Chico vs. The World

Errors and omissions

2007-01-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I left a few albums off my Best Of 2006 list that need mentioning:

Hot Chip - The Warning
Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye
French Kicks - Two Thousand
Menomena - Friend and Foe

The (Obligatory) Best Albums of 2006

2006-12-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again, isn't it? Well, in no particular order, here's my top ten:

Mute Math - Mute Math
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope
Tokyo Police Club - A Lesson In Crime
Hank Williams III - Straight To Hell
Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
The Black Angels - Passover
Oh No! Oh My! - Oh No! Oh My!
Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That
TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain

If you're looking for a #1, I'd have to give it to TVOTR and/or B&S. Deal with it.

In case you're curious how they made my list, here's my slipshot, entirely subjective criteria:

published this year (duh)
be an original album or ep release (no remix, best of, or collection albums)
be a solid listen through the whole album (no one or two song wonders)
have kept itself on heavy rotation on my iPod at some point during the year (gotta love it)
... but still be able to relisten to it when the initial sheen wears off (staying power!).

Behinds the scenes at the Zune Design Laboratory

2006-12-15T13:35:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned how ugly I think those things are? RIP DOA Zune.

New job!

2006-12-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

Howdy all! I just accepted a position at the University of Chicago to do full-time Linux systems administration. I'll be managing a couple of computation clusters that analyze data from the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland. Yeah, that's right, my dream job. No more Microsoft. Living in a bash shell.

So, on the flipside, if anybody wants to be an IT manager for a division in the Northwestern Med School, let me know. ;)

All the father's men | Salon.com

2006-11-16T10:47:00.000-08:00

It's like Dallas, but hundreds of thousands of people have died and we're trillions in debt. All so "Sonny" can show daddy what a man he is. *sigh*

2006-11-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

Blondie Hanging On The Telephone

Debbie Harry is so incredibly fucking hot!

Even more good news!

2006-11-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

Jesus Camp is closing it's doors!

Not as dumb as we look

2006-11-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

Holy cow. Rummy resigns, we take bake the House, and for all intents and purposes, the Senate as well. Has hell frozen over? Six of the longest years of my life are over. Hot damn! Congrats Democrats!

Bansky!

2006-09-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

Great photos of a recent exhibition of Art Terrorist Bansky. Maybe you've heard about his Paris Hilton CD stunt?

360 vs. PS3 vs. Wii

2006-09-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

All due credit for this post goes to Mike Lawler. He sent me this video this morning, which lampoons the latest Apple vs. PC commercials with a PS3 vs. Wii spin that definitely says the Wii is the better product. Basically it casts the PS3 as a large, homely woman and the Wii as a skinny blond tart. The message is yeah, the Wii may be cheaper and less powerful than the PS3, but hey, when you just want to have a good time, go get a Wii. I thought the casting of the PS3 wasn't quite fair, and initially thought a curvaceous, sassy black woman would have been more appropriate. We went back and forth on different casting scenarious, but Mike's last spin, which includes the Xbox 360, totally nailed it:

I'd make the 360 a spoiled sorority girl. Readily available, a bit upscale, fun, but needs YOU to buy her stuff. One commercial would feature the core "model", and she'd be hot enough, but constantly trying to convince you to "upgrade" her with a chrome finish or 20GB hard drive. Her Xbox Live subscription would be her allowance.

The Wii should certainly be a bouncy little Japanese tart who speaks limited English (non-traditional joystick). Plenty friendly, accomodating, really nice to look at, fun as hell, but not really useful. Certainly doesn't cook, clean, or do laundry. Strictly for ornamentation and entertainment purposes.

Then, I'd have the PS3 as the super-hot, unattainable, controlling to borderline dominatrix, ultra-high-end Mercedes driving bitch that wants to come to your house to throw your DVD player and PC off your roof. She speaks Sanskrit (Blueray), is in Mensa (Cell processor), and craps little rectangular blocks (HDMI output). She'd go absolute ape shit if she knew you had another gaming console around, so forget about that. She wants to monopolize your entertainment time, which, because she's so hot, is cool, but only for so long. Dates (games) with her cost a fortune ($60-$100).

My commercial would have the 360 standing there because she's already been realeased. Then, the PS3 and Wii would show up in a skimpy Misses Claus outfits (just in time for Christmas). Then the 360 and PS3 would start arguing over who was better (more features) and what they could each do for you. The Wii would just stand there looking hot, oblivious to any conversation. The PS3 would end up winning the argument, but you'd end up thinking that she was a total bitch and wondering if you want her in your house.

Feel old!

2006-08-25T10:05:00.001-07:00

I give you the Beloit College Mindset List! The incoming freshman class was born in 1988, which means there are certain facts about their lives that will make you feel old:

* The Soviet Union has never existed
* Germany has always been one country
* Richard M. Daley has always been mayor of Chicago.

You've lost that blogging feeling? Hell no!

2006-08-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

Lost that blogging feeling? Nah, just busy, busy, busy lately. So here's the story of that photo.

That photo was from Friday night of the Lollapalooza weekend. My friend Keely had won tickets, a hotel room and airfare for some friends from XRT. The hotel was a fairly swanky place downtown in the loop, so it served as party HQ for the weekend. After spending the day at Lolla, we got back to the hotel, had drinks and prepared to continue festivities on the northside. The hotel had these really posh terry cloth robes priced at $75 a pop. What can I say? I was feeling a bit Hefner, so I put one on. Damn, damn comfy if I do say so. Almost wore it out with me. Sure, I was hamming it up a bit but, that really did kind of capture the mood of the summer.

And that was only Friday. Saturday proved to be even wierder: After Lolla Dance Party on the El, DJ'd by yours truly. Cab ride to the Nisei with crazy cabby through traffic all fucked up by Marketdays. Friends in tears. A totally blown random pick up at the Nisei. Almost spending more than 5 minutes at sodding Barleycorn, but getting to see Gossy anyways. Random people craziness at Bar None. Wrigleyville normally has a wierd vibe on the weekends, but it was extra special wierd that night. My life went psychedelic around 3AM, without of the requisite drugs involved. Keely's cab back to the hotel getting stopped and the driver arrested for speeding and a DUI. Getting home at 5AM.

All in all, a pretty damn good time. You really could feel that wave everybody'd been riding all summer crest that Saturday night. After that, nothing else was really the same.

What in the hell happened to me?

2006-08-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

Christ, it's been a while since I posted, eh? Well, I've been busy. Exhibit A:

I'd say that kinda sums up the summer so far...

What a perv!

2006-07-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

Fearless Leader gropes the Chancellor of Germany.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

2006-07-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Check out this clever mash up/remix that has Dubya singing U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday.

Please kill me

2006-07-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

After a bout of whiskey drinking last night that can only be described as "heroic", I'm now dwelling in the inevitable afterglow of such inspired misdeeds. In other words, I'm hungover as hell and generally feeling like a zombie. Can someone explain this to me: I actually got to work a whole half hour early today.

Btw, has anyone seen my liver?

New blog is up!

2006-07-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

Jesus, I finally found time to whip that new blog into shape. Intonation Fest info's up, and only a week late. Drop everything and go check out The Analog Hole now.

Hippo eats dwarf

2006-06-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

This is so funny, I can't even comprehend it in its entirety. Only later tonight will I burst into a fit of laughter so violent that I vomit.

Intonation, you rock my world

2006-06-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Intonation Fest was an absolute blast this weekend. I've got some lengthy write ups to come, which I hope to post tonight. Actually, I'll probably be posting it all on a new blog, one with more lengthy content about happenings and to-do's here in Chicago. I should be able to get at least the first day's worth up tonight. I'll be sure to announce it when it's good to go.

Oops, Ozzie did it again...

2006-06-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ozzie's in classic form again. Unfortunately. For those not in the know, Ozzie Guillen, the White Sox's manager, called Jay Mariotti, Sun-Times Columnist, a "fucking fag" in an interview with reporters. Now personally, I love Ozzie for his in-your-face honesty, even if he does sound like a jackass. But I also knew that it'd only be a matter of time before he really got himself in trouble, and it looks like this might have done it. Go check out Jake Berlin's post over at The Bard's Room for our strangely prescient conversation on the subject a few weeks ago, as well as Jake's usually thoughtful and entertaining commentary.

And oh yeah, the Sox have been on an utter tear lately, having taken the last two games from the Cards by a combined score of 33-11. They've won 8 outta 9 since nearly coming back to win in the ninth against Cleveland two weeks ago. Is there a connection? Maybe this is part of some secret scheme by Ozzie to motivate his players? Are we all too ignorant and base to understand the scope and complexity of his Machiavellian schemes? Is this man a baseball genius the likes of which we haven't seen since Casey Stengal or John McGraw? Nah, probably not...

Cubs, Cubs, Cubs, tsk, tsk, tsk...

2006-06-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

Come on Cubs, you can't even win one freaking game against the Tigers and help out my Sox a little bit? We sweep the Reds at home only to find that we're still a game and a half out of first in the division 'cause the Tigers swept the Cubs at home. And we have the second best record in all of baseball! For the first time this year, I feel the Cubs' pain.

Cubs fans, leave some of your sorrow and pain in the comments below. Trust me, you'll feel better.

Libertarian Democrats?

2006-06-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Not to spoil the party mood after what I figured would be my last post before the weekend, but I read this over at Daily Kos, and found it pretty interesting. The author's comments about the role of government with the rise corporate power is something I've always wanted to argue about with a libertarian. Strange bedfellows for strange times indeed.

Enjoy your weekend y'all!

2006-06-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

From Page Six, via Salon.com:

"I didn't start drinking until I was 30," Jewel tells Blender. "I grew up singing for alcoholics, and it never really seemed like alcohol fixed anything. I was afraid that it would get me. Around 30, I kind of realized that alcohol really does solve all your problems. Whoever said drinking doesn't help lied. You live and you learn."

Ne'er a truer word spoken! Double dang!

Tom Verlaine @ The Double Door

2006-06-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

Tom Verlaine is a fucking amazing guitar player. I repeat: Tom Verlaine is a fucking amazing guitar player.

I saw him play last night at The Double Door, to a small but appreciative crowd that appeared to be a pretty even mix of music geeks both old enough and not old enough to have actually have seen Television in person. Marty Lennartz put it best is his little introduction before he played, "I think everybody here tonight has spent a night with the lights turned off doing nothing but listening to the amazing interplay between Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd..." *huge roar from the crowd*

His presence on stage was exactly what I had envisioned after all those hours doing just that. Shy, but friendly; not introducing himself upon walking on stage, but endearing himself to the crowd just a song or two later by twice politely admonishing the guy working the light board to quit changing the stage lights because he couldn't see the neck of his guitar. He played a set that was close to two hours straight, without a break, despite a broken string and the oppressive heat in the club. (Seriously, I hadn't sweat that much at a show since I saw Ministry in 1996.) The man is a total master of his craft, easily and fluidly switching between styles and influences. Blues licks that broke from the genre's tired forms morphed gracefully into improvisational stretches that didn't lose the plot by wandering for too far or too long. And boy could he make that guitar sing, just like in the more inspired passages of Marquee Moon. Hell, just listening to him tune up his guitar while the band started the song was amazing in and of itself. Admittedly, I haven't spent much time listening to his solo work, but he completely impressed me with the set that he did play.

No dear reader, he didn't play a single Television song. *sigh* Not even a few bars from Venus De Milo? *deep sigh* Oh well, great show nonetheless. When I get that time machine though, first trip: NYC, The Bowery, 1977.

Update: Don't take my word for it, check out a review of the show in the Chicago Tribune.

Supreme Leader Bush

2006-06-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

I'm a couple of days behind on catching this, but over at Crooks and Liars is a clip of Bill Kristol actually suggesting that Bush should be referred to as "Supreme Leader". For those of you not familiar with Kristol, he's one of the head ideologues over at the Project For The New American Century (PNAC). They're the kind-hearted braniacs who think we should quit fucking around and just take over the world by force. That's boiling it down, but that's pretty much the jist of their twisted little world view. Seriously, I wish I was making this shit up.

Back to the "Supreme Leader" crap. Admittedly, he made the crack after referring to Iran's head of state, who apparently does go by that honorific. Watch it for yourself though, he was serious, and even had a warm little smile after he let that little thought skate across his little pea brain.

I'd point out that there was a time when something like this would lead to outrage, public censure, or at least a collective labelling of this asshole, as well, an asshole. But I'm too jaded to be surprised by this anymore. It's a new century baby!

BTW, I found out about this via a silly little podcast by Twilight and Thebes. I've only heard a bit of one of the podcasts, but it ain't half bad. Mainly politics and porn so far, so I dig it.

BTW (Parte The Seconde), I found out about them via Shelley The Republican, which spouts more truthiness than even Fox News can spit out.