holy shit! yeah!" in my head like someone had scored a touchdown. Sid wanted to marry her Manhattan. This is the kind of place you impress family/visiting friends/important clients with, or celebrate special events with close friends, or go out on dates where you mean it. After going here, I will no longer waste my tastebuds on sticky Wrigleyville cocktails ever again. Unless they're free.
And it's free! Labels: NIN
Oh TR, you love us so much.
Labels: chicago
Looptopia was pretty boring. I really don't know what audience this "all-night cultural celebration" is geared toward. Most people I know are annoyed by street performers and circus-y crap, and that's most of what Looptopia seemed to offer. There were a few musical performers worth checking out, but still not worth standing around in the cold, wet weather for. I would have stuck around to see Yakuza at Reckless at who knows what in the morning, but you know what? I'd rather just pay that $10 and see them in a warm, dry spacious venue like Subterranean with a refreshing alcoholic beverage in hand, like I did two weeks ago.
There were some fire dancers, and a human sized $20 bill that passed out pens and "fun size" Pay Day candy bars. I think the best part was seeing a 45-year-old hippie dude pour vodka into his Gatorade in the middle of the street. At 5:30pm.
But anyway, back to my rant. I would like to know who this event is geared toward, because in the future, should they attempt this again, they should survey said audience and plan accordingly. Is it for suburban commuters, fearful of after-hours activity in the "big city?" Is it for Chicago's art/culture lovers? If so, I can't imagine, wouldn't they just rather see a full performance of their favorite artist rather than a watered down version? Is it perhaps for the city's young urban population, to lure them away from the actual fun activities occurring in the city's neighborhoods? Let's hope not.
And why don't they have food? Chicagoans love to eat. A lot. Taste of Chicago, Hello!? We schedule hours, days of vacation time to come downtown and get down on a slab of ribs or fried ice cream or what not. You need to have some food up in this bitch, Looptopia organizers.
You know what? I think they should bring back ChicagoFest, they could make it like Intonation last year, or a Chicago-centric Lollapalooza, only with diversity, and there could be a jazz tent, and a blues tent, and a skinny pants emo tent, and a gospel tent, and a hip-hop tent, and a metal tent, and a Kanye West tent, and a washed up 70's band tent, for Styx. I would totally go.
I am sad this is the Final Official FineTune Friday. It's been a lot of fun, so much so that I am all for taking over for Jon (Thanks, man!) and doing a round-robin FTF chosen by the usual suspects. Who's up for it, y'all?
Here's my final FTF playlist, Swan Songs.
And here are two non FTF Playlists, one recent, one from days of yore.
Rock is Math III
For the third time, music in unusual time signatures. The grandson of Rock is Math is a bit more aggro than his ancestors.
Inappropriate!
Songs about making ill-informed life choices (ie murder, stalking, robbery, etc.)
Labels: ass month
Finally! It ended better than it began, at least for me, but still I am glad to see April put to bed. Last night was the first truly restful sleep I've had in several weeks! Goodbye bad mojo and crappy weather! Hello ... something. I dunno. May! And whatever May brings.
Labels: fandom, meathead perspective, NIN
Hope this "official" video does not ruin your opinion of NIN's Discipline.*