Saturday, December 30, 2006

Week Off

Been back in Richmond since Tuesday from what seemed like the shortest vacation ever. It was a week off, but it barely seemed like a day. Fun as it was, it was entirely too brief. Got to see many old friends and had plenty to drink and fun was had by all. Also saw Walt Jocketty at the airport on his way to Dallas. Pretty sweet.

My trip to KTVO was a little depressing though. That place has changed so much over the last several months. It was pretty sad to see it in that state, however it did make me feel much better about my move to Richmond. Basically the day I moved here was the day they announced that KTVO was for sale. Got out at just the right time.

Christmas was very nice. I got mostly money, which is what I wanted. I've spent a fortune this week refreshing my wardrobe. Today I spent $160 in less than thirty minutes. I also got a nice little gift card for Barnes & Noble. I have plenty of books I'm backed up on, so I picked up Tom Waits' Orphans box set instead. I'd been holding off largely due to the price. Thank you, giftcard!

Well I hope everybody has a nice New Year's tomorrow. I've got plenty of plans (largely involving large amounts of booze in large groups of people). I'll be working on my albums list shortly.
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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Defensive

Flying out to the 'ville tomorrow and very excited. I've been very, very slow to finish up things around the house before bedtime. I got most of my cleaning done, but still haven't packed. Not that it won't take just a couple of minutes.

Thought I'd sit down for a few minutes (or rather procrastinate a little more). I got some bad news on Monday. I had Sunday sent a nice heartfelt email to my supervisor asking for time off during February book to go see Yo La Tengo. See, like most stations, we're not allowed vacation during sweeps. I spent so much time on this email, really poured my heart out through the keys. Monday comes, mail comes, and jury duty calls. Yeah, jury duty.....for the whole February book. There goes that plan.

Also, if anybody wanted to see Tweedy with me next month, too bad. He's sold out. But I got my ticket suckers!!

Well I get back to Richmond Tuesday. I plan on working on my year-end album list when I get back. I'll sporatically work on it, rather than all in one night like last year. Just to get me in the listing mood, here's a little list that came up in the control room last week. I really had to think about mine, but here's what I came up with:

SONGS YOU LOVE, BUT ALWAYS HAVE TO DEFEND

Abba "Dancing Queen"

There is some weird, surreal quality to this song that kills me every time I hear it. It's almost dream-like. This is one of the few songs that can play in a bar suddenly that'll get me out of my chair to yell, "This my jam!" Then I proceed to dance alone in the corner while everybody wonders who brought me. Many of the best parties I have ever attended featured this song. Of course, many of the best parties I ever attended had some kind of weird, surreal, dream-like quality to them. (That's not a drug reference, by the way).

ELO "Living Thing"

ELO may be number one on my list of the most misunderstood bands ever. I feel like to many people ELO conjures up memories of their parents hanging on a little too tight to their horrible vinyl collection. If Red Octopus is in that collection, then I am definitely right. If you fall into this category, listen to this song with an open mind. One of my favs ever. Might be the first song I look for in many a bar's jukebox.

Shelley Duvall "He Needs Me" (from Popeye)

I briefly attended drama school. Not by my own will. My film program was cancelled and I ended up an actor briefly. Director-wannabes usually don't mix very well with actor-wannabes. They're just so happy and bubbly, dammit. And they like musicals. I don't. Popeye is a musical. Not a very good one either (sorry Mr. Altman). However, this song is simply one of the most adorable things I have ever heard. I find myself singing it to myself at least once a week. This will be played at my wedding, along with "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys.
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Friday, December 15, 2006

Aw Jeez, I'm Back On

Wow it has been a long month. Very busy with stuff at work, and out of work. September and October were a couple of the best months I've ever had. November and December, well not so much. Nothing worth talking about online.

Things are looking much better right now. Much better. These last four months have been really wild, and things are really coming full-circle to close out the year. Plus I get almost week off to head home for Christmas coming up. Fly out Thursday and get back Tuesday. Should be fun. It'll be nice to just sleep and eat and drink and not think at all. Can't wait. Plus tomorrow I head to my sister's to see my new niece, Natalie, for the first time. Born Monday.

I had a great week this week. Don't really have any major highlights. I saw Kevin Negandhi anchoring ESPNews last night, though. Why didn't anybody freaking tell me that he was working there?!

Oh hey, I'm going to be seeing some killer concerts coming up in the new year!! Starts off with a Camera Obscura and Essex Green on the January 21. Can't miss that one.

Also saw tonight that Jeff Tweedy is playing a solo show in Charlottesville on January 31. Fuck yeah!! Better believe my ticket is already ordered. I didn't even wait to see if anybody wanted to go, so I guess I'm sitting alone even if somebody goes. As many times as I've seen Wilco, I've never been to a solo Tweedy show. Should be great.

I also had an interesting phone call tonight revealing that Yo La Tengo is also in Charlottesville on February 8. Oh God, I am in heaven!! I love you Charlottesville. I haven't seen them in eight years. That show, by the way, is in my top five best shows ever.

End of the year, so pretty lousy on music releases lately. Gives me time to catch up on things I missed. Two really killer releases over the last month, though. Sufjan Stevens's 5-disc Songs for Christmas is a must. Come on, five discs of Sufjan for $20. Of course it's a can't-miss. Also, everybody must go buy Joanna Newsom's Ys. That is your homework. I'll elaborate a bit more on my best-of list when I do it in a couple of weeks. It'll surely be near the top.

Speaking of lists, I've been having a conversation at work this week that got my mind motivated towards a random list that I'll be posting before my vacation. It's pretty heavy stuff, not one to just jot something down. Your participation will also be very much required in that little "comments" box.

Till then.
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