April 2009
Stimulating the economy ...
I discovered SupermarketHQ in this month’s Paste.
I went a little crazy on the geek shirts:
Review: Conchords reach comfortable heights
Flight of the Conchords w/ Eugene Mirman @ Arie Crown, April 28
Notables in Attendance: Aims, Jerry and Tim
The duo opened with their Daft Punk via New Zealand techno song “Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor,” before stripping away their robot suits and returning to their usual acoustic slacker get-ups. It was a mix of old and new music after though they were later backed up by the...
Pop Culture Retard
Scene: Crowded Mart elevator. Pop Culture Retard (PCR) is engaging his friend in an impromptu movie guessing game...
PCR: ... the one with the guy holding up the boombox ...
Friend: "Say Anything." Lloyd Dobbler.
PCR: Oh, man, you're good. I'm gonna get ya though. "Spartacus."
Friend: [rolls eyes] Kirk Douglas.
PCR: Damn. "The Game."
Friend: Michael Douglas.
PCR: Okay, here's a hard one: "Indecent Proposal."
Friend: [sighs] Robert Redford.
I like Rob Thomas. Seriously.
I hate Matchbox Twenty’s music. I hate Rob Thomas’s solo music.
However, I do like what Rob Thomas had to say in a 2005 issue of GQ (story scan below). It seems especially relevant today with the announcement of the Creed reformation (ugh) and all of the hipster Lolla backlash from the other week’s lineup announcement.
Am I guilty of being a music snob? Totally. I remember...
News like this makes Baby Jesus cry. →
“I only use my junk for good, not evil. With great junk comes great...”
– Ted Crisp, in response to a suggestion he should rub his junk on the CEO’s chair.
For Texas Red's consideration ...
Infamous Ginger: Jeffrey Jones
Jones, best known for playing blowhard d-bag villains in the 80s (i.e. Ed Rooney), pleaded no contest to child pornography charges in 2002 yet somehow keeps getting Hollywood jobs, including a plum role on the acclaimed “Deadwood.” Shun this ginger, Hollywood, before you inspire fellow blowhard 80’s ginger William Atherton to murder Thai hookers...
Trevor Moore > Andy Samberg →
“Undeniably impressive prog-metal for people who’d never admit they like...”
– Jim Derogatis on Tool in today’s Sun-Times blog
Lolla Fail
TRUE. Though I’m more concerned with the lackluster midcard. Fleet Foxes + Animal Collective = Pangs napping under a tree.
detroitgorilla:
We pretty much knew it was going to be bad once Perry said “Kill” and then followed it up with “ers” instead of “the Killers”. I think it’s been established that Flowers and company have neither been able to move up to arenas nor write a song bros are...
Sex-less Panther?
The Sun-Times blog features a piece about the new “Star Trek” brand of scents.
It was originally called “Desperate Virgin,” but they weren’t moving any units.
Other rejected names:
“Living With Mom”
“Girls? Eww”
“Shut-In”
“Friendless”
“Growing Pangs”
How to lose the Miss USA crown
Tell gay blogger and pageant judge Perez Hilton you don’t believe in same-sex marriage.
“We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage,” Miss California Carrie Prejean said in reponse to Hilton’s question during the contest. “And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be...
Review: Cave War Kids
Cold War Kids @ Schuba’s, 4/17
Notables in Attendance: JTL, Dirts, Breese
Given the company, we spent more time making fun of everything than actually watching the show. Some quick observations:
Bros everywhere. It must’ve been decided in frat house chapter meetings everywhere that Cold War Kids was much more important than Thursday beer pong in the quad.
“We Used to...
Mr. President, Detroit already has a high-speed... →
The Coleman Young toy train set in all its glory!
I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on... →
“Snakes on a Plane” can now officially be used as an airline safety film after this incident in Australia. In the immortal words of the “Snakes” character credited only as “Man Bitten on Penis”:
“Aw, fuck! Fucking bitch! Get off my dick! Aw, fuck! Fuck.”
Sure, blame the sperm ... →
What about the eggs, damnit?!
“I’ve never really thought of myself as depressed as much as I’m...”
– Maria Bamford
Buy me this:
Jay Ryan’s “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” poster for Alamo Drafthouse’s Rolling Roadshow. Make me a very happy camper for only $250. I’ll even send you pictures of me sitting / standing next to the poster, as I enjoy it in my living room.
Throw in an extra $50, and I’ll go shirtless.
“Rihanna sticks her umbrella in her …”
– Today’s funniest subject line in my Hotmail spam folder
Review: "Rumor has it Lily Allen is playing ..."
Lily Allen w/ Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head @ The Riviera, 4/12
Notables in Attendance: Aims
Lily Allen played last night? At the Riviera, for real? Weird. I was there all night, but didn’t see her. I mean, I did hear her music — granted, it sounded like it was being played over the Red Line’s PA system — but that couldn’t have been her. Sure, I caught a...
"Adventureland" Review: I want to go to there.
Don’t believe the trailers. This is not “Superbad” (even though both movies share the same director and Bill Hader support). Think more along the lines of “Juno,” where you have an emotional, angsty storyline peppered with quirky characters and some choice comedic moments. Kristen Stewart is excellent as an emotionally unstable object of affection for Jesse...
Stalkers Welcome: Weekly Edition
Sunday, 4/12 - Lily Allen @ The Riviera (tentative)
Thursday, 4/16 - Cold War Kids @ Schuba’s
Sunday, 4/19 - Cubs vs. Cardinals @ Wrigley Field
Things I'm buying instead of fixing my spare tire:
My new obsession is photography. As I’ve wandered into the design side of creative work (straying from my writing background), I’ve become more and more obsessed with visual-art-related items. I was originally looking at dSLRs, but found few to fit my budget, needs and wants. The Nikon D90 came awfully close, but the +$1000 price tag seemed steep for a fledgling hobby. Of course,...
Barney is Judas?! →
Should’ve been Moe. Regardless, Popped Culture put together a great collection of The Last Supper images across nearly all forms of pop culture.
ShamWhat?! →
Next up: Jack Lalanne shoving bodies in the JuiceTiger a la “Fargo.”
Striking a Nerve
Above: Jenny Lewis and the Watson Lewis Twins on display
Last week Nerve published its Forty Sexiest Frontwomen in Rock. Talent, fame and what’s on the editors’ iPods clearly must’ve played a factor, otherwise the list proves pretty false. Janis Joplin over (Pangs’ favorite imaginary girlfriend) Jenny Lewis, Bjork over Stevie Nicks, and Beth Ditto appearing on the list...
Review: Lies cool the Fires
White Lies w/ Friendly Fires, Soft Pack @ Double Door, 4/3 Notables in Attendance: Aims, Dirts, Breese, Little Matt, Horwith, Critical Cousin I feel bad for White Lies. I really do. The “British-Killers-But-Good” (to borrow a reference from Dirts) put on a solid, dark set, but it was remarkably hollow after a charged performance from Friendly Fires. I wasn’t the only one who noticed. The Double...
I want to believe ...
… but I don’t think this is too far from the truth at times.
Calling Myself Out
Pangs is not above reproach. Things I’ve gotten wrong recently:
The Silversun Pickups lead singer was the chick all this time. It’s actually the very male Brian Aubert, but with a female-sounding voice.
Aims couldn’t ever beat me in Scramble if I didn’t play drunk. I was “destroyed” by 20+ points, dead sober.
“Trust Me” might actually be good....
1 tag
Fuck ampersands.
Ampersand, you know what? You’re on notice.
You’ve somehow fooled the general populace into thinking that you’re an acceptable replacement for “and.”
Guess what? You’re not. You couldn’t hold and’s jock.
You’re only acceptable for use in proper names, like “P&G” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.”
Just fucking deal with...
Free tunes, yes. Thirty dollar tee shirt, no.
Pangs doesn’t shop much at Urban Outfitters like he used to. Instead of overpaying for an ironic tee shirt, I’d rather put that money toward to, you know, a nice one. The only thing that even remotely interested me on my most recent trip to the Walton location was Donkey Kong Jenga (I haven’t bought it yet, if you want to give me a fun gift, hint, hint).
However, all this...
Phoenix rising
Sunday afternoon marked the first time Pangs has ever seen one of his favorite bands, Phoenix, perform live (sadly via Tivo’ed “SNL,” and not in-person). If you missed it, it was a solid performance, which is saying a lot considering how notoriously bad the SNL set is for most musical guests. The French quartet surprisingly played “Lisztomania,” followed by “1901” in the...
Good night, and good luck.
JWT Chicago is closing its doors. As someone who shares an office with the beleaguered agency, the news is hardly surprising. After Kraft took their cheese elsewhere, the space quickly resembled the advertising equivalent of a Wild West ghost town. That doesn’t make the news any less sad though.
This, in combination with “Trust Me,” have been two very bleak points in an...
Mmm ... wet Canadian chanteuses ...
Just a reminder, Metric tickets go on sale tomorrow.
Pangs’s love of Emily Haines is actually getting him to sell his Passion Pit tickets for the same night (although his admittedly heretical disdain of the Empty Bottle does play a factor). Currently, their new album “Fantasies” is second only to Phoenix’s “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” on The Official Growing...
