Evan

covid

Covid's Calling Card

Lost my taste and smell today. Bound to happen as it's Covid's calling card. Hopefully not for long. Out of the growing number of people who told me (admitted? confessed?) to getting it, this might last for two days to two weeks or anywhere in between.

rolling stones

Poem: Coincidence of Sickness

2013: Near Halloween, a sinus infection, Lou Reed leaves, Yellow,  like leaves. 2016: Lying on the pneumonia sofa, Bowie's ghost visits Hello, sir, Good-bye sir. 2021: Rona at the midway point,  (or so (the ones who paved the way before me tell me) It's poor Charlie

john lennon

Nobody Told Me

I don't know why I'm so fascinated with John Lennon's "Nobody Told Me." I think it's because reverb on the vocals aside, you can hear the 80's creeping in. I could imagine, had he lived, Lennon might have

steve kilbey

Steve Kilbey-- The Hall of Counterfeits

Had a nightmare yesterday, the  kind that woke me up because I was trying to talk in my sleep and my talking or rather wordless emoting woke me. I have a fever. Sittng upstairs where it's naturally hot because the insulation is non-existent and no matter how I

ween

Serendipity

Ran some errands down in Redlands. Ended up stopping in to an antique store on a whim. Was about to leave disappointed when I discovered this. It's not that I'm a fan of oddities from 1974. Although I'm not sure these were oddities as

guided by voices

Another day, another Guided By Voices album

And wow what a great song it is. I hope I am still as prolific and creative as Robert Pollard is when I reach my 60's. Hopefully the upcoming album, It’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It Is Them! which drops in October will be

How we Lost the west

I traveled back to Lost Angeles on business and by "business," I mean keeping the one solid, dependable, honest mechanic I have ever met in my life in business through my continued support.  When I told him I moved a few hours away, he nodded his head and

Staycation

Kind of. More like a hybrid model. Discovering our new location while visiting places within driving distance. And going back to old decrepit haunts. Instagrammable. Although the heat is ridiculous. Redlands is the right blend of hipster small town vibe. But it's totally not snake oil at all.

Hollywood Babylon

I forgot how estranged I am from Los Angeles until I returned this weekend for a shoot. I checked into a hotel I stayed in the last shoot, which was in roughly the same part of L.A.– the Burbank/North Hollywood region. Day one of the shoot was fantastic,

Modest Mouse: We Are Between

The video reminds me of a short story by Gene Wolfe where everyone lives in cars. Really liking this track. The band has evolved a lot since "This is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about."  Much more tighter, melodic songwriting. And this track is

three marm

Three Marm Brewery

I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I make sure it's local and that I can cook with it. Despite my American upbringing and my German and Celtic background, somehow I inherited a continental taste for wine over beer. Maybe it's because

R.E.M.

Maps and Legends

I picked this map up in an antique store with the idea of framing it in my office. If you grew up during the pre-internet years and weren't rich enough to have a vacation that involved taking an airplane to get there, then you most likely spent a

razor nights Featured

Razor Nights: Last Days

We don't really care about love, all we really care about is doing these drugs, and in the end we all have to die tonight. Two years ago, Diana Death, Gomez and crew melted faces with their tight and danceable as fuck  debut Come Without Warning [https://asidesandbsides.

venice

Fundraiser for "T."

When I left Los Angeles for the mountains a few weeks ago, I was conflicted. The place I called home the past eleven years had changed before my eyes. Like the proverbial frog in the boiling water, the changes were imperceptible at first until they no longer were. Homelessness has

Mountain Memorial Day

Woke up to the sound of revolution. Or at least a revolutionary war reenactment band. Teenagers, by the look of them. Whites and blues and reds. They were mixing England and America. Drums worn at an angle to play traditional cadences. Flue sand bass drums, too. In between songs, the

st joan

Great new music find: Saint Joan

Saint Joan. Great album.  I don't know anything about her except that Joseph Arthur mentioned her on his Instagram. I checked out the album and was very pleased. Retro in a great way but also modern. Great lyrics and infused with spiritualism that is a very great listen

Mike Watt,

SLW cc Mike Watt

I love this whole album by Samuel Locke Ward and Mike Watt. Real Manic Time [https://slwccwatt.bandcamp.com/album/real-manic-time]features really short songs, some avant-garde kinda Beefhearty stuff, some surfy doo wop stuff, an off-kilter jazz track or two and some lo-fi indie stuff, too. It's

Chilly rainy mountain morning

I will never complain about the rain. I grew up in Pittsburgh where it’s like this 300 days a year. More importantly the are where I live depends on the rain for tourism becuase of a lake. And since we've been in a drought, it helps protect

luna

Luna, live (remotely) at Gold Diggers, Los Angeles

Fun fact– the last live show I saw was Luna at the Teragram in Los Angeles,  in February 2020. My daughter got to meet Britta and now has an eternal role model. The world collapsed after that and Luna shifted to living room concerts and the following year I moved

Where's the Tardis for the 80's?

I spent a few hours in Redlands today which is my new home away from home. It's down the mountain, or as the locals call it "Down the hill." I went through a huge antique store and memories flew. 80's posters. VHS tapes from

journalist

Worthless Journalists

Good journalists interview people and report facts. Bad journalists interview people and ignore facts. The former are in short supply and make up 2% of the profession. The latter are a dime a dozen. And it doesn't matter whether they are writing hard news, or magazine articles. The

writing

Fugacious advertising

Last night, my daughter was watching live TV and a commercial I wrote came on the air. For the past two months, she's heard all it entails to bring something like this to life. Approving the voice over by the copywriter and in some last minute instances rewriting

poem

An L.A. Summation

Arriving from Canada, sleeping on sofas, A hundred concerts Four full time jobs, A dozen freelance ones. The death of two parents A cat's ashes scattered at sea. Holidays unnoticed Never-changing weather pattern. Sepulveda looks like Centinela. The menace of Venice's homeless Expand through the city

Forward into unforeseeable

It's hard to process that in one week's time I'll be living somewhere else after calling the same zip code home for eleven years, the second longest place I've veer lived after my birthplace that I haven't lived in or

harold budd

Obscure No. 10: The Pavilion of Dreams - Harold Budd

When I think of sci-fi film soundtracks, two types of music come to mind. Vengelis synths. And Harold Budd. The former because of Blade Runner, and the latter because of Blade Runner, too. There's something so film noirish about some of Budd's music that pairs well