Also I am super into Tumblr now. Well, today. I figure I have to be if I'm going to move to New York, right? I've used it one day and my Tumbularity went to like

SO:

• LJ for the personal stuff


• Facebook for long blog posts about Kanye and Beef Jerky


• Barbarian Group for industry stuff


• Twitter for ADD


• Tumblr for pretty pictures, links, and random shit

And all of it compiled, along with Foursquare and Last.FM at Rickwebb.net

Current Music: "Carnt Sleep" by Saint Etienne, From Foxbase Alpha (2008 Deluxe Remaster)

Hey! I have been listening to music!

Jarvis - Angela (new single) - Great, catchy new single. I have faith for the new album. Should be fun. A bit more rocking, weirdly reminds me of late period Bikini Kill - is that strange? Strange, disjointed, fuzzy version of 50's rock. Me like.

Primal Scream - Beautiful Future - There's a new Primal Scream album coming out soon, and I went to iTunes to see if it was out, but it wasn't but somehow I missed a whole Primal Scream album in 2008? WTF? I don't know. Anyway, it's no XTRMNTR, but on the other hand it's not more of the Riot City Blues type of stuff. It's poppy, a little dancy... different. Maybe a bit buddled in places, but I love the singles - "Beautiful Future" is a great song. "Can't Go Back," which I first heard at their live show on this tour, is pretty great as well. Maybe not the best Primal Scream album, but the singles will add positively to their live show, and a few of these songs will probably stand the test of time.

Bonnie Prince Billy - Beware - There are so many BPB albums, and he puts them out at such a staggering pace. It's hard to keep up, you forget about some of them, but I managed to buy this one when it came out and it is AWESOME. I am so into it. Bigger, more epic and sweeping than most of his albums, produced in a slightly more bombastic style (more drums, more bass, more overdubs) and I love it. I hope he pulls a Leonard Cohen and does it for like 50 years or takes up a Vegas residency.

The Kills - Weedkiller EP - I could like 2 seconds of them at Coachella, enough to know that they weren't the Horrors, who I always confuse them with (and who were, even more confusingly, playing right before them). But these guys are more of a bluesy, Mr. Airplane Man, Delta Blues meets Brooklyn type of affair. I like this song, I haven't heard anything more by them and I have no idea if the rest is okay, but i like it. A sorta white stripes affair without Jack's lyrical genius.

Boy in Static - Candy Cigarette - Ex-Barbarian Alex Chen is back with his second album as Boy in Static, and I love love love it. I love how upbeat it is. I love how he's evolved his vocal stylings to be more confident, and forthright. I love the casiotone for the painfully alone-esque analog and digital instrumentation - violins and toy pianos and xylophones giving the album a much more organic feel than the last one. Nice job Alex!

The Church - Coffee Hounds EP - Um what? new Church? Um covering Hounds of Love? yes! Okay! AWESOME! I could listen to this twenty times. I probably will. The new original single? Okay too. Woo!

American Analog Set - Hard to Find: Singles and Unreleased - This "album" is awesome. I think of all the things I did this weekend, this went the furthest to killing my cold. This band was so underrated and so awesome. Can they come back? Did I hear something about that? Pretty please? Broken Social Scene totally doesn't need you.

Super Furry Animals - Dark Days/Light Years - Um... Weird. Um... Wtf. I dunno. I guess I'll go see them anyway because they're one of my favorite live shows, but this isn't doing it for me. Kinda funny, though. I guess it's good to see them breaking out of their mould. You know, their mould of immaculately crafted, interesting pop songs.

Various - Dark was the Night - an awesome 2 CD benefit compilation for the Red Hot people from 4AD featuring awesome artists like Beg Gibbard & Feist, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, The National, Yeasayer, Antony, the Arcade Fire - Seriously. It's intense stuff. Highly recommended. And BUY IT. It goes to charity, yo.

65daysofstatic - Escape from New York - Apparently this is a live album. I wasn't paying attention. But it sounds awesome. There is exactly one mistake and one slight out of tune guitar, but man this makes me want to see them in a club and not just opening up for the cure.

Royksopp - Junior - This album makes me super excited to see Royksopp again, and is a totally solid album. Like you can listen to it like ten times in a row and not get bored. LIttle bit more direct, driving, and less quirky than other Royksopp albums, but i think I like that about it. But, then, I liked "Human After All." Plus it has all your favorite scandanavian singers on it - Robyn, Lykke Li, the chick from the Knife (She is AWESOME on "This Must be It") and Anelli Drecker. Really you can't go wrong.

Doves - Kingdom of Rust - Awesome. A fine return to form, up there with The Last Broadcast - WAY better than Some Cities. Has a little spiritualized influence with the four-note repeating refrain in one song, and its just.. solid. Definitely needs more listens.

Bob Mould - Life and Times - I'm super loving the new Bob Mould records. If you liked District Line, you'll like this one. It's basically more of the same, a little bit more rocking, a little bit less sounding like one man in a studio. He does some of his most personal work on here - "I'm Sorry Baby, But You Can't Stand in my Light Anymore" is getting a lot of notice and it deserves it - and he's trying some interesting new vocal things, which is really awesome.

Wwax - Like it or Not - I don't know where I got this, but I don't like it. It reminds me of Bikini Kill meets Negativland, except for the bad barts of both. Okay, maybe a little Pretty Mary Sunshine, it's not terrible, but i just don't want to listen to it.

Various - Score! vol 3: David Chang, vol. 4: Georgia Hubley, The Covers - These are all awesome. One of the best things I did all year was sign up for these Merge Records 20th anniversary CDs and these are all great. Here we have Georgia Hubley from Yo La Tengo's favorites, David Chang, chef from Momofuko. Don't ask. We also have the covers album, which is wonderful - Les Savy Fav covering Superchunk, Broken Social Scene covering the Clean, Bright Eyes covering Magnetic Fields and a million more. It is awesome. YES.

Who Made Who - Three Recent remix singles - I am glad these guys are still awesome. Bought all the new recent singles (from late 2008 to now) to catch up and they are great. I love their dance rock not glam cool thing going on and I never get tired of listening to them.

TV On The Radio - Read Silence EP - I like these guys more and more as they go on, I don't quite know why. More complicated, less catchy, but super smart and super compelling. I am looking forward to the album.

Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster single - A kim song, reminds me of some of the Kim songs on Goo. Not my favorite type of Sonic Youth, but it's driving and fast and fun and not insanely wanky (which I like, but some people don't). It's a good driving summer single. I'll probably be hearing more of it.

Brian Jonestown Massacre - Smoking Acid EP - noid and noisy - almost Dinosaur-esque. Or early Ride. That's probably what they're going for, knowing their predilliction of shoegazing bands, but, then, early Ride was pretty Dinosaur influenced. Vocals sound very Bobby Gilespie-esque. But it's still the Massacre and it's still fun. And evil. And awesome. The last song, "Super F****K" is awesome. Also I didn't know you could smoke acid. I must be square.

Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe - I kinda like this. I don't know that I'll ever listen to it again, but it's a good vibe for a band I usually find too overwrought. I think I can ig it. I like the bonus dub of Oh Well. I like the song about how you're going to have to come back to me because you just are. It has potential. Actually I think I'll listen to it again just to be sure.

Silversun Pickups - Swoon - Sounds like if the Pumpkins kept being awesome instead of went crazy. I didn't think I'd like this based on the live shows, even though, perversely, I love the live shows, but.. I dunno. I am pleasantly surprised. It rocks. it's summer. I want to listen to it again and I'm not even done yet.

Ladytron - Tomorrow EP -This is like straight up pop music almost, with the chick from Ladytron singing, but I actually kind of like it when I'm just listening to this one song in 5 versions rather than the whole album. It makes a good single. I'll roll with it.

Bats for Lashes - Gorgeous. Man how did I not know about these guys? Sarah's always going on about them but i thought they were just like every other band she's going on about. Ha. oops. That was mean. Anyway, they are gorgeous. YES.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction - This band is so awesome. They are either going to be the next big thing or the next Heavenly, which is decidedly not the next big thing. Still, though,I think they're great. I still wish they'd get the two dudes from Fuck Buttons to join their band, though.

Current Music: "Come Back" by Depeche Mode, From Sounds of the Universe

Our dear chicken turned five today, so I thought it was time for look back... In only 20,000 words or something.

http://www.barbariangroup.com/posts/1938-happy_5th_birthday_subservient_chicken

I am all moved in in SF, by the way. I love the apartment, it's super spacious and clean and nice and has everything you could ever want except a cheese grater and a rice cooker, but I am working on that.

Also, I live on the corner of Daschiel Hammet street. How cool is that?


edit: Oh and I live a block from the Tonga room. And Tunnel top.

If you're in the Boston area, please come to my faux going away party this saturday

And wherever you are, please consider listening to more early period OMD.

Yay!

Current Music: "Messages (single version)*" by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, From Orchestral Manoeuvres In

So, prior to this unending illness, a week or two ago, I reread The Watchmen in anticipation of the movie coming out. I hadn't read it since I was 17. And, for those of you that are politely oblivious to my age, that means I read it about 20 years ago.

In 1988.

As in, maybe a year after it came out.

I could have sworn I remembered it, but... oh my god, there was so much in there that I didn't remember. I forgot about Mars. I forgot about Antarctica. I forgot about there being two night owls and two Silk Spectres.

But more than that, really, it was the whole TONE of the thing. Reading it now, you think everyone is crazy for worrying that the world is going to come to an end. The shit with afghanistan and the russians seems so overwrought and silly. But I remember reading this when it came out, and there was nothing weird about the world ending any minute now in the blink of an eye. The characters didn't seem strange to me at all for believing that.

It's crazy how different of a world we live in than we did twenty years ago. I think remembering this is one of the reasons I was always so silent on certain aspects of dear dubya's term. It was awful and embarrassing, but I remember how bad things used to be, and it was easy to see that even now things weren't as crazy and awful as they were then.

But I digress....

The other thing that was really interesting about it is how much of a firmer grasp I have on world history and the geopolitical events that take place in the book. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Vietnam, Reagan and Nixon and Kennedy's assassination. I had a decent grasp on them all, but the subtle way with which the book slowly parts from reality and sets forth on an alternate reality as Dr. Manhattan becomes an asset of the US government was completely lost on me as a child. The russians were already pulling out of afghanistan when I was reading this, and nixon was a distant memory.

Still, though, the work stands up in both ways. If anything, reading it now adds extra layers of richness to the work - the past is another facet of this alternate reality that branches off in the book. The paranoia of 80's america seems incredible, impossible, dystopian and strange, even though I remember living it. New York seems comically grimy, even though I remember it being that way.

I don't think we give our present enough credit sometimes. It didn't have to turn out this well - even with the depression. Our depression that might hit 8% unemployment. The worst since the great depression. That hit 25% unemployment.

But I digress again.

I am excited for the film. It looks good. I have faith it'll be better than V For Vendetta and From Hell. Why? I don't know. I had more respect for those directors, but... this looks promising. We'll see. Bring it.

Current Music: "Jailbird" by M. Ward, From Hold Time

This week was ultimately disappointing. I lost no weight. I technically used up my amnesty - which I was trying to save for inauguration day - because I was depressed. I had one and a half drinks.

Other than that, I've done pretty well. I got through all the process meetings with turkey jerky (low sodium and approved by noted Health Nut Kristen Hengst), celery, carrots, lara bars, tea and seltzer water, which pretty much made up my diet for the week. Neighburrito has whole wheat tortillas and soy cheese and fajita peppers, and that was pretty sweet. Cerrito @ Logan had the same plus brown rice, which was also awesome. But all the travel made it difficult, and when I got home at the end of the week and weighed myself and learned I lost NOTHING, after massive losses the first week, I wanted to break down and cry.

I need to re-commit for the last two weeks, which is always a shit ton more difficult when you're not making day-to-day progress.

Did anyone else read last week's special report in The Economist about the oceans? Does anyone else feel a sense of impending doom from it? Can anyone suggest a way that I can act about it? I am currently still freaking out about it a week later.

Current Music: "Come In Alone (live at ATP NY)" By My Bloody Valentine from ATP NY, Kutsher's, Monticello, 2008

Crankiness definitely set in today. I went to labrujah's birthday in brooklyn, which was awesome, and it was wonderful to see her and Alex and capricornia and I swear to god I don't spend enough time with those people.

But the bar part, after dinner was hard. Also, being in New York without my awesome apartment filled with healthy foods is HARD. The nice thing is the bodegas here have tons of healthy snacks - something the convenience stores in boston just do not have - but I don't have a supply of stuff in my house here to just eat when I'm in a blind panic and need something right now.

I've had some stuff - Lara Bars and low sodium turkey jerky - sent to the new york office so when I'm in my FIVE DAY process summit meeting next week I'll have stuff to munch on. I also plan on buying some carrots and celery each morning to snack on.

But doing it right now is rough. I had thought about sticking around New York over the weekend - there's a Tony Conrad and Genesis P-Orridge show I really want to go to - but I just don't think I can do it. I can't really be in this city, not drinking, and not eating anything bad, without a fortress of solitude, and this house is not it.

It's nice to be in the NY office though - people are doing health month there so you get a little sympathy, unlike those meanies in Boston. ha. I kid.

ALSO tonight was my first unknown restaurant excursion. The restaurant - Moto in Williamsburg - was wonderful but MAN did it love its cheese. There was stuff to eat for me, but it was painful seeing all these wonderful cheesy small plates I couldn't have with Manchengo and Feta and Gruyere and OMG DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE MANCHENGO? I EAT A BLOCK OF IT A WEEK FOR FUCK'S SAKE. Okay, sorry.

I muddled through on a not-very-healthy-feeling but fully compliant meal of tomato soup (donating my amazing looking giant goat cheese encrusted crouton to jenene), pork ribs, skipping all fatty parts, a salad and potatoes, but.. man.

You know, it's interesting. The meal was fucking stellar, and I'm sure all you froofy healthy people reading this who are always giving me shit about health month rules and health will laugh at this, but it's an interesting revelation to think about eating super good meals that are also insanely healthy. Not to get all Michael Pollan on your ass, but it's a nice feeling in a way. But in my mind, it's almost against the spirit of the game of Health Month as it is. It's not about yummy healthy meals! It's about denial and will power and PURITANISM!

I'm so torn. I am into losing this weight, but god damn do I hate the self-denial. Who wants to go out and sip soda water while you're at some wonderful jazz age bar, crammed in with beautiful ladies and champagne and a three piece combo? Who wants to eat tomato soup when you could have a spanish feta and sopressata small plate with radishes and black olives? I ask you.

And when flappers are kicking their legs up everywhere? Who wants to be sober. Thank god I don't know Chuck Bass. If I were at Victrola right now, I'd lose it.

OKAY! More Q&A Time!

Update from last time: Despite it probably being legal, I am forgoing Miso Soup. You convinced me. I remember now from last year - duh - that Lara Bars are the only acceptable bar, and luckily Ryan M ordered a case for the NY office. I am having a case shipped to my house as well. And yes definitely no movie popcorn.

NEW QUESTIONS!

1 - I feel like, after having pork ribs, our pork rule should be modified for next year to be a bit more explicit about the lean cuts only. I had to give one rib away. Thoughts?

2 - Buster what was that crazy tea you were drinking a while back? I wanna try it.

3 - Is Sleepytime tea acceptable in addition to green tea?