The Black Angels & Fillmore Jive

Hey all, not sure how many of you read my other music-related blog, but I wanted to alert you to a concert next Friday. Tickets are $12 in advance but $15 at the door, so if you want to go let me know in the next few days and I'll buy a block of tickets. Should be a good time!

http://brendan-sullivan.blogspot.com/2010/09/upcoming-concert-black-angels-fillmore.html

Will is going to like this one

I found this while looking in to the history of the linux kernel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym

A call for good movies/TV shows

This Wednesday I will be having my jaw surgery and will subsequently be out of commission for a few weeks. In this time I am sure to be bored as a gourd and would love to get a list of any movie or TV shows that you think would brighten my day. (Addictive TV shows my be the ticket to long term entertainment!) Also if you have anything on DVD that you'd be willing to lend it would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Eight Lamps

My new musical endeavour, Eight Lamps, now has a Myspace Music page. It is here: www.myspace.com/eightlamps. The page is still pretty bare bones, but there is a lovely picture to admire and three songs to which you may listen. "Burnt Sienna" features quotations by Soren Kierkegaard and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and bass and guitar work by Deepak Bal. I am solely to blame for the other two.

Food Blogs

I've recently been finding a lot of food blogs and I thought that I would post them here for people to peruse. Lots are recipes, which is great. But all of the blogs have a feeling of trying to explain where and how food should fit in to our lives. Some are more explicit about this than others. It makes for some interesting reading.

The vegans

http://www.theppk.com/

http://vegandad.blogspot.com/

The engineer

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/

The MD

http://drsukol.teachmed.com/

Jewish culture

http://jcarrot.org/

Random guy where I found the barbecue sauce for the 4th of july

http://www.thefoodinmybeard.com/

Let me know if you find more food blogs.

-Spencer

A belated response to a theme in Logicomix

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~rzach/logblog/2009/09/logic-and-madness.html

This link which I found in a post on the Foundations of Math mailing list comments on the theme of Logic and Madness found in Logicomix. It's interesting.

Upcoming concert: Real Estate & Kurt Vile

I'm planning on stopping by Caliban's or Wicked Discs on Craig St. sometime this week to pick up some advance tickets for a show at Garfield Artworks on Tuesday evening July 13th. I'm putting a little description of the bands here to give you a chance to see if you'd like to come. Certainly, I'd recommend it. Send me an email or comment if you'd like to go and I'll buy a block of tickets.

Real Estate play fairly straightforward melodic surf rock, but I think there's a jaded knowingness to their demeanor and lyrics that makes them more interesting than their one-sentence-genre-encapsulating description. Plus, the drummer is pretty good. I saw them play back in March with one of my favorite current bands, Woods; they're actually on the same record label (run by the guys in Woods) so if you like Woods there's a good chance you'll like these guys, too.
Here are a couple of videos: 1 2 3

Kurt Vile is a little harder to describe. His songs range from singer/songwriter-style acoustic guitar strumming with poignant lyrics to spacey drone-rock to straight-up guitar pop to a freaky punk/classic rock Frankenstein hybrid. Basically, he has an incredible range of song styles that make up his albums and I'd love to see how he pulls this off at a live show. I was sad to miss him playing at Howler's back in December, but I have mp3s of two of his older albums and the most recent EP that came out last month if you'd like me to share.

The local opener is the Karl Hendricks Trio who I know nothing about. Sorry. The Garfield Artworks website does not list a price for the show, but I am sure it will be somewhere from $8-$12 with an expected cost of $9.66. In case you've never been, the venue is BYOB and easy to get to by bus, car or pedestrianizing.

Moth Mainstage

Hey all Moth Podcast Fans:

The Moth is coming to Pittsburgh on August 26th. Spencer and I are going and you should come to!

Here is the info:

http://www.pittsburghlectures.org/interior.php?pageID=238

Scenes From a Marriage

I have the epic Ingmar Bergman miniseries "Scenes From a Marriage" from Netflix (I have the first disc now, will get the second on Wednesday). Paul and I are planning on watching it this week/weekend/maybe next week if we need it. Is anyone else interested? We don't have a schedule set yet. There are six episodes, each 50 minutes long; I'd be happy watching them all at once, one at a time, or anywhere in between.

I Dream of Jeannie!

Hey folks, this is the "I Dream of Jeannie" commercial that I was thinking about earlier.  It's a parody of a song called "Tom's Diner."  It's crazy how I remembered all the words of this from like 15-20 years ago...!!!  We totally should have a retro tv night ;-)

The Jingle...

The page explaining the song.

What the fuck should I eat for dinner?

Yes! Best website ever!

http://www.whatthefuckshouldimakefordinner.com/index.php

Music Recording

I am going to be writing and recording a new album of music this summer. I will probably start soon; maybe this weekend. If any of you want to help out (play/sing on some tracks, help write, help edit, design the packaging, etc...), let me know. Collaborators are always welcome. The first track of the project (Teal Decoys) is done and up now at http://www.myspace.com/chrislambiehanson. It will give some flavor of the project, though there will be much variety, I think. There's other stuff on the website from my last project. You can listen to that, too, if you want. But it won't be on the new album. It's old news now. So let me know if you want to make a guest appearance or otherwise assist. It will be a wonderful and exciting time.

Party

In case you didn't hear about it yet, we're having people over to our house tonight. Feel free to stop by.

-Deepak

Against Me on Sunday

Hey All,

Who wants to see Against Me on Sunday night? Here are some songs to give you a taste.
Fair warning: it will probably (certainly) be loud and filled with sweaty high school punk kids.



skip to 0:20 on this one


last 3 minutes are silence for some reason

The Turtle

I am pleased to announce that my groundbreaking 2007 album, The Turtle, a veritable masterpiece of post/pre/no-modern deconstructivist glo swamp rock, is receiving deluxe reissue treatment. (i.e. I finally got around to burning new CDs to replace the old ones that were unplayably warped from sitting in my attic for two years. Unfortunately, I'm too lazy this time around to make pretty hand-drawn labels to put on them.) If you got a defective copy last semester, or if you didn't but would still like a playable copy, they will be in my office for the taking.

I wonder if this is what my qual will be like...

http://xkcd.com/246/

BMV

Hey all,

Who said they needed to go to the BMV (or is it DMV...who cares...license place) soon? I think we should do it some day this week. I know at least Paul and I need to go. Email me or something. Then we can all go there and write stand-up comedy material about how the lines were long and the workers were rude. Watch out Jay Leno...there's a new kid in town.

Housewarming

Dear Deepak,
Please watch the Hurt Locker at some other time.

Instead, everyone should come to our house warming party on Saturday. It will start around 7:30. There will be snacks and some beer, but if you want to drink something specific, bring it yourself. (That means you Brittney.) That's about it. Call me if you need directions. I will try to remind people as the week progresses.

-Spencer

Hurt Locker

Anyone want to watch The Hurt Locker sometime this weekend? I have it from Netflixerz (Perhaps Saturday late night?)

Joanna Newsom

I know there are at least a few Joanna Newsom fans on here. Well her new album is available to stream for free on NPR music. I've only listened to a few tracks so far...but it sounds promising.

The Early Films of Jim Jarmusch

This is post number two in the series "Things I Have Mentioned That People Have Told Me to Put on the Blog." It is about the first two films of Jim Jarmusch. The first is called "Stranger Than Paradise." It is brilliant and beautiful and features a long tirade by an old Hungarian woman. It is one of my favorite films. (Note: One of the surest identifying marks of a movie snob is his insistence on calling them "films." I plead guilty to this offense.) You should watch it. Here is a trailer:

The second is called "Down by Law" and stars Tom Waits and Robert Benigni. I have not seen it but have read very very good things about it. It is arriving at my house in a red envelope on Monday. You should watch it with me. Here is a trailer:

Podcasts!

OK! Let's do this...

Everyone put your favorite/recommended podcasts in the comments.

Chris Morris and Armando Iannucci Sketch Comedy

This is the first post in the series "Things I Have Mentioned That People Have Told Me to Put on the Blog." Others will follow in the coming days. The subject of this post is the brilliant British comedy of Chris Morris and Armando Iannucci. They teamed up to create The Day Today and Brass Eye, two satires from the mid-90s that are definitely worth your time. After these shows they each did a sketch comedy show. Chris Morris made Jam, a sketch comedy/ambient music show with some of the darkest humor I've ever seen.

The Armando Iannucci shows are equally great. They star Armando himself as a middle-aged man making wise observations about the world:

They are both fantastic shows with most of their sketches available on Youtube. (The Day Today and Brass Eye also). One more classic clip from Jam:

Final Flesh

So I mentioned this the other day..brilliant concept
Here's a link to the interview. It's definitely worth a read.

Here's a trailer for the movie...NSFWish? Its got some moaning and bad words, but its mostly just bizarre.

Condoms for Biodiversity

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Group-hits-the-streets-with-environmentally-conscious-condoms

My budding acting career

When I was in high school, I helped some friends out with some video projects as the villain Doctor Physician in The Chronic Adventures of Superperson. After they had been lost for many years, one of our friends found them lieing around, and now they're on youtube:

• Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow


• Mrs. McDonald's Worst

bloggity bloggy blog

Hey guys,
I started a blog over here. I'll probably use it mostly to write concert reviews, but I also posted some thoughts from the miracle fruit tasting. Feel free to read and comment on anything. Cheers.

Sátántangó

This might be a bit of a long shot, but I'm planning on watching the movie Sátántangó this Sunday (or maybe Monday, since we don't have afternoon classes). It's a seven-hour-long Hungarian masterpiece by Béla Tarr. It's supposed to be one of the truly great films of all time. I have temporarily switched to the 3 DVDs at a Time plan from Netflix just so I can watch this all in one day. In any case, it will be amazing, and people should come watch it. I will provide you with food and libations. Let me know if you're interested.

Here's a lovely short clip from the film to whet your appetite:

Miracle Berry Foods/Beverages

If you're coming to the miracle berry tasting, post a comment with the food/drink you're bringing. From what I understand, sour things are the most interesting; bitter things are generally good, too. So lemons or grapefruits or really hoppy beer would all be good. You should not bring avocados, even though they are delicious.

pwned

we were talking about this show the other night. television disaster averted temporarily

Suggestions

Hey all,

My friend Andy wants to play two shows here in Pittsburgh on some Friday and Saturday nights in mid-February. He wants suggestions of venues and bands to play with. Any suggestions (Brendan I'm looking in your direction)? Heres a video I really like of him at an open-mic that he runs