Friday, March 14, 2003

Kevin Sites Blog

cnn correspondant in iraq.
Taking it on the Chin

from above:
"There's also a lot of precedent for the use of "buk-" as a prefix in sexual or violent contexts. My copy of Japanese Street Slang by Peter Constantine had the related words "bukkomu" (lit. "hit into") meaning "to ram it in" or "to fuck the hell out of", and "bukkorosu" (lit. "hit to death") meaning "to fucking kill" or "to beat the living shit out of". It's a bit sad that the sexual and violent usages overlap, but I guess it's that way in English as well."

"to fuck the hell out of." fuck. awesome. once i saw a vanity liscence plate that said: BUKAKE. it creeped me out.

Wednesday, March 12, 2003

Ananova - Juke box jury computer program 'predicts hit songs'

no cynical comment necessary.
on pete's insistance i went out and bought the fischerspooner album just now, and while i haven't had listened to it enough to get it, per se, i did watch the video for 'the 15th', featuring the french kicks + walt as the backing band for FS and, well, i'll admit it's pretty cool.
Don't Rush Me VI - Time for the grand gesture? By Mickey Kaus

kaus has a damn good idea on the war (which he says he stole from this must-read thomas friedman piece.)
saw the sharp-ease last night at a tiny club in west hollywood. there only 30 or so people there, but they rocked it. their new stuff sounds good. they're actually in the middle of recording it right now for their LP -- they're doing the drum tracks this week, apparently. the're playing around LA a lot these next few weeks, which i think is a good style while recording: you can keep the spontenaity of the live shows going in the studio, and you can also get the weird kinks and stresses of the studio out on stage. i hope it goes well for them. download the .mp3 on their web page and keep an eye/ear out for the long-playing record. hopefully we will be able to do something with them in the future, maybe a 7" or a split or something. i love paloma's voice/diction: very new-wave/post-punk, clean and strong. i'm going to sleep now. cheers to the modern age for another link, i envy your traffic and your efficient site design and your rock and roll scoops. you are the drudge of the nyc rock scene.

speaking of which, this will be the first drudge war, just as the last war was the first cnn war. that one web site (thanks, in part, to the corporate dominance of the country's newsrooms) has replaced the entire field of investigative reporting. and how it (he?) covers the war and breaks stories will affect the course of the war and the world's reaction to it at least as much as the brand new 21,000 pound (tonn?) bomb will.

Tuesday, March 11, 2003

The Walkmen Interview

free williamsburg interview. in case you care. thanks to jinners for the heads-up.

also, congress just passed a resolution to the effect that it's not called 'french' kissing anymore: it's 'pre-emptive' kissing 'for justice and liberty'.
has anyone been watching the daily show recently?

until january i didn't have a functional tv in the house. i had a tv, yes, but the antenna was crappy, and i only got 4 channels. one was fox, the other three were mexican. so i didn't even try to watch tv, except on sundays, when i'd try and fail to watch football. i got a new roommate in january, and she came with a 20-something inch tv and cable. i live a different life now. the tv is on as i type. i don't even know what's on, but it keeps me company.

anyway, the daily show on comedy central has had more interesting war coverage than cnn or fox news or whatever. tonight's guest was the president of the council on foreign relations. one of the most interesting things he said was that privately all these diplomats were saying to him that the worst thing that could happen in iraq right now would be if the US packed up its troops and left. this coming from people publicly opposing the war. is this a scoop? i don't know, but i think it's true, and I'd like to take this opportunity to officially take this blog into new territory: PRO WAR!!! That may be the wrong way to put it, I'm not in favor of 'war' in the abstract, and I'm certainly not supporting the way that the cowboy-in-chief has gotten us here, but from where we stand now, i believe it is the only way "out" (forward?) that won't lead to even more problems than this war will (and it will lead to a great number of problems). i also believe that france and russia's opposition to this war in the UN is no less about oil than our perceived eargerness for it. happy tuesday everybody.

Monday, March 10, 2003

Synth Pap - New York's revival of '80s pop (FISCHERSPOONER) produces the worst album of the year. By Gerald Marzorati

now i know that these guys are to some degree down with my boys the walkies and the french kicks, but i don't get it. i listened to the promo 3-song thing that they were giving out at the VICE store here in silverlake, and well, umm, i don't get it. did you have to be there or something? such a strong backlash indicates that there IS likely something worthwhile there, but i don't get it. i didn't hate it as much as this guy did, but i still didn't get it. VICE's last hero, andrew wk, i got, and i sort of dug how divinely stupid and fun it was, but i get the feeling that fischerspooner is trying to get away with something, like the joke is us, and that VICE is jumping on a) because they're getting mad loot to do so and b) because they're sort of lost these days (that 'retarded' issue? come on guys you used to be funny and a tad ballsy and you got props for doing an article on DC's own Blelvis, who was the black elvis when kool keith was still in ultramagnetic mc's, but now you're just pushing $200 suede track suits that were stupid looking a year ago and going to coke parties.) but that's not on fischerspooner. them i just don't get.
Soaring Gas Prices Changing Lifestyles

no shit. i filled up my tank on saturday (at one of the cheapest spots in the city) and it cost me $73. and i have to fill up once a week. and you know that $10 out of each tank is going right back into the bush 2004 campaign coffers.

can you spell r-e-c-e-s-s-i-o-n? because the only thing keeping the economy going was consumer spending, and that is/will evaporate when everyone's $$ is going to gas.

Sunday, March 09, 2003

ahh, springtime. things pop up out of nowhere.

like an .mp3 from the Recoys record, for example. check it out.