What, you're celebrating something else? Whyever would you do that?

Rohanna was kind enough to test the roads for us this morning. She left around 6a to join her family. I had just gone back to sleep when her phone went off. By the time I found it, it had stopped ringing, but I was able to see it was her daughter calling. As I sat on the bed with the phone, Ro herself walked in, having made it around the block and, noticing she had forgotten her phone, tried to come back and wound up leaving the van at the foot of the drive. She called her daughter, who said to stay home, as no one else was going to make it, so we went back to sleep.

I got up at 9.40, and went out to survey the damage. We got 8" or so here, with drifts well over a foot. Mine, mostly, as I did some cleanup in the driveway and on the street in front of my car. Dragonet called her mom, and it was decided we'd go up and do the family thing there on Sunday. After a lovely breakfast of scrach-made waffles and bacon, we did our minimalist gift exchange and have been hanging around here trying to get warm all day. The lack of heat on the upper floors has become somewhat more severe due to the lowered temperatures here. Tomorrow it's dim sum!

And in honor of the birth of Ireland's greatest singer, songwriter and refugee from dental justice, three songs: the obvious MacGowanmas classic, and two of my favorite Pogues songs of all.











( This one goes behind teh cut, for the children. Also, lyrics in case your Shane to English translator is not working. )

So a happy Krimble to all, and to all a good night.

(edited to spell MacGowan correctly. I need more whisky)

The alarm didn't go off at 7, and though I only slept for another 10 minutes, I was running behind this morning, so the songs got listened to, I just didn't have time to post them. Anyway, here ya go:


1) The Sun Is Shining Down, JJ Grey & Mofro

2) Shakin' All Over, The Jet Black Berries

3) J.R., New World

4) Devil In Her Heart (Live On The BBC), The Beatles

5) Oviedo, Blind Pilot

6) Black Steel (Public Enemy), Tricky

7) evil side, michal lotan

8) Suspect Device, Stiff Little Fingers

9) Trust, The Pretty Things

10) I'm the Man, General Caine


And the ever-popular more:


11) Halazium, ZeniX

12) Whispering, The Majestic Twelve

13) Cancel The Day, The Easy Tigers


The business survived the first week without Chuckles, and even got a bunch of stuff done, in particular work for Ha//m@rk for their big trade show display of next year's stuff. At last, they have made something I want: a plush Adam, aka Frankenstein's monster*, wearing a paisley vest. But there could be more fun: apparently, some muckey-muck looked at the products we had run, and said "I thought these colors were going to be more pastel," and, when told that it had been decided to go with brighter colors for the backgrounds, announced that he wanted pastels and they'd have to be run again. Of course, Ha//m@rk is desperately trying not to have to pay for their error, and I have no illusions that our douche canoe of a sales dweeb won't screw this up somehow and wind up costing us money, because that's how he rolls.

He also rolls like this: at 3p, the boss stomped out, saying Herb (not his real name, but he does remind me of Mr. Tarleck, though without the clothing sense) was on his way back and I should check the email on the off chance something came in. Herb walked in a few minutes later, and immediately ensconced himself on the only available computer with teh intarwebs. I wandered back a couple of times and had him check the email, and he was putzing around on Craigslist as he often does when the boss is gone. At 4.30, however, when I walked back to have him check one last tiem, he was looking at a page of pr0n links, with no attempt to hide it, or even the grace to be embarrassed. I guess now that Chuckles is gone, and no one else is back there, he'll be cruising away.

Now, the boss is very anal (not a euphemism, insofar as I know) about the web use at work, and has been known to monitor the activity from home. So I am mentioning this both as an amusing anecdote, and to document the situation should any questions arise. I have no plans on bringing it to the boss's attention, but if he asks me about it, I will tell him exactly what happened. And probably use the bottle of hand sanitizer more often when Herb's been on the computer.

Tomorrow is the monthly KanPoly meetup at Wheat State Pizza at 23rd & Louisiana in Lawrence, and the KaCSFFS Xmas party in the evening at the Writers Place in Kansas City. Both are open to the public, so drop by if you get the chance. Sunday we will go to the Film Cadets outing to Avatar, since the Chefs game is blacked out due to some kind of mercy rule, I think.

( The Reason For the Season )

Hope everyone had a fun, filling and safe day today. Enjoy the long weekend, you lucky bastards; I have to go back to work tomorrow.

Last night Rohanna, Dragonet and I had the privilege of seeing a live performance by one of the greatest songwriters of the modern age, Leonard Cohen. Cohen has been touring on and off for over a year now, largely due to his manager having embezzled most of Cohen's earnings. Cohen started out touring in Europe, then covered much of North America, having gotten as close as Denver earlier this year. I had given up all hope of seeing him, assuming he had finished his tour and was resuming his retirement. When I saw the ad for his show here, I was shocked. When we got the tickets, I was even more stunned.

Last night I dropped the ladies off at the Midland, then found a parking place nearby (I had no interest in paying the $10 "event parking" charges for the Power & Light District). Walking back to the theater, I finally allowed myself to believe I was actually going to be seeing this show.

I hadn't been in the Midland since sometime in the '80s, and not since the renovation completed a year or so ago. I was pleased to find that AMC had left the beautiful art deco stylings of the 18927 building intact, and restored the venue to its prime.

At 8p sharp (just like it said on the ticket), nine-piece band came onstage. And then The Man himself, 75--year-old Leonard Cohen, came sprinting to his microphone, dressed in a sharp black suit and fedora. When the first of numerous standing ovations finished, he launched into "Dance Me to the End of Love," and the room became perfectly still. The set list was much the same as the "Live in London" cd/dvd currently available, featuring a mix of classic songs from Cohen's lengthy career. Though he is a little thinner in the higher ranges, that "gift of a golden voice" is still a powerful instrument, and was more than up to the 3.5 hour, four encore show. Early on, he told the audience "I don't know when we'll pass this way again, but for tonight, we're going to give you everything we've got," and he and the band proceeded to do just that.

Without a doubt, this was one of the best concerts I have attended. A once in a lifetime opportunity, ad a dream fulfilled.

Mojo Nixon, that is. Virtually all of his incredibly bizarre and diverse musical catalog is FREE!!! at Amazon for a limited time.

C'mon, you know you need "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child" in your music library. Do It Now!

Saturday Ro and I did a lot of grocery-type shopping. First time in a while. It wound up wearing her out, but she considers the fact she never even considered using a moby at any of the stores (including Costco) a sign she is finally getting back into her previous physical shape. NPulsifer and Gisele came over with steaks, I cooked. Om nom.

Sunday Ro and I went to the Irish Fest. Wanted to get there to see our good friend Bob Reeder performing at 11a, right after mass, but we didn't wake up until about then. Got there in the afternoon, wandered around and enjoyed the lovely day. Last year we went, but I was pushing Ro around in a wheelchair and she was in the middle of chemo, so it was a less than fully entertaining experience. Much better this time. While we had planned on hanging around to see the Elders close out the fest, we decided we were still a bit tired from the previous day's exertions, so we went home about 6p and collapsed. I got back up at 8 when Dragonet got home from Renfest. Ro slept until the next morning.

Monday NPulsifer and I went to the Royals game (a convenient holiday 1.10p start). It was another beautiful day (if a bit warmer, with fewer clouds–my red forearms are a testament to that), and the Royals even won! The highlight came in the top of the fifth inning, with Bobby Abreu at bat for the Los Angeles Angels of (fill in suburb of choice). I had looked away from the field for a second, and heard the crack of the bat, and NPulsifer said, "Dude, that's coming right at you." I looked up, saw the ball making a beeline for the fence, and wisely chose not to stick my hand out to catch it as it flew by me and hit the wall behind us on the Party Porch. It ricocheted off the base of the front wall and came to rest at my feet. I reached down, got a hand on it and started to pick it up, when this pudgy little douche inspector* swooped in and wrenched the ball from my grasp. He then proceeded to do some kind of Summer's Eve-like victory dance. The other guy who had gone after the ball was apologizing to his five-year-old son that he hadn't been able to get to it in time, and at that point the clown decided to take off.

That's when I looked down and saw that the nozzle had actually scratched the back of my right hand while grabbing for the ball, and the father said he'd gotten nicked too. A few drops of blood actually oozed out of the injury! Quel Fromage! A few minutes later, a supervisory person came by and made sure everyone was ok. Sadly, I failed to think aboout playing up my possibly career-ending injury and trying to get free tickets or something out of it.

But that's not why I am going on so long about this. It's because it was all captured on TV, and put on the interwebs! Alas, no embedding available, but go here and you can see it all, from the 0:08 to 0:14 marks. NPulsifer is standing in front of the "P" on the wall; I'm the one in the colorful shirt (I know, shocking) and red cap next to him. After the game (as I said, won by the Royals 6-3), we eventually found the car and NPulsifer dropped me off at home, so Ro and I could go to a small get-together with friends for a few hours.

Today is my non-paid day off for the week, due to the holiday Monday, and I am probably going to wind up at the Old Chicago on 115th & Metcalf at 6p for their latest meet & taste with a rep from Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Should be fun.; anyone in the area come on out!



*The not-at-all-vague scent of vinegar surrounding him was the first clue, if you're wondering

This. Just watch.







No idea who this guy is, just listed as LJ. Damn.

Flipping through the channels tonight, I happened to cruise by MTV2, and discovered that they were actually showing videos. Not old ones, but ones for new and newer bands. Shocking, I know.

It was called "Subterranean MTV," and the bit I saw featured the Noisettes, Chairlift, Plushgun, the Street Sweeper Social Club and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, all of which I would recommned checking out.

Who knew?

Slept late, didn't wake up until 7.30a. Got up by 8, checked email, got a shower and headed to Lawrence. Stopped at the Farmers' Market to pick up the bagel order; offically sold VerminusRex out. Wandered through the vendors, then headed over to Brits and Au Marche. Picked up a few things. Daw a Kangol-style Guinness hat and Guinness slippers. Maybe another day (hat did look goood, though).

Met Fireguarder at Lawrence Remedial Hospital where she and I discussed plans for printing the Nominee Certificates and winner cards for Anticipation, then took her along to Wheat State for the KanPoly meetup. A good crowd, including 5Rings and Tensegrity, plus some KC people who came up after attending the KCPoly Munch a few times. Good conversation, good pizza, good times.

Dropped Fireguarder at home, then took the back road to KC (no sign of whether the Water Department checked out the broken cutoff valve; we'll have to call them Monday to find out what's going on). After some down time, Rohanna, NPulsifer and I went to Grinders to see Brewer and Shipley and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. It was a lovely evening, and the bands were both good (though Shipley was in less than perfect vocal form; on the other hand, when you've been doing it for 41 years, an off night is to be expected occasionally). After their set, the Daredevils hit the stage and kicked ass. Fronted by three of the five original members (John Dilllon, Steve Cash and Michael "Supe" Granda), they put on a solid 90 minute show, covering the hits while digging reasonably deep into their catalog. Good stuff, indeed.

I should be in bed, since I want to be up by 8a (CDT) to watch Tom Watson attempt to win his sixth British Open tomorrow (today), but I wanted to leave you with my favorite OMD* cut, from their first album, which they did not perform tonight. If there were any justice (or musical sense) in the statehouse, it would be the Missouri State Anthem. Maybe next time.







*No, not Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark. Pay attention

15 Albums That Stuck With Me/Made an Impact (ganked from flemco)


1) Sgt. Pepper, The Beatles

2) Tonight's The Night, Neil Young

3) The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse, Bonzo Dog Band

4) How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All, Firesign Theater*

5) Born to Laugh at Tornadoes, Was/Not Was

6) Flood, They Might Be Giants

7) AM/FM, George Carlin

8) The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and The Holy Grail

9) The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd, Original Cast Recording**

10) Whipped Cream and Other Delights, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass***

11) Sticky Fingers, The Rolling Stones

12) Making Movies, Dire Straits

13) Stay Awake, Various Artists

14) Waiting for Columbus, Little Feat

15) Kiko, Los Lobos


and a couple more, to make it prime


16) The Confessions of St. Ace, John Wesley Harding

17) Come Away with Me, Norah Jones****


Go ahead, share with us.

And speaking of PJ Harvey (see below), did anyone else catch her on Letterman tonight? Not gonna see that on Conan or Leno, fer damn sure.



* Part of a very special evening that involved a field trip to the frontal lobes, two viewings of CE3K and playing the six sides of the first four Firesign Theater albums that form a coherent narrative (for extremely interesting values of "coherent" and "narrative") two days before Christmas 1977. Dragonet and I got to tell Phil Proctor about it at Minnecon many years later. He was amused.

** This was in my parent's record collection (and I would have sworn I had listened to it in our Prairie Village house, but it didn't come out until we'd moved to Topeka), and even at a young age, I identified with poor oppressed Cocky in his battle against Sir.


*** Flemco thinks Enya was hardcore. Hah! Hardcore is Herb smashing his trumpet at the end of each and every show, motherfucker! Where do you think Pete Townshend got the idea?

**** For reasons I choose not to explicate, but remember very, very well indeed.

I would love to know how this came about. Pavarotti looks like the anamatronic Lou Reed in the video from the '80s where "he" tears his own skin off.










Like I said, Luci looks like this:






Oops! Forgot, ganked from theinferior4

Dragonet and I went shopping this morning, then I met NPulsifer at the Brooksider to watch the Cardinals' home opener. We had wings and beer, and even had a taste of the "original" Schiltz. One sip, and I said, "I think I'm seventeen again." It wasn't Coors, but it wasn't very good.

We were joined by our son Eric, and later Rohanna, who showed up in time to watch the Cards bullpen give up four run in the top of the ninth inning and give the game away to the fucking Pirates!??!!? But the Yankees lost, so it wasn't a total waste.

I'll leave you all with one of the very best baseball songs ever, by the late, lamented Steve Goodman. I saw him open for John Prine here in Kansas City at the Uptown Theatre sometime in the early 1980s; I don't remember if he played this song or not. It's called "A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request," and I want to send it out to my mother, who's been wating for them to win her entire life.






And remember, "In-a-gadda-da-vida" can be sung to the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and they both scan to "House of the Rising Sun." Happy earworming. Go Royals!

. . . DISAPPEAR!!!!!!


NPulsifer and I went to see Brave Combo tonight at Knuckleheads Saloon. The band ripped through a 90-minute set of typically eclectic madness, including playing the "Hava Nagilah Twist" and the "Habanera Twist" simultaneously! Madness, I tell you, madness! If you are not familiar with the works of this Denton, Texas based new wave-polka-cha cha-salsa-conjunto-waltz-swing party band, you are missing out.

Among the many highlights of their shows are their unique performances of the "Chicken Dance" and the "Hokey Pokey." Band leader Carl Finch called for chicken dancers, and got a disappointing half-dozen people (NPulsifer and myself included) up front. He called it off, and then anounced the Hokey Pokey. When 15 or so people got on the dance floor, he announced the band would play the Hokey Pokey, but they were going to do the Chicken Dance first! A spirited romp around the dance floor followed, and segued into "In the Mood," which flowed into a raucous rock and roll Hokey Pokey. Example below:








If you have the opportunity to catch them in the next few days, do so. Here is their schedule:

4/2 The Zoo Bar - Lincoln, NE
4/3 The Cedar - Minneapolis, MN
4/4 FitzGerald's - Berwyn, IL
4/5 Once A Neighbor...- Cedar Rapids, IA

I see I forgot to post about my date with NPulsifer and Gisele Wednesday night. We went to the Trouser Mouse, a bar in Blue Springs, to see The Clumsy Lovers, a Celtic/bluegrass/rock band from Vancouver. This was another smoking venue, albeit a well-ventilated one, and the smallish crowd wasn't lighting off each other's butts (not a euphemism), so the atmosphere was close to Earth-like. They played a typically eclectic set, with highlights that included a semi-reggae version of "Folsom Prison Blues" segueing into (with no change in the music) "Pinball Wizard," and a virtuoso performance by Jason Homey, who switched from banjo(1) to guitar to violin to bass in the course of a single song. Amazing stuff. If you get a chance to see them, you definitely owe it to yourselves to do so.

Friday was another thrilling day at work, cutting 1/2" gator board with a large device that involved dragging a blade across the board repeatedly until it was cut through. My arms and shoulders were not happy. After I got home, I was deputized to order and pick up pizza from the best pizza place in the entire fucking universe(2), Waldo Pizza. Given that pick-up orders were taking an hour, it was a wise choice to forego the delivery. While I waited for our order, enjoying a glass of O'Dell's 5 Barrel Pale Ale, the guy next to me ordered Hamm's for himself and his friend. Either I gave him an involuntary odd look, or he picked up my "WTF?" vibe, but he looked at me and said, "It's cheap! And there is worse." I did have to concede that point. but check out their beer offerings. Absolutely amazing. I mean, Cooper's Vintage at a pizza joint?

Once I acquired our dinner, I raced home and we all chowed down while waiting for the KU game to start. The game played out pretty much as I expected. Aldrich and Collins did everything they could, but in the end the lack of experience overall led to mistakes and misfires, and they lost, 67-62. At least Missouri lost today.

Despite the cold and rain, we all got up at a reasonable hour and headed out to the Eat Local Exhibition of Farmers. It's a wonderful opportunity to meet area farmers and ranchers and pick up locally raised meats and locally grown produce, plus cheeses, preserves and more. While we were there, the rain began to change to sleet. We headed over to Penzeys to pick up herbs and spices, then went around the corner to a nice little Wicca/new age type store called Crescent Springs, there to await the arrival of our friends in Queen's Gambit, who came up from Oklahoma (at least some of them) to hold a CD debut party. Well over a dozen people turned out to see them, and they responded with a couple of sets of fine music, and lots of fun. For any Oklahomans in the audience, they'll be doing another release party in Tulsa tomorrow. Check their website for details.

And now we're home, and the snow continues to fall. It's really quite pretty out, and the driving wasn't bad at all. And tomorrow it's supposed to get up to 42˚ with sunshine. But for tonight, hunkering down with family and food and drink.

Everyone stay warm and safe out there.


(1) And not just any banjo, a solid-body electric banjo, with everything except a whammy bar.

(2) Yeah, yeah, New York and Chicago, if I want grease-soaked manhole covers or dough-wrapped casseroles, I know where to find them. This is Piiiiiiiizzzzzzaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!! [/300]

but here's a little Irish cheer, Pogues division








In case you need a translation from Shane to English, the following:

Bottle Of Smoke
By Shane MacGowan / Jem Finer (1988)

Thanks and praises
Thanks to Jesus
I bet on the Bottle of Smoke
I went to Hell
And to the races
To bet on the Bottle of Smoke

The day being clear
The sky being bright
He came up on the left
Like a streak of light
Like a drunken fuck
On a Saturday night
Up came the Bottle of Smoke

Twenty fucking five to one
My gambling days are done
I bet on a horse called the Bottle of Smoke
And my horse won

Stewards inquiries
Swift and fiery
I had the Bottle of Smoke
Inquisitions and suppositions
I had the Bottle of Smoke
Fuck the stewards
A trip to Lourdes
Might give the old fuckers
The power of sight
Screaming springers and stoppers
And call out coppers
But the money still gleams in my hand like a light

Bookies cursing
Cars reversing
I had the Bottle of Smoke
Glasses steaming
Vessels bursting
I had the Bottle of Smoke
Slip a fifty to the wife
And for each brat a crisp new five
To give me a break on a Saturday night
When I had the Bottle of Smoke

Priests and maidens
Drunk as pagans
They had the Bottle of Smoke
Sins forgiven and celebrations
They had the Bottle of Smoke

Fuck the Yanks
And drink their wives
The moon is clear
The sky is bright
I'm happy as the horses shite
Up came the Bottle of Smoke

Rohanna and I went to see Brewer and Shipley tonight, and it was a wonderful time. Michael Brewer was suffering from back problems, so the set was probably a little shorter than it might have been otherwise, but they were in fine voice and played a goodly number of their hits, including the classic "One Toke Over the Line."









Before playing it, they told the story of how it became a hit while being banned, and how they were put on Nixon's enemies list for it because the song "subverted America's youth," according to Spiro Agnew. They also referenced this version of it:







Oddly enough, the video of them appears to be from the same venue where we saw them tonight, the Community
Christian Church in KC, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Friday morning we went to my dentist to pick up my backup upper (and Ro got to see Trevor, whom she has known since he was a fighter boy in the SCA many years ago). We then decamped to Masala's, which is a new Indian (dot, not feather) restaurant located at 91st & Metcalf, by Whole Paycheck. The lunch buffet was very good, with solid tandoori chicken and an amazingly good goat vindaloo. We'll probably be calling a fanivores there in the new year.

From there, we went across the street to Metcalf Discount Liquors, then around the corner to Microcenter. I confirmed there is an ADB to DVI converter available for my machine, but it's $50. Got to show Roh some of the fun things on one of the Macs they had there,and confirmed for her that her next computer will be one. From there, off to Half-Price Books, so the ladies could spend their gift cards.

After a bit of a rest, I headed off to Jardine's to meet NPulsifer and Gisele to see our friend Monique Danielle perform with Tim Whitmer's KC Express. Got there to discover the place was nearly full, and there was one table not reserved for the first show. Got to chat with Monique for a bit, which was nice. NPulsifer took me home after the show, and then picked me up so we could see BCR, which is Monique's other band, at another venue.

We got there shortly before the show began, and had the opportunity to talk to several of the band members, who we have gotten to know over 10 or so years of seeing them, including Mark, who is Monique's husband. They put on a great show, as always, and while the audience was maybe a dozen at the start, it grew to around 50 fairly quickly. Roh, who had been visiting her family in Lee's Summit, joined us part-way through, and had a great time, including confusing several people there who hadn't seen her since before the whole cancer thing. At the end of the evening, Monique took NPulsifer and I to her car, and gave us copies of her new cd as Xmas presents, which was very sweet of her. When we headed for home, it was still 60˚+ outside. By morning, it was in the 30s, with ice in the eastern quadrant. There was massive wind overnight, to the point of knocking down fences and powerlines, though we took no damage, fortunately.

The big activity for Saturday was the graykin memorial Dim Sum Orgy at Bo Ling's. Nineteen people showed up, including kalimeg, sf_reader, athenaartemis (celebrating her birthday the day before) and many others. Good food, good times. Afterwards Roh, Dragonet and I went back to Graykin's mother's house, where we sampled Graeter's ice cream, from Cincinnatti. The Raspberry Chunk was to die for. Afterward, I ran down to the Lukas Liquor on State Line and picked up some fine beers, including my stock for New Year's Eve. Then back home to hunker down as the weather went further to crap and the snow came down. I was switching channels and found VH1 showing "Prairie Wind," the Neil Young concert film from 2006, and Roh and I enjoyed that until it was over, at 12.30a.

Woke up at 11a, and watched the Chefs finish off the season with a demonstration of their status as a perfectly cromulent pro team (any sport). The odds on the coaching staff surviving the transition to a new GM went down severely. Then we went out to the salvage store near Roh's workplace, and did some grocery shopping. Came home to watch the end of the Eagles's rout of the Cowboys. Good times. Dinner was ham, crackers and various cheeses, with the Stilton with cranberries as dessert. Om nom.

Alas, back to work tomorrow, though it will be a slightly short week (we will be working the 2nd).

Below is the link to the continuing (un)coverage of the Bruise. I''m still not in pain as such, but it has been getting stiffer overnight with each passing day (not a euphemism). Unless things change drastically, I probably won't post more photos for a while. You're welcome.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19349120@N03/sets/72157611573610652/

Or whatever. Why I loves teh mashup.

From the lovely and talented Judith Owen
and her husband, Harry Shearer, a sad song from Sarah Palin.








If you have the chance to catch Judith in concert, do so. She's an amazing talent, and when she isn't touring with her own show, she's part of the Richard Thompson 1000 Years of Popular Music Tour, which is also a must-see.

Rohanna and I had a great time tonight at the Oktoberfest with NPulsifer and Giselle. Rohanna and I waltzed and did the Chicken Dance, but she let me do the Hokey Pokey by myself. For this I bought you a funnel cake?

Tomorrow is the hotel walkthrough. Go ConQuesRT.