May 27, 2005
RiverVest
You might ask, "What's RiverVest?"
Well its the Riverfest schedule that the music snobs here at Red Chuck Industries would like to see.
And yes, this is pretty much the same mark up as last year, if'n you saw that un.
Sorry. Some gags just don't get old around here.
For all you David Cross fans
This is awesome. David Cross addresses his own bad reviews in Pitchfork by parodying the hyper—hyperbolic writing styles of this indie rag's contributors. I particularly enjoyed this line about ButterFat 100:
Let its volcanic rapture overwhelm you like a 19th century hand-woven blanket made of human hair might have done back in the days when they enjoyed such things.
The empire burps crunk, indeed.
May 26, 2005
Secret Wall Tattoos
The Queens of the Stone Age are a rock band. When they go on tour they stay in lots of hotels. Rock band + hotel room = secret wall tattoos. Abstract art as nouveau rock god attitude.
May 25, 2005
Miami, Part II, the Day of the Iguana
Saturday we woke up at 10am. Another beautiful day, another leisurely breakfast. Instead of the beach we hit the pool. An afternoon thunderstorm sent us back inside. As the rain came down, we sat on the balcony and watched iguanas crawl for cover. 3 appeared from the bushes by the pool. 2 took the high road and scaled a coconut tree. The other one swam across the marina to hide in a patch of rocks on the opposing shore. Of the two that climbed the tree, one fell from the very top, bounced softly in the grass and patiently mounted a different Cocos nucifera. After the storm the iguanas disappeared and we had a drink in the rain—cooled evening.
Back to South Beach for dinner. We took a ferry to a cab to Tap Tap, a Haitian restaurant on 5th Street about 2 blocks from the China Grill. Oh what a difference 2 blocks can make. Tap Tap was resonably priced and the food was delicious. We ordered seconds of conch fritters and Haitian mojitos. Mmm mmm. Then back to the Delano where Will and I were stopped by a doorman who briefed us on the Delano's dress code. Funny that. Friday night no one said anything about our open toed shoes. But since we seemed like "nice people" the doorman pardoned our slovenly attire and granted entry.
1 cocktail and then we hit the road. By now we Delano veterans were plum tired and even the rumor that Kelly Clarkson was in da house couldn't keep us in our poolside bed. Enough said.
The New Red Chuck Shoe
Don't believe the hype.
Ok, well, I'm a sucker.
Introducing . . .
What were you expecting, Red Chuck Taylors?
Little Rock, Part I, Early Morning
4:30am — Wake up, answer daughter's request for water, eject dog from bedroom (he's making that horrrible smacking sound AGAIN).
4:45am — Attempt sleep re-entry.
5:00am — Get up, blow nose, squirt Chloraseptic 5 times into back of throat.
5:10am — Attempt sleep re-entry.
5:30am — Get up, it's no use, you're not going to fall back asleep.
5:45am — Fill Neti Pot, irrigate nasal passages, take Allegra D.
6:00am — Go to gym.
6:50am — Leave gym, sweaty, satisfied, you should do this more often.
7:05am — Enter drive thru line for coffee at big name coffee franchise.
7:25am — Leave drive thru line of big name coffee franchise with 2 lattes and an apology from befuddled server (something about a broken machine).
7:30am — Arrive home.
7:31am — Discover copious amounts of dog shit in living room, hallway, and office.
7:32am — Put dog outside.
7:33am — Calm, be calm.
7:50am — Finish clean up, take out trash.
7:55am — Shower
8:15am — Breakfast
8:25am — Go to work.
Note to self: you're not in Miami anymore.
May 24, 2005
May 21, 2005
Miami, Part I
So when Katherine's Godmother offered us her condo on Fisher Island for the weekend, we bit. We landed in Miami @ 9:15 on Thursday May 19th and waited in the limo for our friends Will & Mary.
Friday we woke up @ 9:30 and ate a leisurely breakfast of coffee & bagels from the Fisher Island marina store. Katherine ordered Cuban Toast, which turned out to be nothing more than french bread with butter.
After breakfast we took our golf cart (every condo here has its own golf cart) to the beach. We read, drank a round of Bloody Marys and Will and I played 2 man bocce, notable only for our creation of 2 new bocce moves — the "Scythe" (a side arm throw) and the "Hips of Joseph" (a defensive strategy). After our "bocce" game, we swam in the ocean, ate a late lunch and then played backgamon for an hour on the beach. Tough life, I know. At 5pm we headed back to the condo to get ready for dinner.
After taking the ferry to the mainland, we caught a cab to the China Grill arriving there almost an hour before our 8pm reservation. We went for a stroll up Ocean Avenue, Miami's claustrophobic version of Bourbon Street. Not really digging the vibe, we took a left on 10th Street and grabbed a drink at the Essex Hotel where the windows are octagonals and the lobby is quiet. The bartender told us to try Jazzit if we were looking for another laid back bar.
After drinks we caught a cab back to the China Grill. Traffic was at a standstill so our cabbie tried to go the wrong way down an alley for a short cut. Unfortunately about half way down this narrow alley some guy was unloading his car. We honked but the guy won't "move it" for us (I don't blame him) so our cabbie called him a jackass and then sped in reverse back down the alleyway. Once in traffic again our impatient cabbie asked us where we lived. Will and Mary said Nashville. He said he'd never heard of it. "Where is it? North, West, Left, Right?" he asked. Funny guy.
Dinner at the Chine Grill was expensive. We shared 3 appetizers (sushi, vegetable dumplings, and crab cakes) and 2 entrees (grilled shrimp w/ black linguine and seared tuna with seaweed). Obviously the place specialized in asian fusion cuisine. The food was good but not spectacular given the exorbitant prices.
After espressos, we hit the street. We walked 16 blocks up Collins Ave to the much hyped Delano Hotel. Outside, white curtains drape the facade. Inside, the lobby is enormous. Giant columns and more diaphanous white curtains cut up the space. It sounded like live jazz was coming from somwhere in this mantled labyrinth. We walked directly to the back, down and out a pathway that led past a shallow swimming pool lined with king sized beds. We grabbed drinks at the poolside bar and found an open bed where we spent the next 2 hours drinking vodka tonics and talking.
From midnight on there was a steady stream of people walking back and forth from the hotel to the pool side bar. We hung out on our bed until we spilled a cocktail on the sheets.
Next stop, David's for a late night snack. This entailed another colorful cabbie who asked us which David's we wanted. When we said we didn't know he said, "Well if you guys wanna be gentlemen, you will take these ladies to the David's where you can sit down." So that's where we went. David's is famous for its Cubanos sandwiches (ham and pork with mustard and pickles on french bread) which we all ordered. What could be better at 1am? After eating, we caught another taxi back to the ferry and were home by 2am, thus ending our Friday night on South Beach.
May 18, 2005
May 13, 2005
Go-Betweens US Tour Dates
FR 06.10.05
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY
SA 06.11.05
Southpaw
w/ Robert Skoro!
Brooklyn, NY
SU 06.12.05
Cat's Cradle
w/ Robert Skoro!
Carrboro, NC
TU 06.14.05
Abbey Pub
Chicago, IL
TH 06.16.05
Triple Door
w/ Dolorean!
Seattle, WA
FR 06.17.05
Slims
San Francisco, CA
SA 06.18.05
Troubador
Los Angeles, CA
May 06, 2005
Pootenanny
With a name like Pootenanny — we wrongly assumed it was a raunchy soul singer — we felt like we needed to find out who or what the heck was happening at the White Water Tavern on Saturday, May 7. We found out it’s a local take-off on a hootenanny, with the webbed network of the Salty Dogs/Amy Garland Band/Big Silver guys, who get together and invite other area artists bring their instruments and sit in.
Says Amy Garland/Salty Dogs bassist Mike Nelson, “It’ll be us, along with Conway native Chris Lipsmeyer, as well as any other local musician we can con into coming down to the White Water Tavern to play songs we all don’t know. The only redeeming part of the show is that the musicians play semi-nude.” Music starts around 9 p.m. and admission is $5.
Just read this here.
What the Bleep do We Know?
A five-week study group will meet at Trinity Cathedral every Wednesday night in June from 6:30-8:30 to explore issues raised in the film What the Bleep do We Know? (now widely available on DVD). A study guide along with other resource materials will be used; some weekly reading will be required. Topics to be covered include Paradigm Shift, Quantum Reality,Creating our Days, and Healing the Past. The film will be screened at the first session, June 01.
Room to be announced. Childcare may be available.
"Science and spirituality come together in this mind-bending trip down the rabbit-hole."--www.whatthebleep.com
"Never lose a holy curiosity."--Albert Einstein
This Saturday Night at Juanitas
May 02, 2005
Outbound
River City Publishing Announces
OUTBOUND:The Curious Secession of Latter-Day Charleston
by Charlie Geer
When from the sheer weight of humanity and its assorted accouterments the Charleston Peninsula broke off from mainland South Carolina and began floating out to sea, among the last to notice were those persons trapped on board the unlikely vessel. . . .
So begins the tale of latter-day Charleston and its curious secession. The schism occurs when the Sportsman's Jamboree (including Hunters for Jesus), the Bravado Arts Festival, and the Tri-County Mini-Storage Convention converge on the city at once. Native Charlestonians (those "born right the first time") and an accumulation of tourists-or "cumyahs"-and carpetbaggers now find themselves unbound from the conventions of family, community, even geography. Following the course of the errant island and its inhabitants as they wrestle with the new reality of living a life adrift, Charlie Geer presents a masterful and hilarious send-up of the nuances of entrenched society and the foibles of the human condition.
Author Biography
A native of Charleston, Charlie Geer received a BA in English from the College of Charleston in 1994. Before earning an MFA from the University of Florida in 2001, he worked by turns as a circus roustabout, an orchard keeper, a commercial fisherman, a high-school teacher, and a carpenter. He now teaches at the College of Charleston, where he also serves as an assistant editor for the literary journal Crazyhorse. Recent summers have found him traveling throughout Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. He has received fellowships from the University of Florida and the South Carolina Academy of Authors and is a past winner of the South Carolina Fiction Project and the Piccolo Fiction Open. His work has appeared in Tin House, The Sun, and Bloomsbury Magazine. This is his first novel.
Novel * ISBN 1-57966-062-2 * Hardcover * 6x9 * pp 272 * $24.95 * May 2005