Everybody, meet Fred Durst's blog.
- posted by Eric @ 4:08 PM
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So I watch Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue and parts of Batman Forever with Mike and Ken, we hit Washington Avenue, get food from Everest Cafe, see some fabulous rock and rollin' bands playing. I was thinking about it today; where is the rock music now? I see throwback dance-punk, I see fourth-generation punk and emo, but short of St. Louis bands, I hear nothing that just totally lacks pretense, that's there to rock. It's cute how bands like Franz Ferdinand are there to pose and weave a nice little neo-retro image for themselves, but there's nothing behind it. Their music bores me. If I wanted to dance, I'd listen to dance music, not this dance-music-for-indie-kids-who-don't-dance crap.

After the show, we went back to Ken's house to watch TV, and Ken showed me something amazing. Enter Dunyayi Kurtaran Adam, commonly referred to as "the Turkish Star Wars." It's the most horrible thing I've seen in my life, bar none, period. The best way I can describe it is as the cinematic equivalent to disease-ridden feces giving off fumes of vaporous acid. Not only is it a Star Wars rip-off with the production value of the city of Black Jack's cable-access News 20 (starring Randy Gardner), they actually use footage from the real Star Wars. The picture quality is completely terrible, the acting is eons beyond horrible, at odd moments, the theme song from Indiana Jones pipes in, inexplicable close-up shots of extras' faces appear randomly, and at one point, they begin showing images of Egyptian pyramids and the Sphinx? What???
- posted by Eric @ 3:08 AM
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Have I mentioned how nice the new Olin Library at Wash U is? Finally, for once in my life, I'm there to see the result of a contstruction effort, rather than just the construction itself (see: high school, junior high- er, middle school, elementary school, 6th grade camp, Wash U/FoPo Parkway Metrolink construction). The statue is... well, inconsequential, but I'm sure it'll look nice in pamphlets. The 24-hour cafe/lounge is fantastic. I have a feeling that it'll be a lot nicer to do late-night work there than the Umrath lobby, plus, I can tell you firsthand, the mini-Kaldi's is fantastic, and their Aztec Hot Cocoa is transcendent. The Ginko reading room is quite a nice little thing to have. The only really regrettable thing about the renovation is that there's no longer an outside second floor- the time I went to hang out there a few years back was really cool; it was great place for the campus to have, and a great place to hang out on. Ah well, there's always Bear's Den [pause for the irony to sink in].

...Oh yeah, visiting the cafe is also an easy way to spot Beatle Bob and fellow middle-aged-see-him-at-every-concert-ever-guy Ken (not Kitchin) using the free phone and internet facilities. Hmm...
- posted by Eric @ 6:30 PM
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- posted by Eric @ 3:21 PM
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So.

I'm getting my painting from Trinidad, Cuba stretched (which is to say im getting the canvas mounted onto a board structure, the stuff I got in Cuba all came as canvas-only), thereby giving me my first little piece of decor for whatever apartment I wind in in a year or whenever. I also checked out the issue of Pop Star! Magazine that Ken and his roommate at Tufts are in (Ken is indeed pictured in the same page as Avril Lavigne). Let me tell you, it's awkward to try to read Pop Star! Magazine in a newsstand when you're a 19-year-old male. I kind of stood around in the corner, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

For those unaware, there was an FAQ question posted to the Stare the Infant website long ago, asking me why I turned down a collaboration with teenage boy band Dream Street, to which I gave some smartass response. 2, 3 years later, Ken shows up at Tufts and his roommate is *ta-da* Matt from Dream Street. A few weeks later, Matt wants to start a new band, The Juice, so Ken plays bass. Now our freshman year of college is over, and one of my oldest friends is in Pop Star! Magazine. Surreal.

I also finally tried the all-night Tiffany's Diner in Maplewood, across from Monarch. Any diner that greets you upon entering with a huge poster of Johnny Cash giving you the finger is my kinda diner. The burger I got was good stuff, the fries were good, the toasted ravioli tasted a little weird, but all was made up for with the presence of a Ms. Pac-Man, a startlingly eclectic jukebox, and the personality of the place. I'm also eagerly awaiting the opening of BARhabana in Maplewood, as I've got a hankerin' for some Cuban food. I'm liking where Maplewood is going, there's new reasons to go there every day.
Among them:
1. Lots of wonderful B-movies at Movies Unlimited.
2. Pawn shops are great. Manchester in Maplewood has two.
3. African and Latin American grocery stores.
4. I said so.

A heads-up for the 1.5 people reading, we're actually getting sone decent free concerts being played behind the Arch on the riverfront this summer, including:
The B-52's - July 17 - If you've only heard "Love Shack" and "Rock Lobster," you're missing out. They're quite the quirky, bizarre, and catchy little band - the only downside is that they seem to have fallen into a "playing old hits for audiences at fairs" rut.
Liz Phair with Nadine & The Hang Ups - July 23 - Word on the street is that Liz' live shows are as much or more her old material as they are stuff from her new album. Even if you can't stand her new stuff, how can you turn down a free performance of "Never Said?" Nadine is fantastic local rootsy-rocky-alt-county-music-journalist-genre-label-of-the-week. That all doesn't matter, it's great music. This is so worth it for free.
Medeski, Martin & Wood - August 12
Bottle Rockets - August 19 - Another magnifique local rootsy-rock band.
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra - August 20
B.B. King & Dr. John - August 21

- posted by Eric @ 5:59 PM
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