it's suntory time
last week's Anchorage Festival of Unpopular Music was a quite a good time. there was all day barbeque-ing, a dozen or so homemade hulahoops (with plenty of hips to match), stubby's free zine library, little kids air-guitaring on stage, cheap beer in the beds of pickups and weather ranging from all-out sunshine and temps in the whopping 70's to heavy overcast with a clipping breeze but nary a shower. sounds were provided by: the vienna boys sausage choir (their 'coming out' show), flying falcons, los gran torinos, double fines, spitshine, eu vusahm and fats tunamelt. more people showed up than i had been expecting and stage fright kicked me square in the teeth and sat on my chest (right next to the guilt for playing without sax-a-mo Joe). nerves got the best of me and the thing seemed to be more stressful than fun for some of the day. more and more i feel kin to David Berman's "anti-showmanship, anti-showanship, anti-showmanship" aesthetic*. it was great to hang out and catch some live music after being heavily pinned to the plant for the last few weeks. thanks to everyone for coming out (Ted--what's up, man? i was hoping you and meghan would show. you suckers shoulda come. you were missed) oh, and big ups to tree-dan for making it all come together. his support for anchorage's outsider music community is unwavering and noble.
this weekend brought the return of our roe technicians from Japan and my annual gift of Suntory from the duty free. i get a bottle every year and never seem to finish it. last year was a 15 year old bottle, this year's a 12--guess i wasn't as nice last year. no matter, the shit is just awful. anyway, their arrival marks the unofficial start of the season-- by the end of next weekend we'll have around 200 employees on hand, a fresh mosquito hatch and all the headaches that they bring. i need to go out and re-up on my scotch soon. the suntory will park right next to last year's bottle until i'm really desperate**.
finally started in on Drop City by TC Boyle. i've been asked often enough about how i think it portrays AK that i feel almost obligated to read it now. i really dig Boyle's short stories and Water Music is one of my favorite books so i'm interested to see his take on late 60's commune life in northern california and AK.
picked up the current issue of the Believer when i was back in town. it's some special music issue that comes with a cd of folks covering what they've "been listening to latley." the track by Josephine Foster and Vetiver's live version of Michael Hurley' s "be kind to me" (with Hurley apparently sitting in on "snock trumpet") are damn good. the Moutain Goats' cover of the Silver Jews' "Pet Politics" is fucking fantastic. plus, there is a very informative, well researched, carefully drawn out and down-right funny tree giving the heirarchy of the world of singing drummers.
* you should read here that i'm just a pussy when it comes to performing in front of folks.
** i'm not usually one to dwell in the mouth of a gift horse but i sure would rather have a bottle of that canadian whisky that always seems to be kicking around their place. they're like college sophmores in their first apartment: it's filthy (one guy actually had to be shown how to step on the foot pedal of a vacuum to release the handle from it's locked upright position), sparsly furnished, and littered with dirty dishes, empty beer and whisky bottles, and porn.
this weekend brought the return of our roe technicians from Japan and my annual gift of Suntory from the duty free. i get a bottle every year and never seem to finish it. last year was a 15 year old bottle, this year's a 12--guess i wasn't as nice last year. no matter, the shit is just awful. anyway, their arrival marks the unofficial start of the season-- by the end of next weekend we'll have around 200 employees on hand, a fresh mosquito hatch and all the headaches that they bring. i need to go out and re-up on my scotch soon. the suntory will park right next to last year's bottle until i'm really desperate**.
finally started in on Drop City by TC Boyle. i've been asked often enough about how i think it portrays AK that i feel almost obligated to read it now. i really dig Boyle's short stories and Water Music is one of my favorite books so i'm interested to see his take on late 60's commune life in northern california and AK.
picked up the current issue of the Believer when i was back in town. it's some special music issue that comes with a cd of folks covering what they've "been listening to latley." the track by Josephine Foster and Vetiver's live version of Michael Hurley' s "be kind to me" (with Hurley apparently sitting in on "snock trumpet") are damn good. the Moutain Goats' cover of the Silver Jews' "Pet Politics" is fucking fantastic. plus, there is a very informative, well researched, carefully drawn out and down-right funny tree giving the heirarchy of the world of singing drummers.
* you should read here that i'm just a pussy when it comes to performing in front of folks.
** i'm not usually one to dwell in the mouth of a gift horse but i sure would rather have a bottle of that canadian whisky that always seems to be kicking around their place. they're like college sophmores in their first apartment: it's filthy (one guy actually had to be shown how to step on the foot pedal of a vacuum to release the handle from it's locked upright position), sparsly furnished, and littered with dirty dishes, empty beer and whisky bottles, and porn.
posted by sqrl at 9:11 PM
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