Everyone knows about MJ's passing. A man who had certainly lost my respect, but who at one point was someone who merited being on my birthday cake. I was reminded last night that there is some photographic evidence remaining somewhere about my MJ obsession. The man had some serious musical talent. That is a fact. R.I.P., MJ.

We got some ice cream from a truck last night, and the man selling it wanted to talk about MJ. I think we were on the same page. Then on the way to dinner, I grabbed a print copy of The Onion. Sitting at the bar of the restaurant, instead of reading articles, I said something like, "Let's look at what's happening in New York that we're missing tonight." Here's a good show, we're not going to that. Here's a good show, we're not going to that. Oh look The Phenomenal Handclap Band is playing at Santos...

An 11pm show on a school night is a bit much for this grandpa, but we decided to give it a try. I forgot New York 101: an 11pm show means 1230am show. But we toughed it out and enjoyed what we saw. Groundbreaking? No. Fun? Without question. One of the warmup DJs remixed MJ's The Way You Make Me Feel. The band asked for a moment of silence for MJ - which, since it's New York, was not fully honored and was interrupted by two people saying "F*ck MJ." Those people, I imagine, do not have a lot of friends. Then on the way home, I heard MJ being blasted, and smiled. I didn't notice, but was later informed, that 100 people were in the street dancing to the music. A great talent has left us. Pics below.



Today's status: sleepy.

Now it's Asa, whose wiki page is marked for deletion because it's written like an advertisement. Decent. Happy hippie soul funk. This guy still can't interview.

Oren Lavie on Morning Becomes Eclectic, now hosted by some new dude. His interview skills need work. He should review my Rothbury back catalog.

I listened to something other than Phish! Now that the tour is on break, I can return to a more diversified musical palate. Last night it was Mercury Rev's Morning Becomes Eclectic set. It's from a while back, and Nic wasn't hosting. Why not? The set musically was quite good, but I'm having some trouble with the vocals. Is it possible I saw them in college? What a blur my life is.

Here's an interesting piece about a book that I wish I had known needed to be written so that I could have written it: Blam.

I don't understand the last sentence. Is the misconception that music only delights the senses and elevates the spirit, when it in fact does much more?

Rachel Getting Married includes some amazing musical moments, including a cameo by none other than Cyro Baptista himself.

I've been watching Metalocalypse. Not amazing, but certainly every episode I laugh out loud at least once. Funny stuff. Thanks Steven!

Walking Marvel to the end of the block (all that she's capable of post-surgery ) we heard Reni Lane playing in-store at the Esprit at the end of our block. Not bad.

Lee Harvey Osmond is also a Steven recommendation.

Tonight the stream isn't working, of course. And one other stream I know about isn't working either. So frustrating. Anyway, while I'm sitting here hoping it magically starts up, I'm listening to music by Talk Normal and El Jesus de Magico via the Free Music Archive.

First of all, I have been listening to the Phish shows via phishtube's live stream. Video quality is horrible, and audio quality is slightly less horrible. He claims he has a new microphone for tonight. We'll see, since, no doubt, I will be in front of my computer. I assumed his handle was because he loved the song Tube, but after the St. Louis show, he kept the stream on for a bit and was talking to someone who said, "Oh, like youtube?" I can't believe I didn't think of that. Oh did I tell you the story about the Phish-crazed guy who bought my old dresser? Good.

Anyway, last night was Regina Spektor at the Beacon. I tried to take some pictures, but it just wasn't happening. I enjoyed the show a lot, especially since That Time is an amazing song. Why people laughed during the lyrics at the end I do not understand. For the record, the male-female ratio at a Regina Spektor concert is just slightly different than at a Phish show.

This past week I saw three Phish shows at Jones Beach and one in Camden, NJ. At the last minute I had to get rid of my ticket for Saturday's Boston show because work made it impossible to get there, but I'm still feeling darn good. So many highlights, including a nice Oye Como Va jam, a blistering Sand, being happy the band is so excited about new material, seeing great friends, and laughing a lot. My twitter page got some decent fodder during the run, which is always a plus as well. Basically I'm just bummed these might be my only summer shows. Let's hope that somehow changes. Here's a lousy pic that does a terrible job of summing up the week.

On Saturday May 16th, I dragged some folks to see Dan Deacon at the Bowery. At midnight. Now, shows that start at midnight are fine with me, but not with everybody on this planet. And you know it was a good show when even people in the crew who walked in complaining about the hour left wondering when the next Dan Deacon show is. I guess he's well known for setting up his rig in the middle of the floor at solo shows and playing in close proximity to the crowd. This tour he's doing something different, which is a huge band backing him, with several (4?) keyboard players, several drummers, and much more. A very fun night. One thing I'll say about the show, that you can sort of see in the pictures below. DD does a lot of crowd participation gags. At one point, he called upon two people to begin building a bridge. He said that people should walk under those two, and when they get to the other side, the next two people should extend the bridge. The next two, extend it even further. He proposed doing this through the main floor, down a flight of stairs, through the ground floor, and returning up the back stairway. Seemed ridiculous to me. It must have seemed ridiculous to others as well, because someone near DD must have audibly scoffed, and he assured them that it could work. So he starts getting people to do it, heads back to the stage, starts the song, and we're up in the balcony watching everything. I sort of assume that people are getting bored of it or there are logistical problems or whatever, but a little while later, I see the first people who have entered the tunnel on the main floor, gone through the whole thing, and return to the main floor exit the tunnel, jumping up and down for joy, and it was such an amazing moment to watch. Anyway, A+ for DD. Photos below.


Above, the bridge begins. Below, another crowd participation game.


What next? I guess I should mention going to Brooklyn Bowl, the latest brain child of a child with big brains. Bowling in the next lane were Eric Krasnow and Adam Deitch. I think Krasnow is going to be doing a weekly Sunday brunch there when it opens.

And Phish tour started last night. Life is good.