The Sixes Meme

My loveliest and most talented near-neighbor I’ve never met, Eskimo Bliss, tagged me with another random things meme. I love lists and I’m rather random, so let’s play.

The Rules
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

I’ve posted many (many, many) self-absorbed lists, so it was tough to come up with six things you haven’t read about me (and I told myself I can no longer include “R.E.M. is my favorite band” for six weeks). Let’s hope you find these somewhat entertaining.

1. I cannot step on a crack and break my mother’s back. I always step (sometimes hop) over the line.

2. I was once kicked off the bridesmaid team because Bridezilla said I wasn’t taking the wedding as seriously as she. Um, that counts as a duh, doesn’t it?

3. Broadway musicals bore me. I prefer my musical theater to be along the lines of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

4. I once had a sex dream about Corky, the mentally challenged boy on the TV show “Life Goes On.” What makes this particularly disturbing is I never saw the show. (And, yes, he was goooooood.)

5. I am a Target addict. Today’s ensemble includes the following Red Dot Boutique items: slacks, turtleneck, cardigan, panties and bra, tights, makeup. There’s a Target across the street from my office, so I probably average three pop-ins every week.

6. Whenever I’m blue, I play three songs to perk me up: R.E.M.’s “Turn You Inside-out,” The Replacements’ “I Will Dare,” and Wilco’s “Heavy Metal Drummer.” If those don’t do the trick, I move to Sonic Youth’s “Incinerate” and Spoon’s “Did You Evah.” So far, I haven’t had to dig deeper into the playlist.


I’m tagging six sexy gals:

1. Flannery Alden at Prone to Whimsy got all sexy and sixy!

2. Christine at Real Men Don't Watch American Idol

3. Lisa at That’s Why got all sexy and sixy!

4. D. Guzman at Beginning to Bird got all sexy and sixy!

5. WendyB at Wendy Brandes Jewelry

6. Sue at Dating Rules for Sitcoms

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16 Things You Don’t Know About Me

My favorite never-seen gal pal Katie tagged me with this on Facebook. I’m double-dipping, publishing this here and on Facebook. Maybe this will start a trend: blog posts at Cup of Coffey! I’ve listed a lot of things you once didn’t know about me throughout the blog years, so you may recognize a couple of these; just act surprised.

1. R.E.M. is my favorite band in the whole wide world.

2. I have a scar along the edge of my chin. Having the scar isn’t weird, although I have no idea how I got it. What’s weird is, until I was in junior high, I thought it was the seam for my skin … as if The Good Lord knitted my flesh Himself.

3. I cannot sit through a scary movie, except for vampire flicks. Dying to see Let the Right One In at the Plaza Theatre this week.

4. Shows like “The Bachelor” make me angry. Competing for a man? Puh-lease. If the Mormons are so concerned about the sanctity of marriage, why aren’t they going after that crap?

5. I have arthritis in my right big toe. The aches come and go, but it’s cool to crack the toe knuckle.

6. I could not say “goddammit” — not even sing it in a song (always replaced with “hot damn”) — until I started working at an ad agency in 1984. Those two years ruined my wholesome vernacular. Now, when this graceless creature drops something or bumps into something (a regular feature in my day-to-day life), it’s always “Oh, goddammit!”

7. I bite my nails. I occasionally quit, but I’ve been in mega-gnaw mode since August.

8. I haven’t been to a concert in six months. No wonder I can’t stop gnawing my nails.

9. One of my favorite songs ever is Wham’s “Everything She Wants.” Still treasure the 45. I throw my arms wide and belt it out every time I hear it, whether I’m in the car or in a store. Used to embarrass the hell out of the Beloved Ex.

10. I can go for a year without a date, but I get very depressed if I go more than two weeks without a flirt object.

11. I’ve never been married, and I don’t ever see myself getting married. I have, however, fallen madly in love more times than I have fingers. Who needs a ring when you’ve enjoyed so many fingers?

12. Jimmy Carter and his family went to our church when he was governor. One morning between Sunday school and church, I was drinking at the water fountain outside the sanctuary, and kept hearing my mom apologize to someone. When my thirst was quenched, I found that my little black patents had been stomping the hell out of the tips of Jimmy’s wingtips. Much to my great disappointment, the future president’s bodyguards didn’t wrestle me to the ground; I guess my twelve-year-old self wasn’t very threatening.

13. I kissed Warren Zevon.

14. I also kissed Rufus Wainwright. But only on the cheek.

15. I’ve been in the hospital just once, for a staph infection in my sinuses at the end of my freshman year in college. Never been through an operation, and I still have my appendix and tonsils.

16. 16 was my favorite number when I was a tweenie. Why? Because it represented being a full-fledged teenager. And 16 Magazine was my fave.


I'm not going to tag anyone on the blog. If you want to play along, type up sixteen things we should know about you.

And if you're on Facebook, friend me.

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My Six Degrees of the GMMP: Boom Boom

I was thrilled with Splotchy recently announced the return of the Green Monkey Music Project. I love putting together mix tapes, but have been too busy the last six months to get back into the swing. When he offered those of us who’ve earned the highlight covered GMMP Master badge, I jumped at the chance to head up a mix. I wanted something challenging, something to make the fellow mixers think, a theme that would open up to different genres 1 and to just plain see how interesting the connections could be.

Lord, here I go again, sounding like a Kurt Loder wannabe.

And so I came up with Six Musical Degrees. Like the Kevin Bacon game, our GMMP musicologists had to connect six musicians, or songs, or covers. Splotchy has posted the track listing, and will soon have the files ready for download.

So let’s get to my six. I wanted to cross genres, to include some of my favorite covers and artists — and of course work in R.E.M. Let’s see where that got us:

John Lee Hooker: "Boom Boom"
I’ve always thought “Boom Boom” was one damn sexy song, and it’s one of my top five favorite blues classics. “I love to see you strut, up and down the floor / When you talking to me, that baby talk / I like it like that.” To quote Mr. Hooker, whoa, yeah!



Van Morrison feat. John Lee Hooker: "Gloria"
You can’t help but love the original “Gloria” by Them — but two covers are actually my favorite versions. This is one, from Van’s album Too Long in Exile (1993) — and, g*ddamn, is it sexy with Van and John Lee. My toes curl and I get a shiver up the back of my neck to the hairline whenever I listen.


Patti Smith: "Gloria"
And this is my other favorite version of “Gloria,” from Patti’s debut album, Horses. Love it when Patti snarls “Jesus died for somebody’s sins — but not mine.” I always play this song when I’m pissed off. It helps. Man, I remember when this album came out and I heard this song for the first time. I just stopped. Played it over and over and over before I could listen to the rest of the tracks. Sometimes I wish I were Patti Smith.


R.E.M. feat. Patti Smith: "E-bow the Letter"
Even if you’ve read just one or two Rolling Stone articles about R.E.M., you know that the much-beloved Michael Stipe always calls out Patti Smith as his biggest influence. So it was a big thrill for us fanatics when New Adventures in Hi-fi — a much-underappreciated album — came out and we heard Patti singing with Michael. R.E.M. doesn’t have many guest vocalists, so this was particularly powerful for us.

Hindu Love Gods: "Wang Dang Doodle"
What a thrill when two of your favorites come together. Throw in a drunken recording session, and you have music gold, my friends. My R.E.M. boys Peter, Mike, and Bill supported the beloved (and kissed) (and missed) Warren Zevon on his 1987 album Sentimental Hygiene. The foursome got a bit blitzed on beer, and started playing around with all sorts of songs. It’s not a stellar album, but it’s damn fun — and you gotta hear their cover of “Raspberry Beret.”

Warren Zevon: "Boom Boom Mancini"
Here’s a track from the aforementioned Sentimental Hygiene — bringing “Boom Boom” full circle. That’s Peter, Mike, and Bill backing Warren. Brilliant album; this is maybe the sixth-best cut on it.




Here are my six songs, mixed by Splotchy. Want the rest? Then head on over to Splotchy’s spot.

So. Enjoy. Debate. See what our other musicologists strung together. And visit their blogs, too.

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The Power Pop Return of the GMMP

The beloved and musically brilliant Splotchy has resurrected the beloved and musically brilliant Green Monkey Music Project with the Power Pop Mix Tape. Having been undercover from the blogworld for several months (I’ve watched “Fringe” a bit much, haven’t I?), I nearly missed my opportunity to play. I begged Splotchy … bargained with him … offered cash bribes … and he finally relented.

Plus, the musical nerd occupying most of my soul was highly offended over a power pop mix tape without a single Big Star track — considered to be THE power pop group. And I worried that some of you may not be familiar with Big Star — a sad, sad thing. So let’s spend a few moments in music school.

Alex Chilton started his music career as lead singer in The Box Tops, which evolved from a band he started during high school in Memphis. The band scored with blue-eyed soul classics such as “The Letter,” “Cry Like a Baby,” and “Sweet Cream Ladies.” Alex was 16 when he recorded “The Letter”; next time you listen (which you can do as you read this, if you click the link below), remind yourself he was a kid.

Chilton joined Chris Bell’s Big Star in 1971. They recorded three brilliant albums — #1 Record (1972) Radio City (1974), and Third/Sister Lovers (1978) — none of which sold well. BUT. Big Star was a big influence on some of the best groups in the 1980s, including my beloveds R.E.M. and The Replacements. Chris Bell was killed in a car accident in 1978. Alex Chilton now performs solo, and also has reformed Big Star with Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow.

But who wants to read when music’s dying to play? Here are my GMMP Power Pop selections:

The Box Tops :: The Letter

Big Star :: Don’t Lie to Me

Big Star :: September Gurls

R.E.M. :: Jesus Christ

Alex Chilton :: Thing for You

The Replacements :: Alex Chilton

Cheap Trick :: In the Street (That 70s Show theme)

The Posies :: What’s Going Ahn

A mix tape for me is like a bag of Lay’s Potato Chips — I can’t havee just eight. So here are a few more Big Star songs and covers, to give you a hint of their influence:

Big Star :: Kizza Me

Afghan Whigs :: Nighttime

Jeff Buckley :: Kanga-Roo

Wilco :: Thirteen

Yo La Tengo :: Take Care

I hope I’ve sold y’all on Big Star, that you're dancing in your chair and singing loud enough to bug those sitting near you.

And welcome back, Splotchy’s Green Monkey Music Project!

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What's the Frequency, Coffey?

Quick report: Saturday's R.E.M. show was beyond amazing. I've written a full blog post — in my head — but have yet to find the time to put fingers to keyboard. Look for a full report (with groovy pix) in the coming days.

The kids in the R.E.M. office think it was an amazing show, too. According to REMHQ.com:

R.E.M. Returns Home in Style
R.E.M. ripped through a muscular 27-song set Saturday at Atlanta's Lakewood Amphitheatre on a balmy Georgia night, the last of the sixteen dates on the band's North American leg of their current world tour. It was arguably the finest show on a tour replete with stellar performances and highlights. The near capacity crowd, teeming with friends and family, witnessed a band at the top of its game, blending high energy rock, including a generous helping of the high-octane tracks from ACCELERATE, with some of the more poignant numbers from their vast catalog of songs — Time After Time, Let Me In, and Nightswimming.

For those who cannot wait, here's the setlist:

These Days
Living Well Is the Best Revenge
So Fast, So Numb
What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
Time After Time
Driver 8
Man-Sized Wreath
Walk Unafraid
Hollow Man
Ignoreland
Houston
Electrolite
(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville
Auctioneer
Harborcoat
The One I Love
I've Been High
Let Me In
Bad Day
Horse to Water
Orange Crush
I'm Gonna DJ

Encore:
Supernatural Superserious
Losing My Religion
Pretty Persuasion
Nightswimming
Fall on Me (w/ Johnny Marr)
Man on the Moon (w/ Johnny Marr)

Brilliant set of songs, huh? Just wait until you can read my gushing, workshipful review of the show.

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I Feel (More Than) Fine!

The R.E.M. show is tomorrow night — and this excited fan is beside herself! It's going to be a great night shared with great friends — and, I think, a great moment or two. I've been dancing and singing and reliving my twentysomething R.E.M. shows all week.

Here's something to help you get into my R.E.M. non-sleep mood:



Who knew HE was a fan?

The mix tape posts will resume next week. My PC's been under the weather, and thus I haven't been able to get to my MP3s. The Beloved Ex will save the PC day this weekend.

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The Belittling of the Little America Tour

Remember the excitement over my Little America Tour announcement, soon followed by God mocking and taunting me? Well, once again The Big Guy wins.

The Little America Tour has been whittled and belittled to two shows: Raleigh and Atlanta. No DC or NYC, Boston or Phillie. No visits with my beloveds … no meetups with beloved bloggers … not nearly enough nights dancing to my dearly beloveds.

Frickin’ sucks, doesn’t it? The reasons are many, but only a few are shared:

• The car is still teasing me with a Check Engine light that blinks on and off like Rudolph’s nose.

• Financial unexpecteds have drained the pennies my mechanic left in my savings account.

• I forgot my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary falls during that first week, and I want to spend that evening with my mom.

But I’ll get to see my favorite boys with Favorite Boy. And I’ll be dancing my ample a** off in the Atlanta pit.

Still … I’m cuing up “Everybody Hurts,” throwing myself on the bed like Lana Turner in a Douglas Sirk flick, and sobbing like a little girl.

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Little America

I have friends up and down the Eastern Seaboard, and for years I’ve dreamed of taking a roadtrip to drop in on each one for a day or two. I’d get to spend time with my beloveds — and have time to myself, the sunroof open, the iPod blaring, the mind relaxing. I love roadtrips.

I’ve long fantasized about following R.E.M. on tour, catching as many shows as I can. I want to dance and sing and be twentysomething again. This may be my last chance — plus, Modest Mouse and The National are opening.

Like a Reese’s Cup, I’m combining two fab wannas into one great trip: The Cup of Coffey 2008 Summer Tour.

Here are the tour details:

B. June 10: Raleigh. Favorite Boy and I are going to this show — and we wouldn’t mind some R.E.M.-loving company.

C. June 11: Washington DC. Evil Genius (or maybe it's Evil Evil Genius) says he may be there with Red or Pezda’s Ghost. We’re trying to get Pistols at Dawn to join us — because I’m convinced he secretly loves R.E.M. and hates Journey. I bet I can get him to shoot for a beer, though.

D. June 13: Boston. After DC, I’ll hop in the car and head to Connecticut and BFF Renae’s house. We’ll work our way up to the Boston show, where The Bastard may join us. Who else wants to dance on Tweeter Center grass with us?

E. June 14: Jones Beach. This is a maybe show. I may decide to crash on Renae’s sofa and have some girl time — unless one or seven of you New York-based bloggers want to meet me at the show.

F. June 18: Philadelphia. This is another maybe show, as my Phillie pal may be across the country on business.

G. June 21: Atlanta. The last night of my tour, appropriately back at home. Scrivener, Swirly Girl, and I have pit tix. It’s gonna be a night of whirling dervishes.

I can promise this will be a night you’ll remember for years … if only to experience Beth in R.E.M. Mode.

I’m getting lawn tickets — which means you can join me if you’re going to be in North Carolina, or DC, or Boston, or New York, or Phillie in June. We’ll dance. Cocktail. Dish and laugh. And enjoy one helluva great show.

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Mix Tape Friday: The Ones I Love

And that, of course, would be R.E.M.

We’ve been in Acceleration this week. In case you didn’t know, R.E.M.’s fourteenth studio album, Accelerate, was released this week to great reviews and great dance moves up and down my hallway.

Psssssst: Have you heard the news?

Secondly, Saturday marks the twenty-eighth anniversary of the band’s first performance — a big day on the calendars of us R.E.M. nerds. Can you imagine doing the same job with the same folks for nearly thirty years?

This has been a fun week for me — and I want you to join in the fun, to understand why I’ve loved R.E.M. totally and completely for most of my adult life. To help you get in that Athens frame of mind, here are fifty of my favorite non-album tracks — B-sides, fan club singles, cuts from soundtracks and tribute albums, a couple of live tracks.

Check in this weekend for one more R.E.M.-centric post — and a big announcement.

Let's start with a love song of sorts to R.E.M., and then dive into the cool tunes.

Pavement :: Unseen Power of the Picket Fence

R.E.M. :: Windout

R.E.M. :: Funtime

R.E.M. :: First We Take Manhattan

R.E.M. :: Burning Down

R.E.M. :: See No Evil

R.E.M. :: Bad Day

R.E.M. :: All the Right Friends

R.E.M. :: After Hours

R.E.M. :: Academy Fight Song

R.E.M. :: Sex Bomb

R.E.M. :: Ghost Riders

R.E.M. :: Chance (Dub)

R.E.M. :: There She Goes Again

R.E.M. :: Wall of Death

R.E.M. :: Memphis Train Blues

R.E.M. :: Adagio

R.E.M. :: Pale Blue Eyes

R.E.M. :: I Will Survive

R.E.M. :: Live for Today

R.E.M. :: Jimmy Crack Corn/Behind Closed Doors

R.E.M. :: Bandwagon

R.E.M. :: Dark Globe

R.E.M. :: The Lions Sleeps Tonight

R.E.M. :: Hot Java

R.E.M. feat. The Muppets :: Furry Happy Monsters

R.E.M. :: Only in America

R.E.M. :: Arms of Love

R.E.M. :: Baby Baby

R.E.M. :: Love Is All Around

R.E.M. feat. Robyn Hitchcock + Billy Bragg :: Tom’s Diner

R.E.M. :: Femme Fatale

R.E.M. feat. Kate Pearson :: Fretless

R.E.M. :: Wicked Game

R.E.M. :: Summertime

R.E.M. :: 2JN

R.E.M. :: Surfing the Ganges

R.E.M. :: The Passenger

R.E.M. :: Tired of Singing Trouble

R.E.M. :: Walter’s Theme

R.E.M. :: Sponge

R.E.M. :: Animal

R.E.M. feat. William S. Burroughs :: Star Me Kitten

R.E.M. :: #9 Dream

R.E.M. :: Jesus Christ

R.E.M. :: Favorite Writer

R.E.M. :: Dream (All I Have to Do)

R.E.M. :: Crazy

R.E.M. :: Wichita Lineman

R.E.M. feat. Bruce Springsteen :: Because the Night

Automatic Baby :: One

Too Accelerated to download each track? Take the shortcut to the zip file.

I could go on … and on … and on about every damn one of these tracks, but I’m trying hard not to bore you with minutiae. But let me point out what a groovy pool of artists R.E.M. has covered: Velvet Underground, Television and Mission of Burma, Big Star and Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen and Richard Thompson, Iggy and Syd — even Athens neighbors Pylon, Magnapop, and Vic Chesnutt.

These songs have me too distracted to continue typing. Think it’s time to Winamp up the room and dance. Hope you love this tape.

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Who Needs Klosterman or Fricke

when you have Stephen Colbert?

This is one of the best, most insightful — and, well, damn funny — interviews with R.E.M. I’ve ever seen. The Peabodiment of TV news anchors threw some tough questions at my boys, but they held up under all that scrutiny — and made me laugh until I cried.

The boys performed “Supernatural Superserious” — and the performance is on “The Colbert Report” Web site.

I am loving Michael's style these days. The boy knows how to wear a suit, doesn't he?

Acceleration week continues!

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Live from Rockefeller Plaza

In case you missed R.E.M. this morning on the “Today” show:

Losing My Religion

Supernatural Superserious

It’s a weeklong Accelerate celebration — I guess that’s an Acceleration!

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Accelerate My Heart

Yeah, okay, maybe the title reeks of hyperbole. But just a little. I haven’t been this excited about a new R.E.M. album since New Adventures in Hi-Fi was released in the fall of 1996.

And today I get to hold Accelerate in my excited little hands!

No more online streaming. The end of leaked MP3s. I’ve downloaded my preordered iTunes, counted down the minutes to the CD clasp. Every moment not spent in meetings will be spent groovin’ to the album.

And I’m gonna rawk!

It’s a short album — but, oh, what my boys can do in thirtysomething minutes. Some say it's a return to the Document days. I think my boys have finally gotten over Bill Berry leaving, and they're having fun playing together again.

Join me in the Accelerate celebration. I hope you caught their interview with Anthony Mason on “Sunday Morning” over the weekend; it was a good interview. R.E.M. is performing on “The Today Show” this morning (which I’ll miss, seeing as I work hard for the money). They’re also scheduled to be on “The Colbert Report” tomorrow night — the first time a band has performed on the show.

Yeah, yeah. Chris Funk battled guitars with Colbert a year or so ago — but it wasn’t the full Decemberists lineup.

It’s going to be a week of R.E.M. An announcement, a love song of sorts, some trivia, great tunes.

Damn, I am one happy girl today.

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Why I Love R.E.M.: Reason #73

Their brave steps to come out of the closet:




Thank you, cousin Jamey!

While we're in startling announcement mode: There may not be a mix tape ready when you get up in the a.m. Favorite Boy outdid himself with the birthday festivities, and I'm still a bit too swoony to focus on putting the post together. I may get it up by tomorrow evening ... if I don't get too swirled with Swirly Girl, that is.

Don't forget: Accelerate comes out Tuesday, so make plans to line up at your neighborhood record shop early.

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49 for 49

Today’s my 49th birthday, so I guess it’s time to face the fact: I’m nearly middle-aged.

That's right, I’m going to live and go to concerts until at least my 100th birthday, so I’m not officially middle-aged until next March. Please humor me.

It’s a strange thing, facing the fact that you’ve officially completed the growing-up process and are now headed on the downslope. Will I ever feel grown up? Does that mean I have to start listening to adult contemporary radio?

Let’s not get reflective and doomsdayable. Instead, let’s celebrate with a self-indulgent list.

1. I don’t work on my birthday. I believe it should be a national law — hell, a commandment.

2. I did work once on my birthday, in 1993, as I was flying to San Francisco the following morning. Miserable. No parades, no applause, no balloons, nothing.

3. I will never work on my birthday again.

4. I may forget your phone number, or the type of car you drive, or to get your package to the post office — but I will never forget your birthday.

5. When we reconnected after twenty years, Filegod1 was surprised to learn I still knew his birthday.

6. I quietly celebrate the birthdays of my beloved rock stars by wearing outfits that reflect their personalities and listening to their music throughout their special days.

7. (Why, oh why, hasn’t my neighbor Paste hired me yet? Josh Jackson, please call.)

8. One regular commenter — Renae, the cutie in the blue plaid dress — was at my eighth birthday party.

9. Except for this lovely shot (thanks to the hat and the glasses), I take horrible photos.

10. That’s why you only see the top or back of my curly head.

11. Gawd, I hope I’m really not that washed-out and pie-faced.

12. Nick Lowe and I share a birthday.

13. Favorite Boy and Elvis Costello were born on the same day.

14. If you’re a fellow music geek, you’ll think that’s totally cute, too.

15. I don’t feel old.

16. I feel younger and happier than I did at 39.

17. I guess fifty really is the new thirty. I’m actually looking forward to that decade of my life.

18. Four regular commenters — HollyC, RCofCHS, Filegod1, and Renae — and one (very) occasional commenter (Janice) were at my “surprise” 18th birthday party.

19. Those quotation marks are necessary. My mother let the surprise cat out of the bag because I was moping around over getting dumped.

20. My eyebrows are more gray than black. They’re grayer than the hair on my head.

21. We won’t discuss the gray-to-black ratio on other body parts.

22. Most of the women in my family tend to go blonde instead of gray.

23. I don’t think I can pull off blonde, though, unless I decide to embrace the wallflower side of my personality.

24. I’m currently hoping for the Susan Sontag/Bride of Frankenstein look: a shock of white on the black mane.

25. I have to admit, I like the gray shooting through my hair.

26. So far.

27. I have no desire to be younger, or to go back to a younger phase of my life.

28. I love my age and what I’ve lived through.

29. I just wish my a** had the firm strength of my adult personality.

30. I threw myself one kick-ass thirtieth birthday party. I remember parts of it, too.

31. I ended the party in a completely different outfit — which is interesting when you consider that my duplex apartment had an open floor plan.

32. (Lucky partygoers.)

33. I think I love R.E.M. more than I did most of my lovers.

34. Yeah, I know I’ve written that once or twice (or eighty-three times) — but you should never miss an opportunity to shout about the great love of your life.

35. Their new album — Accelerate — comes out a week from today, so be sure to check in for album updates and tidbits.

36. My 36th birthday was spent with Nick Drake, several bottles of wine, some goat cheese, and meandering drives through the North Georgia mountains.

37. It was my one quiet, reflective birthday — a birthday that marked a new direction in my life.

38. I’ve been at peace and I haven’t been lonely since that March of 1995.

39. I may be 49, but I've lived during six decades.

40. My fortieth birthday was spent in New Orleans — the best place for your fortieth.

41. We dined at K-Paul’s and Emeril’s … drank hurricanes, a lot of wine, a little champagne … hit the voodoo museum and the Blue Dog Gallery.

42. And, appropriately, spent hours snapping photos at the Lafayette Cemetery.

43. (If I were organized, I would have scanned some of those photos for this post … the key word being “If.”)

44. My lips are now enclosed inside parenthetical grooves on my face, as if my mouth is a facial aside.

45. Why do I continue using a magnifying makeup mirror at this wrinkled age?

46. As forty-eight counts out its final minutes, I realize how lucky I am to have my group of loved ones …

47. … the experiences I’ve lived …

48. … true joy for life.

49. Forty-nine is here. Favorite Boy will be here soon. Happy birthday to me!

* * * * * *

R.E.M. :: Supernatural Superserious

The first single/video from Accelerate. Get up offa that thing and dance, kids!



When is the new album coming out? Have you superseriously not noticed the coundtown on the navbar?

Not long before I'm dancing on lawns in your East Coast town ...

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Why I Love R.E.M.: Reason *69

Last Tuesday marked the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. And how did my beloveds mark that anniversary?

Could they be any cuter?

By debuting one of their new songs at Babeland — a woman-friendly sex shop in New York (Seattle, too). How frickin’ cool is that????

Go here for details. Damn, what I would have paid to be there.

BTW, I’ve shopped and spent at the SoHo store, and I highly recommend a pop-in. You won’t feel uncomfortable; you’ll be relaxed and giddy — while shopping in the store, and when you get home and start sampling your stash.

UPDATE: R.E.M. just announced their North American tour! Want me to crash on your sofa and take you on the musical trip of a lifetime? (Observing me at an R.E.M. show is a hoot.) Click here to see if you can join me!

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7 and 7 Is

The coolest couple of the blogworld — Flannery and Doc — both tagged me for the latest in blog memes: seven things you don’t know about me. I’ve posted a few of these memes, so coming up with fourteen new things you don’t know about me is a challenge — a challenge worthy of blowing off some office hours.

Flannery’s request was for a song-laden seven — and I’m more than happy to oblige. So, Flannery’s seven will be music-related, and Doc’s will be filled with deep, dark secrets.

And so, as Love sings, here is 7 and 7 Is.

Flannery’s Seven

1. The first album I ever owned was Blood, Sweat & Tears. Santa brought it to me the year our family got a hi-fi stereo. My favorite track on the album is “Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie” — but today I’m sharing one of the hits off the album, Spinning Wheel.

2. The first album I bought with my own money was the Help! soundtrack. Since it was the soundtrack, it included the various orchestral pieces played throughout the movie. Sadly, that version is not available on CD and I have yet to get my LP converted. Probably my favorite song on the album is You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away; John’s vocals are dreamy, and you can never go wrong with a well-banged tambourine.

3. The first 8-track tape I bought proves my extreme coolness: Jefferson Starship’s Red Octopus. Oh, yeah, I was groovin’ between the ch-chungs. It took many turntable Miracles to earn my record collection cred once I hit the college campus.

4. The first concert I was a Willie Nelson show, with Waylon Jennings and Leon Russell on piano, in the early 1970s. The whole family went. It was also the first night I smelled pot. I don’t think they performed this, but I love Willie and Waylon’s cover of (Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay.

5. I embarrassed myself in front of Eddie Money. He was in town for a show, and came to our campus radio station for an interview. Musicians are notoriously late for interviews, so I was in the cafeteria, no doubt flirting with my latest victim. Well, Eddie got to the station early — and, as PR Director, I missed out on my job of welcoming him. I dashed downstairs to the studio, where Eddie and a couple of the jocks were hanging out. I greeted him, then told him I brought in some albums (I’d just bought) that I’d like him to sign. He asked if I was going to his show, and I explained I was very hung over; he suggested some hangover cures. I yammered like a yokel and giggled out some inane, college-age crap — until I noticed the jock was glaring at me and the On Air light was lit. I handled it professionally, shrieking and dashing into the news studio. I was, as Mr. Money sings here, Shakin’ with embarrassment. He was a charmer, coming into the news studio post-interview, bowing and asking me to make it to the show. I didn’t.

6. You’d think my favorite band during my freshman year at UGA was R.E.M., but no; Michael and Peter had yet to find each other at Wuxtry. I was a typical freshman girl in 1977, swooning over Dan Fogelberg and songs like Aspen/These Days. Still sad that we recently lost him, although I haven’t listened to a Fogelberg album in eons.

7. I’ve become a digital queen in the last few years, buying fewer and fewer CDs. The last CD I bought was Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, which includes tasty aural morsels like A Foggy Day and Medley: Almost Like Being in Love/This Can't Be Love.

Doc’s Seven

1. I coordinate my reading glasses with my outfits. I have reading glasses in all the must colors: black, brown, red, lime green, turquoise, blue, rimless. Choosing that day’s reading glasses is as important a morning ritual as baubling up with the earrings, necklace, bracelet, and watch.

2. I’m very anal about my PC’s taskbar. Applications must always be opened in a particular order. For my office PC, it’s Winamp — Outlook — Yahoo e-mail — Current Projects folder — and then the application I’m using. If one crashes, I must close, then reopen all that follow so that order is restored.

3. I’m obsessed with Bridget Jones’s Diary (alternate title: The Cup’s Life on Celluloid). More than once I’ve watched back-to-back viewings on Bravo. Nothing better than a Friday night of take-out Thai and four hours of Bridget. I have the DVD, but I must always watch the broadcasts.

4. I got in trouble in kindergarten for kissing all the boys. (RCofCHS, it was your fault, I’m sure.) I also had problems learning how to tie a bow … probably because I was always trying to tie one on with all those beaux.

My graduating class at Kiddie Dude Ranch, 1965. I’m third from the right. Look at the wide berth those bitches gave me. Why wouldn’t anyone stand close to me?

5. I may have a problem with commitment. When given the choice of a five-year or ten-year driver’s license, I opted for the shorter-term license. If you knew my problem with getting licenses renewed, you’d be concerned, too. But who knows where (or who) I’ll be in ten years?

6. My left pinky is twisted from breaking the bone. I have no idea how or when I broke it; it has been that way as long as I remember. When I’m nervous, I click the broken joint back and forth. To further mar my short, stubby hands, I sport a writing bump on the inside knuckle of my right ring finger. I’ve never held a pencil properly — and thus cannot use chopsticks, either. My Japanese bosses tried teaching me in the early 1980s, but quickly gave up.

7. I’ve been a member of the R.E.M. fan club for at least twenty years. I get opps for presale tickets and a Christmas package every year, as well as a quarterly newsletter. It’s the best ten bucks I spend every year. (Did you really think you were going to get out of here without an R.E.M. triviality?)


And thus we close out another edition of Seven Things You Didn’t Know about me with Billy Bragg’s cover of 7 and 7 Is.

But not before I tag others — that’s seven and seven others:

All the Way from Oy to Vey’s Katie has 7’ed!

Bad Tempered Zombie’s Barbara has 7’ed!

Gifted Typist has 7’ed!

Give Me My Blue Blanket

I, Splotchy’s Splotchy has 7’ed!

Politits’s DCup has 7’ed!

Reject the Koolaid’s Jacy

Ribbed for Your Pleasure’s Mountjoy has 7’ed!

Save Your Generation’s Pistols at Dawn has 7’ed!

Scrivener

Tanya Espanya has 7’ed!

Wapentake has 7’ed!

What I Like About the Universe's Evil Evil Genius has 7’ed!

Yawp's Third Worst Poet in the Galaxy has 7’ed!

Get your seven spillin’, kids.

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Walk Unafraid

My best friend’s life changes today. We’ve always gotten a lot of strength from this song, so I’m posting this for you, Renae. I'm thinking about you.

R.E.M. : Walk Unafraid

As the sun comes up, as the moon goes down
These heavy notions creep around
It makes me think long ago
I was brought into this life a little lamb, a little lamb
Courageous, stumbling
Fearless was my middle name
But somewhere there I
Lost my way
Everyone walks the same
Expecting me to step
The narrow path they've laid
They claim to

Walk unafraid
I'll be clumsy instead
Hold my love me or leave me high.

Say 'keep within the boundaries if you want to play.'
Say 'contradiction only makes it harder.'
How can I be what I want to be?
When all I want to do is strip away
These stilled constraints
And crush this charade
Shred this sad masquerade
I don't need no persuading
I'll trip, fall, pick myself up and

Walk unafraid
I'll be clumsy instead
Hold my love me or leave me high.

If I have a bag of rocks to carry as I go
I just want to hold my head up high
I don't care what I have to step over
I'm prepared to look you in the eye
Look me in the eye
And if you see familiarity
Yhen celebrate the contradiction
Help me when I fall to

Walk unafraid
I'll be clumsy instead
jold my love me or leave me high.
Walk unafraid
I'll be clumsy instead
Hold my love me or leave me high.

Up, 1998

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Nobody Rocks It Like R.E.M. Rocks It

R.E.M.'s first (official) live album was released a couple of weeks ago. I've been surprised by how many neophytes have told me they didn't realize how good my beloveds are on stage. Sad, isn't it? So, dear readers, here's a live clip from the boys to prove they rock it like nobody rocks it.

Don't you just adore Peter's striped pants? And Dan's willingness to laugh at his once ass-whupped self?

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Absorb … Like, Totally

If you’ve read this blog just twice, you know I never miss an opportunity to write about music, obsess about music, muse about music. So when I saw that fellow shy-avatarist Splotchy was starting The Green Monkey Project — sure to be quite the intelligent music discourse on Blogspot — I waved my virtual hand and joined the cool kids at their table. The other players have street cred (at least on my street): Bad Tempered Zombie and Monkey Muck.

The first Green Monkey Project assignment: Total Absorption.

What Splotchy wanted were the songs that totally absorb us. You know the ones — those songs that keep you driving ‘round and ‘round the block until the last note fades on the radio station, even though you have the album, and the CD, and the MP3 at home. You just gotta listen.

Being a product of the rocker 1970s and the new-wave 1980s, I was surprised that most of my songs lean toward the mellow. Here’s my list o' ten (well, okay, eleven):

R.E.M.: Radio Free Europe
Show of hands of those surprised by this first choice? Anyone? “Radio Free Europe” has been at the top of my must-stop list since Mitch Easter helped the boys rework it in 1983. I wish I could write the sentence that conveys the joy, the thrill every time I hear the song. It’s that magical summer of 1983 again, with Renae and Simeon and Shawn. I heard it at 4:20 this morning, and danced my absorbed ass all over the room.

Lyle Lovett: Friend of the Devil
I love this Grateful Dead cover (from the Deadicated tribute album). Lyle’s version is hauntingly perfect, and it brings back a very lovely memory. And that’s all I’m going to say on that.

Michael Stipe feat. Chris Martin: In the Sun
Here I go again with “lovely” and “haunting”; I need a new music-criticism thesaurus, don’t I? But maybe it’s those qualities that absorb my attention. This is the best Michael has sounded in years; his voice is honest and beautiful. I agree with Peter Buck that Stipe has the best rock voice out there today, but he can really nails the ballads. I have played this song over, and over, and over again for an hour straight … and I think I’m gonna do that right now.

Nina Simone: Feeling Good
Pure sex. Every time I hear it, I want to put on my highest-heeled black pumps, sheer black nylons, and slink across the room. Slowly. Nobody out-sizzles Ms. Nina, especially with this one.

Oasis: Champagne Supernova
The Gallagher brothers have written and recorded many songs that stay on my top 250 list, but this is the one that gets the most love and replays. I can never turn off the car when it’s playing — not even at 5 a.m.

Neil Young: Philadelphia
If there’s blood cursing through your veins and hearing this song doesn’t chill said blood, then you may not have a soul. I cry. Every. Damn. Time. I hear this song. My dad once heard me playing it and commented that it was a sad, lovely song; if you knew OM’s taste in music, you’d be impressed.

Nanci Griffith: Morning Song for Sally
Jerry Jeff Walker penned the loveliest, saddest, short-story-in-a-song evah. This song needs no video; the film in my head is unbeatable. Those five minutes rip my heart out every time, and Griffith’s voice is the perfect match for the song. Another song that has been replayed an hour straight. I’ve never been able to find Jerry Jeff’s version of this; anyone want to share?

Al Green: Love and Happiness
“Something that can make you do wrong / Make you do right.” And then that “heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey” that nobody can pull off like the Reverend. My shirt starts slipping off the shoulder on that "heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey”; I can’t help myself.

The Replacements: I Will Dare
Whenever I’m stressed or sad or blue, I put this on and dance around the room. The song makes me damn happy. How can you not love a song with “How young are you / How old am I? / Let’s count the rings / Around my eyes”? And that guest guitarist? The kid’s gonna be big one day.

Brothers Johnson: Strawberry Letter 23
This cover of the Shuggy Otis tune has been one of my very favorite songs since it came out in 1977 (my senior year in high school). I generally stop mid-sentence and lose my spot in reality when I hear it played in a store, or in the car, or at home. And, of course, I have to move my shoulders. Because I’m a funkster, y’know.


Pop over to Splotchy’s spot to see the full mix. And gimme another assignment, DJ Splotch.


COMING UP:
My review of Monday's Rufus Wainwright/Neko Case show!

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