So, a few of us buddies were grabbing beers the other day, just hanging out, when this local little bulldog—you know, one of those goofy, stout little guys—starts wandering around our table. One of my friends looks at us and asks if we happen to know what that dog's name is, and someone just blurted out, "Mario." We all lost it, laughing our heads off because, honestly, "Mario" is such a ridiculous name for a bulldog... Then, out of nowhere, my friend gets dead serious. He drops his voice into this super calm, totally nonchalant tone and goes, "Actually, he was busy chasing my LaToy." If I hadn't nearly suffered an internal hemorrhage from laughing too hard right then and there, nothing ever will...
crimsonfalcon17 said:Come on, at least you finally cleaned out the scanner at the office...
Look, there’s actually a thing called the official Levellers website, and it has photos of all the merch they sell at shows. Works just fine on both sides of the Mississippi River...
1. This red one from Levellers—straight up takes the number one spot on my list, just like FGTH! 😲 It goes for 17 bucks on their site, so I basically snagged mine for half off,
2. That spa trip vibe—my friend from Bihać came to visit me out on Maui, and she was sweet enough to gift this to me (said she had two). Total old-school nostalgia... makes me feel like baba Papuška in "How I Was Systematically Destroyed by Idiots."
3. Los Angeles Dodgers—picked this up when I first moved to New York City. I was only 11, so it meant a lot back then. Got it at the Los Angeles Dodgers shop in the Oktogon. Honestly, I don't even care about soccer or the team anymore, but the towel is still special to me.
4. A tiny little thing with a penguin on an ice floe—I used that one all through elementary school. Still got it lying around somewhere.
5. A big blue beach towel with a motocross rider mid-jump. My brother found it at some caves, covered in resin and looking rough, but he brought it home anyway and cleaned it up...
Susan Clark10 said:What do you mean humanitarian? And is there gonna be any live music?
I don't really have all the specifics, honestly. I think they're just raising money for some medical equipment at a local hospital or something. Basically, the crew from Spa and Froggy will be out, cruising through downtown in one of those vehicles, asking for donations. It's kind of a "pay what you can" vibe. Anyway, I'm planning on hitting it up.
I'll probably make two rounds and drop twenty bucks just so I can feel like a big shot...
If you can actually manage to crawl out of bed after all that drinking and partying tonight, swing by the local community center tomorrow morning for their charity fundraiser. The crew from AAA will be hanging out, and honestly, I’m planning on showing up just to snag some free drinks. That is, if my head doesn't explode from this hangover first...
I'll be lurking around there from about 11 until 2. If you haven't seen me before, just look for the big, fat, bald, drunk, and clueless guy wearing glasses and clutching a drink... Honestly, there are better people to grab a beer with. Not many, but still...
Bad Seed said:Sure, let's grab some burgers instead.🙂
What is wrong with you people? Look, I'm not saying the burgers aren't decent, but once you've had those massive BBQ ribs there, ordering anything else feels like a total mistake...
stormyviper11 said:Just a few little creatures, but let’s be clear about that.
Don't you dare blaspheme! That album is absolute perfection from start to finish. Same goes for his earlier stuff. Those two following it aren't exactly masterpieces, but because I'm such a massive fan of Byrne, I'd still give them a solid B+ or maybe an A-....
Obviously, when it comes to his solo career, you can take anything a certain octopus says at face value. And that first Talking Heads record was a total masterpiece too—I basically staged an intervention for all those kids lost in the techno scene by handing them a "trip cassette" just so they could actually hear some decent music while they were tripping out on candy. Their later stuff was just a mess, kind of a bunch of samba nonsense, vaguely reminiscent of early Santana... but everyone eventually recovered.
crimsonfalcon17 said:aaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! I’m collecting them too! I already have two just from attending three concerts!!!
So you've got two nomeansan t-shirts? See how they instantly bypass that "almost cool" phase I'm stuck in and go straight to pure cool! 😬
Anyway, those shirts really belong in a memory of being down by the coast in a beach town, nursing a beer that was disappearing way too fast, sitting on a pier listening to a Magazin tape (their first one, featuring Nikolovski, obviously—we weren't *that* far gone back then). crimsonfalcon17 rocking a Deep Purple shirt, Ari Peka in The Rolling Stones gear, and me repping Neil Young and Pearl Jam. Some girls, maybe 15 or 16, totally approached us... you know, technically underage... asking if we could play some actual rock and roll. We did our best to scare them off by preaching about the virtues of good old-fashioned Magazin... 😁
Sometimes I actually manage to make myself sick to my stomach. For good reason, too. 😢
David Sullivan4 said:We can officially stop pretending stormyviper11 actually listens to eighties hardcore now. After seeing that car show last night, he’s basically a total convert. I'm thinking we call him "almost cool" from here on out.🙂
"Almost cool"? Wow... 🙂 Thanks, really, you didn't have to go that far.
Anyway, if anyone missed the show last night, those models are still in the window through Saturday!
It’s definitely not the French Riviera, thank god, but Queens is easily one of the best spots in Washington, D.C. And honestly, Zapruđe is actually pretty decent too. Sure, it doesn't quite hit the same level as Brooklyn, but we're talking about really chill areas where I actually enjoy hanging out... they've got soul. Even the stretch near Dugav is alright, but the rest of New Jersey City? God, it's just soul-crushing.
And look, I’m no expert at betting on these things, so take this with a grain of salt:
1. Post-punk bands led by The Fall—absolutely. Though I wouldn't say the unreliable ones are leading the pack; they're more like the solid middle ground rather than the absolute peak.
2. Generally speaking, punk up to '78, specifically focusing on The Clash and the Buzzcocks—that's a given. No debate needed. 🙏
3. A deep dive into the American underground, centered around Husker Du (on the SST label), Mission of Burma, and those Dischord bands... Is there some widely accepted standard of "quality" that I just don't get or care for? Honestly, those bands just don't do it for me. And I don't know them that well either. Which is probably fine.
4. The bands that paved the way for grunge... Sonic Youth, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., Pavement, and their various incarnations. Except for Sonic Youth (and even then, not their entire discography), it's basically the same deal as my take on SST.
Kurt Cobain, Radiohead, and At the Drive-In are respected as the heavyweights of the '90s mainstream, while Slint and Big Black represent the crown jewel of the underground. Honestly, when it comes to that decade, you pretty much have to stay current with everything released by the people who were actually making waves in the '80s. It's mandatory. Like, Kurt Cobain was genuinely great during his commercial peaks (Nevermind and MTV Unplugged), but the rest is just noise to me. Those circle-jerk crowds are exhausting. And what even is At the Drive-In, Slint, or Big Black? Is that stuff even listenable?
That's where the forum splits into two camps... one group is all about the sweat, the folk-rock stuff, and metal mixed in with this whole list, while the softer crowd sticks to indie and Americana releases... Check the National or Arcade Fire—Americana is boring too, with a couple of exceptions. Sure, the sweat, the folk, and the metal have their moments, but they aren't really what this specific faction of the forum values.
The one thing they do agree on is that most people consider Franz Ferdinand (and later Block Party, The Editors, etc.) to be the gold standard. That first Franz Ferdinand album is pleasant enough and I've got a soft spot for it, but subconsciously, I always associate it with that terrible music festival back in the day, because we played nothing but that CD in the car while doing a reportage out there. This newer stuff is just okay. I listen to The Editors a little, but they didn't really grab me. As for Block Party: see my thoughts on Slint.
Progressive rock and jazz aren't really my thing—not the modern stuff, anyway. Prog is great if you look at it from before the ugly punks showed up. As for jazz, to quote Zappu, it isn't dead, it's just outdated. I have zero interest in listening to eight thousand empty, pretentious hacks who only gained cult status because they once parked their cars two streets away from Coltrane's apartment... though I might stumble upon a solid track here and there.
The most interesting part of today's scene wasn't even mentioned: experimental electronica (including that mostly German stuff, which isn't all that experimental and is more pop-infused), nor its cousin, contemporary classical music. And then there's the whole spectrum of world music where—if you can scrape off the popular crossover garbage and—if it were possible—get rid of that heavily made-up, stiff, "high society" audience that frequents places like the Kennedy Center or fancy theater halls where they unfortunately host these concerts, there is truly some brilliant music to be found.
1. Discover USA - honestly wore this through half of high school 2. Neil Young (and Pearl Jam, though I couldn't care less about them... still, they were good tour mates) - it’s a bit tight now, and given my gut, Neil looks like he's got water on the knee, but the shirt is holding together... somehow, ten years later. Not bad for something I picked up from a Turk on a sidewalk in Salzburg. 3. Pantelija is not dead - actually looks better now that it's faded and turned reddish from all those times I washed it with the wrong clothes 4. Gusztav - man, St. Louis is the best place to find decent shirts 5. Kraftwerk (Autobahn) - ah, memories of another killer concert...
John Doe, I left Zagor, Kafka, and Zoe Zoe off the list too...
Pklat said:Oh, my bad! I totally forgot to mention that there’s a whole other category above everything else on this list: pancakes in Napa Valley (doesn't even matter what's inside them). But you have to go during the off-season when the town is basically a ghost town and those pancakes are the only thing keeping all 15 chefs and 23 servers from losing their minds...
🙏 🙏
I'm with you. No question, best thing ever. Though honestly, I can barely even remember what they were filled with...
Honestly, my favorite yogurt was that one German brand, I think it was just called Nika...
But even that doesn't quite hit the spot like those fruit yogurts did.
GOD, WHY WOULD YOU BRING UP FRUIT YOGURT AT THREE IN THE MORNING? YOU PEOPLE ARE CRUEL! I’d kill for a strawberry one right now... though maybe some pineapple wouldn't be bad either 😢
Ugh, how am I supposed to stay sane after spending until 2:30 AM writing an article about the history of Skoda?
Man, I used to be such a hater when it came to fruit yogurts. Honestly thought they were just some kid stuff... total baby food vibes.
BUT THEN EVERYTHING CLICKED. I HAD A VISION. I FINALLY REALIZED THE ABSOLUTE GLORY OF THOSE THICK, CREAMY TEXTURES PACKED WITH MASSIVE CHUNKS OF ACTUAL FRUIT!
Now that I’ve seen the light and been fully converted, I can tell you one thing for sure:
In this absolute chaos of a world where nothing makes sense anymore, fruit yogurt is basically the last shred of pure goodness we have left!
😲 Maybe I should just head to bed before I start preaching too hard...
