Happy Neu Jahr! So far so good. My friends Steph & Bill, Julie & I went up to Montclair New Jersey last night to see Vivian Girls, The Feelies, & Yo La Tengo. For Indie aficionados, a rather legendary lineup. The Feelies (the band's name is taken from a fictional entertainment device described in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley) in particular kicked mojo derrière. It was somewhat of a revelation to see them live... they broke up in 1992 and promptly became the best legendary rock band you never heard of. They got together for the first time since then this past summer and played a few shows, and last night they sounded like they'd never been apart. They reminded me of old dogs teaching younger puppies how to rock out.
Yo La Tengo is a great band. [From wikipedia: Their name comes from a baseball anecdote.
During the 1962 season, New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, "I got it! I got it!" only to run into the 160-pound Chacón, who spoke only Spanish.
Ashburn learned to yell, "¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!" which is "I have it" in Spanish. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by 200-pound (90.7 kilograms) left fielder Frank Thomas, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words "¡Yo la tengo!" as a way to avoid outfield collisions.
After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, "What the heck is a Yellow Tango?"]
Their set last night was a bit disappointing though. I'd seen them live in Munich once on their Summer Sun tour, and they were really awesome; they'd played a cover of Sun Ra's Nuclear war which changed my brain. Last night they stuck to their noisier, less compelling fare. Maybe they didn't want to upstage the Feelies, idols of theirs. They of course all got up on stage together at the end of the show (well after midnight) as a happy 2009 present and did a Velvet Underground cover.
So that was awesome. Things I'm looking forward to in 2009:
1. OBAMA!
2. LOST season 5 (How did they DO that?!)
3. A healthier diet and more excercise. I'm joining a local vegetable co-op.
4. More fun work trips, hopefully.
5. Building an addition on my house.
6. Building a sweat lodge on my property. Or maybe a Bat Cave.
7. ... surprises. Nice ones.
8. Trying to find ways in which the desire for these things doesn't make me an old fuddy duddy.
9. Realizing that saying old fuddy duddy makes me one.
10. Going to more ROCK shows to make me feel young again.
11. Giving up, going home, drinking my Metamucil, and jestingly referring to it as my good 'ol poop glue.
Can you build an addition on to my house too?
I really like V8 Plus Fiber. That shit is awesome. HAHAHAHA yeah it is.
Posted by: Gary | Thursday, January 01, 2009 at 13:50
btw - your link to this on Facebook is not good...
Posted by: Gary | Thursday, January 01, 2009 at 13:51
I think this is the first time I've scommented over here, but I've been lurking for a long time. I like that you are looking forward instead of resolving.
Oh, I agree with you about Season 5. It can't start soon enough!
Keep on rocking!
Posted by: MamaPeg is Watching Out For You | Thursday, January 01, 2009 at 14:26
A friend is building the addition real cheap for me... it's a very small addition. A nice reading room. With a book shelf. That opens into a closet. With a pole. That will slide you down to my Bat Cave.
Thanks G, I changed the link. I didn't know that V8 made a fiber version... yummy, I'll need to look into that.
Hi MamaPeg! You're welcome any time of course. Many many years ago, My New Year's resolution was to never make any more resolutions about anything. Resolutions are a recipe for disaster and failure. People aren't meant to live up to that kind of pressure. I quit smoking by never telling anybody that I was going to quit smoking. Then when I did it people were like, can I bum a smoke? And I was all like, nah.
Posted by: messiestobjects | Thursday, January 01, 2009 at 15:09
You were like, "no, I'm never giving you a cigarette again you dirty dirty smoker."
Rah! Concerts!
You forgot the part about the $8 cup of beer.
Posted by: Miss Luongo | Thursday, January 01, 2009 at 16:08
I meant to forget, thanksalot.
Posted by: messiestobjects | Thursday, January 01, 2009 at 17:27
I've bought pitchers for less than $8.
Posted by: Matt Lesoine | Thursday, January 01, 2009 at 19:19
I said idonwannatalkaboutit.
Posted by: messiestobjects | Friday, January 02, 2009 at 12:55
I bet a They Might Be Giants show would be fun...esp. a rent party at Le Poisson Rouge in NY.
Posted by: Miss Luongo | Monday, January 05, 2009 at 23:58
I saw them at ESU back in the day. They were good. Of course that was 15 years ago... Did you go to that show Michael? I remember David Shappert was in my journalism class and he was going to interview them and he wanted to ask them if their lyrics had any meaning or if it was all just nonsense and I was outraged!! OK not really but I felt that Scotty G should have interviewed them, since he was a huge fan of their at the time.
Posted by: Gary | Tuesday, January 06, 2009 at 11:52
Actually, I was! It's funny, I'll talk to someone from Stroudsburg every once in a while and that concert often seems to come up. It's amazing how many people were at that show. Sort of like Stroudburg's very own Magnolia...
Posted by: messiestobjects | Tuesday, January 06, 2009 at 12:26
As long as you don't ask TMBG if they sing like Olive Oyl on purpose, you're fine.
Posted by: Miss Luongo | Tuesday, January 06, 2009 at 13:05