I thought I had heard everything, roughly anyway, until I heard the Jackson 5 were getting back together.
[via] Pitchfork
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Update: Michael denied those bloody rumors Jermaine was spreading. Not happening after all, he says. Which is just as well. Would have been frightening to witness Wacko Jacko performing “ABC” 39 years after the fact.
Unless plans change, it appears I’ll be participating in 2008′s National Novel Writing Month.
We did it in 2006, and “won,” then last year straddled the fence before deciding not to.
So, having taken last year off, and also having temporarily abandoned my previous manuscript-in-progress, and also missing other November contests that have kept me busy in the past, as of tonight it’s official. November 1st we’ll be taking another stab at it.
It’s going to be difficult. And fun. And probably a little difficult. But still fun. Who’s coming with me?
I figure I’ll go ahead and say it here, since the internet gets the word out best.
I was robbed at gunpoint last night, while walking to my apartment from a bar only a couple blocks away. The dude asked me for a cigarette, and when I said I don’t smoke he kept walking beside me for a while, then held a gun a foot from my head and made me empty my pockets on the street. It was all dimly lit and no one was around.
I actually tried to put up an argument with him, which seems incredibly stupid in retrospect. But, with several drinks in me, I asked him pretty please not to take all my keys and credit cards, and to wait just a sec while I removed the SIM card from my worthless red Nokia, as to not lose all my precious contacts (that last part’s a joke). But then I was like, holy crap, this guy could really shoot me, which occurred to me when the guy kept saying “I’m gon’ shoot you, man.. drop it all.. I’m gon’ shoot you.”
I’m still alive and fine, which is the important thing. Just a little pissed off and shaken up. My faith in the Birmingham PD has gone up a tad, as for once they actually ended up being super helpful with everything from filing the report to sending a few cars out in the direction of where this guy took off running. And even more than that, my buddy Carlos (of Kids Got The Disco fame) ran into me, then waited, and eventually drove me home and then waited some more while I dialed and canceled all my cards from his phone. What a guy.
So here are a couple things I need from you:
1) Your telephone numbers. I no longer have anybody’s. If you don’t want to post them on the internet for all to see, just text them to (205) 427-2581. But wait a little while, as I have to go to T-Mobile today and pick up a new phone. Hopefully when I say I’m Kevin Wilder they’ll take my word for it, since I no longer have an ID that says so. Except for my passport, but Lord knows where that is.
2) If you live in Highland Park, or anywhere for that matter, be careful. Please take this motherly advice. I never consider the possibilities of stuff like this happening, but it happens to someone all the time. Shit’s crazy, man.
3) And finally, if you read this in the next few hours and feel like it, call this guy on my phone. If he picks up, tell him he’s a lousy worthless douchebag or something even more morally debasing (I’ll let you decide what to say, as you’re all creative people).
Seems to only get more confusing all the time. This article reveals how well the last Radiohead album did, telling how many consumers downloaded it, and then how many later purchased the physical copy, and also the ones who bought the strangely inventive “deluxe” edition, etc. etc.
When I buy an album, I always want physical proof. A little something for the kids to see one day, maybe. But then, of course, I instantly need to import the album into my iTunes library, then update the iPod so I can listen wherever. It’s kind of time-consuming, and annoying. But it’s not like the alternative—clipping a CD Walkman on my pants—would be any better. Trying to run or bike under those conditions would only cause the music to skip, and would feel too mid-nineties in a bad way.
Sometimes I miss being 13. Then I’d spend an entire summer listening to two or three albums. Music seems kind of disposable now, and I hate that about it, even though I probably still love it as much as I ever did then. On the other hand, it does feel kind of cool to accumulate so much of it all the time. I was mostly oblivious to The Who until a couple years ago, but now it feels like I’ve been listening to them for a lifetime. A tiny device can hold our parent’s and grandparent’s music, along with whatever we liked in the past and that which we prefer now, which is bound to change constantly. Most collectors dabble in everything: CDs, artist-released downloads, iTunes store purchases, BitTorrent downloads (shh!), vinyl records (occasionally I’ll meet a cassette tape-collector, though hardly ever). Ringtones have never really struck my fancy, but Lord knows they’re popular.
This conference in Iceland coming up will discuss the future of recorded albums. I’m guessing a lot of media industry folks will be hanging around there, continuing in their efforts to make sense of it all. It’ll be interesting to see where it’s all going. Mostly though, I worry for the artists, since it seems kind of ludicrous for the majority to make a living from concert tickets and t-shirt sales, which can’t amount to much.
George Saunders said this; found over at Daytrotter:
“The basis for literature is the fact that all of our brains are essentially, structurally identical. First love in 1830, in Russia, beneath swaying pines, is neurologically identical to first love in 1975, back of a Camaro, Foghat blaring. That’s why that wonderful cross-firing occurs when we read.”
This month’s Bookslut is packed with some great stuff, including a Daniel Handler interview, which mentions his writing, the possibility of an Unfortunate Events film sequel, and how “the thing about being an accordionist is that you’re the best accordionist anybody knows”:
Today I went on a local carousel with my son, and to my astonishment the music they played was The Magnetic Fields’s “Zebra,” featuring me double-tracked on accordion. I’m sure there aren’t too many musicians who can claim to play indie rock and on carousel soundtracks.
He also said some things I liked about his “life (being) an integration of work and not-work.” I guess it kind of relates to my ongoing dilemma, which is distinguishing between the two, which is also something that may or may not be common amongst so many of my friends.
I know a good plenty of you are planning on heading to The Great Book of John CD release tonight. Just wanted to remind you to come to Bottletree early enough (8:00 I presume) to catch RedHarp. I’m excited to say I’ll be joining in for two songs, not dressed as Laura Ingalls Wilder or anything, but still having fun.
