Associated Happiness

So, I’m vegging in front of the TV. A commercial comes on with a song that always gives me happy feet:

The Buzzcocks: “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays”

I’m up and dancing around my fabulous new den, ready to buy whatever is being advertised. And, yes, I will be buying … in 26 months.

It’s an ad for AARP.

I guess fifty really is the new cool. Or so I’m telling myself.

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Say a Prayer Today

The K-man is having surgery today. Pretty serious surgery. He needs our prayers, kids.


Isn't he just the cutest thing? Scrappy little dude, too.

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Yeah, so last week I wrote that I was back ... and haven't posted since. Every time I sit down to write a post (and I have some great stories to share), I see a box that needs unpacking or a picture that needs hanging ... and I'm off, swirling my dervish self up and down the halls, making this place mine. I promise I'll be back in a few days ... and that I'll be a regular in your comment boxes, too.

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The Bitch Is Back!

The move was hellish … the soap opera that is my life bubbled and brewed … but I’m finally back, with lots of stories to tell, including a rave on one of the best shows I’ve seen in ages. Look for regular posting to return.

Loving the new home. Broke it in with a bang the first day of key ownership, and it’s been lovely since. I’m back in my favorite part of Atlanta … a bit closer to work … much closer to the music clubs … surrounded by some cool folks.

Looks like 2007 just might be my year …

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Think of It as a Vacation

I'm in the process of moving. I don't do moving very well, so I won't be blogging for a few days. I'll try to take some breaks and read your entertaining posts, though.

Anyone interested in moving my boxes and boxes of books?

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My Boys Are Hall of Fame-bound!

From REMHQ.com:

Billboard.com reports that R.E.M, Patti Smith, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, the Ronettes, and Van Halen will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 12 at New York's Waldorf-Astoria. The five to be inducted were selected from a group of nine nominees. To be eligible for induction, this year's class had to release their first single no later than 1981. R.E.M. released "Radio Free Europe" b/w "Sitting Still" on Hib-Tone Records in July 1981.


Congratulations go out to Peter, Bill, Mike, Michael, and Bertis from everyone here at remhq.com!

For more information, please visit billboard.com.

Anybody want to loan me $2,500 for a ticket to the show?

Happy Birthday to the King!

Y'all be sure to eat plenty of Krispy Kremes and fried banana sandwiches today. Celebrate in style!

Cup’s Best of ’06: The Concerts

I saw a lot of good and some great shows this year. I missed out on some smaller shows that keep the self-kicking alive — Sufjan Stevens, the Chan Marshall solo show, Pernice Brothers, to name a few — but I caught some great ones, too. Here are my favorite shows of 2006.

R.E.M. (Georgia Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony). Okay, so the setlist was a bit pedestrian — “Begin the Begin,” “Losing My Religion,” and “Man on the Moon” — but it was a thrill to see all four back on stage together (plus the always adorable Scott McCaughey). In my world, even an uninspired setlist by R.E.M. is an amazing thing to experience. And the final number of the evening — Peter, Mike, Bill, and Scott backing Gregg Allman on “Midnight Rider” — made up for the predictability

Tom Waits (Tabernacle). A magical night. It transcended a simple concert. This was, after all, Tom freakin’ Waits in his first Atlanta appearance in thirtysomething years. I knew I had to be there, so I went by myself. Best decision I made all year (concert-wise). What a performance.

Beck (Tabernacle). I was charmed by the puppets (just so damn cool), but Beck’s performance was great. “Black Tambourine” stayed on my daily playlist for a month after the show. My only regret is he didn’t dance for me.

Cat Power (Variety Playhouse). It was thrilling to see Chan Marshall in fine form. She was lovely and funny and brilliant … and Dan walked out with a bit of a crush on her.

Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 (Baltimore). The show was a helluva lot of fun, but what landed this one on the list was the encore: Dylan’s “Not Dark Yet” (one of my favorite Dylan tunes, sounding beautiful in Robyn’s voice); “She Said She Said” (can there be a better Beatles match for Robyn’s voice and Peter Buck’s guitar? And Scott McCaughey had the cutest smile during this one); and, of course “I Wanna Destroy You.”

New York Dolls (Variety Playhouse). My last show of 2006 … and what a way to close a great year of concerts. I initially scoffed about them touring; after all, what’s the Dolls without Arthur “Killer” Kane and Johnny Thunders? But David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain proved me wrong. I had so much fun during their performance; I felt 19 again.

Cup’s Best of ’06: The Songs

This morning started off perfectly for The Songs post. My shower song was “Crush with Eyeliner,” which got me dancing and singing (way offkey). How can you not love a song with Thurston Moore backing Michael Stipe, and Peter Buck grinding the hell out of that Rickenbacker? And what lovely lyrics: What can I make myself be (fake her) / To make her mine?

Here are the songs I kept playing and singing in 2006:

Beck: “Think I’m in Love”
Belle & Sebastian: “Another Sunny Day”
Johnny Cash: “Rose of My Heart”
Lloyd Cole: “Woman in a Bar”
The Decemberists: “Yankee Bayonets” and “O Valencia!”
Bob Dylan: “The Levee’s Gonna Break”
Flaming Lips: “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”
Gnarls Barkley: “Gone Daddy Gone”
Gomez: “See the World”
Minus Five: “Coffee, Cigs, Booze” and “Aw Shit Man”
Mission of Burma: “Donna Sumeria”
Alexi Murdoch: “All My Days”
The Pipettes: “Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me”
Raconteurs: “Steady as She Goes”
Sonic Youth: “Incinerate”
Justin Timberlake: “Sexy Back”
Twilight Singers: “My Time (Has Come)”

I’ll probably think of another 30 by the end of the week, so this list may be updated.

ALBUM OVERLOOK: Add Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins’ Rabbit Fur Coat to the list below. And I really loved Corinne Bailey Rae’s, The Hold Steady’s, and Joanna Newsom’s albums … but they didn’t make the final cut.

Cup’s Best of ‘06: The Albums

One of the best parts of having a blog is you have a forum for lists. I love making lists; it appeals to my OCD tendencies. So, today I’m playing Rob Gordon and listing my favorite albums of 2006. I tried narrowing it down to my ten faves, but there were too many good albums this year. Looks like I listed everything I bought in 2006; doesn’t even come close.

So, in alphabetical order:

Badly Drawn Boy: Born in the U.K.
Belle & Sebastian: The Life Pursuit
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan: Ballad of Broken Seas
Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Johnny Cash: American V: A Hundred Highways
Cat Power: The Greatest
Lloyd Cole: Anti-Depressant
Decemberists: The Crane Wife
Bob Dylan: Modern Times
Holly Golightly: Down the Line
Flaming Lips: At War With the Mystics
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova: The Swell Season
Hem: Funnel Cloud
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3: Olé! Tarantula
Lambchop: Damaged
Minus 5: Minus 5 (The Gun Album)
Mission of Burma: The Obliterati
Pernice Brothers: Live a Little
The Pipettes: We Are the Pipettes
Tom Waits: Orphans, Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
Yo La Tengo: I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass

TOMORROW: My favorite songs of 2006