nah pop, no style

Also, while I’m here at this computer, as promised, tour dates. Not everything is ABSOLUTELY shored up, but most of it is:

the sea, like lead spring tour 2006

Friday, May 5 - Kiva Center, Northampton Community College, Bethlehem PA, with Belegost, October Skyline, Get to the Chopper. 7:30, $8.

Saturday, May 6 - Rudy’s New Haven, New Haven CT, with They and the Children. 10:00ish, $3, 21+.

Sunday, May 7 - Bang-a-Rang Collective House (I don’t ask questions), Lewiston ME, with The List Exists, Orange Lazarus, Hallowed Butchery of the Son, one more. 6:00, donation.

Monday, May 8 - Boston. This is yet unconfirmed.

Tuesday, May 9 - University of Delaware, Newark DE, with Wether, more. $5.

Wednesday, May 10 - Somewhere in College Park MD, hopefully.

Thursday, May 11 - Northsix (DOWNSTAIRS! Don’t go to the upstairs because you’ll see the Chinese Stars), Brooklyn, with Know Your Enemy, Hoover Flags, more. $7, 8pm?

Friday, May 12 - Be Happy House, Philadelphia PA, with Wether, more. $5.

Saturday, May 13 - Kansas House, Arlington VA, with My War.

That’s that. Please come see us if you’re in or around one of those places. If I don’t know you, introduce yourself. My goals for tour are: make new friends, don’t lose money, get some reading done, see some new things, rock out without breaking my fingers. Not necessarily in that order.

It’s an awful shame what happens when I get lazy and don’t keep my room straightened up (read: 80 percent of my life) — I start to dislike spending time there, because it’s just uncomfortable to have to step on/over so much stuff to get around, and because there’s a sense of shame at having such a disgusting hovel. I start to wonder when my sister will be by to feed me rotting food, and when my dad will start hurling apples at my back to see if they stick.

So, it’s an unusual and pleasant feeling of victory that greets me when I actually buckle down and clean up, as I spent a great deal of tonight doing, and will hopefully finish up tomorrow. Of all the cool stuff that I get involved with, cleaning my room may be the thing that gives me the most satisfaction. Hanging the stuff that I’ve been meaning to hang for months, and the stuff that I hung last year that fell sometime between then and now. Putting the shelves mentioned here a few days ago to work finally so that I have less stuff just sitting around on the floor in the corner. Vaccuuming, for Christs’ sake. If I wanted, I could probably actually show other people my most personal space again. I have some cool stuff, if I might say so myself. A Jim Lingo painting, some sweet Budai prints, small things that various people including Emma’s dad and I myself have made through the years. It’s not particularly fair to keep it all squirreled away where no one will ever find it.

I am still kinda snotty and sick but getting better. Everyone around me is falling to this cold now — roommate, student worker, coworkers, etc. Suckers.

Anyway, the reason I come to you now is to pass along this sad piece of information, brought to my attention via the always-interesting her jazz:

Boycott Yuengling Beer Products
From Daniel Grace, Secretary-Treasurer, Teamsters Local 830

We thank you very much for your support!

My body has decided to remind me that just because cold season is over doesn’t mean I can’t still get a cold. Today spent home sick meant watching the noon news (a rarity), getting some chores done, mixtaping for buds, finally building the shelves that my mom gave me for my birthday (I was a little busy for seven months, chill) and milkshakes and smoothies.

Tomorrow maybe will be when I post all of our tour dates — a couple still need to be shored up for certain. What we have so far is up on the EHP page.

Some new friends made: in addition to the Columbus kids who are and who came here with Tin Armour, the three folks behind the Gadabout Traveling Film Festival. Three awesome sweet people showing some pretty great shorts; they stopped at the Art Institute Saturday night, it was a weird crowd but the films and songs were sweet. Also, Eric has a more extensive knowledge of Pearl Jam lyrics than anyone else I know, even including Joel.

Today I finished my piece on the Consumer Health Coalition for Rustbelt Radio. It’ll air tomorrow evening, 6-7, on WRCT. Listen to my stupid voice.

On a related note, I need to chill on doing stuff a little. I guess it’s mostly the seasonal ebb and flow of shows that need someone to book them, but I’ve been mad busy lately, without time to really concentrate on reading and/or making stuff. My project right now is not taking on more than I can handle. Wish me luck.

Allies, Slingshot Dakota, .isha&zetta., Tin Armour. 7pm, Roboto. You should be there, these are sweet good bands.

Also, Joel turns 29 this coming week, my sister turns 28 the same day, and my nephew turns ONE! tomorrow. Good times. And pretty soon I can for real announce all our tour dates and stuff. Most of it is shored up — around the northeast, May 4-13. Philly, DC, NYC, Boston, et al., I’m coming your way.

No, not one of those stupid meme survey things where you tell everyone your middle name and how many times you’ve copulated. This is about blogging and zine culture and compatibility.

So I write this blog. You know that because you read it. What I don’t do, and have been meaning to, is publish a personal zine. Most of what I would put in a zine, though, is the same stuff I write about here.

I’m interested nonetheless in making a zine with a lot of the same content because there’s a different feel to reading this kind of stuff off of a page rather than off of a screen, and there’s a different accessibility level and a different overall approach to both creating and reading a zine as opposed to a blog. When I read a zine, I sit down, intent on some good reading, whereas when I’m reading blogs, I’m usually multitasking at the computer and I refresh my RSS reader and have little context for what I’m reading.

So, my question to you, dear reader: Is it a good idea to compile a zine of mostly/all stuff I’ve written here? Would it be worthwhile? Would people who don’t read this blog read it, do you think? Would people who DO read this blog want a copy?

These are my questions. Please give me opinions. I appreciate.

Remember how I told you a few days ago about the show I’m doing next month for Old Time Relijun?

Well.

Pete is booking a show for Boris, also at AIR, the following Monday (Memorial Day). That show will be $10 in advance, $12 at the door. This will henceforth be known as Pittsburgh Rocknroll Weekend, and/or Memorial Day AIR Craziness Party. There will be a package deal for tickets if you want to go to both and save a couple dollars.

How about that?

I thank my lucky stars I don’t work downtown and have to bicycle commute every day, both because the Liberty Avenue hill is stupendously humongous and because at rush hour, no one gives you an inch to spare riding up the two-lane portion of the road. You’d think that the part of the road where people have two whole lanes for their cars would be better, since you can be in one and then the car people can take the other, or even just go halfsies, for those ten seconds when they’re passing you. In reality, the existence of two lanes, each one of which is narrower than the single lane up the hill a little further, causes people to try to cram by two at a time and doesn’t allow much room for little old me or you on our bicycle. This is why the best choice is, annoyingly enough (if that’s a word), taking more of the lane than we normally would and forcing the people in the right lane to go into the left, and making them honk at us. Much as they say (I wouldn’t know, I’m from Pittsburgh) that bike lanes often end up causing problems for cyclists because they end up acting as the only safe zones for bikes, and make things like left turns more dangerous (if you’re already in the lane, drivers are aware of you and more ready if you signal to get over to make a left) and generally reduce cyclists’ visibility.

On a more pleasant note, I’ve seen several new “Share the Road” (or whatever) signs in and around Point Breeze just recently, and they make me feel nice at the very least.

- Allies, Slingshot Dakota, Flotilla Way, .isha&zetta. on Friday (this Friday, April 21) at Roboto. You should come. Allies’ last show with the current lineup. Slingshot is fun and good. FW’s third show? And .i&z.’s second. Beginnings, endings, re-beginnings, some middles, all in one show. It’s like Easter a week late. Be there.

- I’m registered for classes for the summer. One perk that doesn’t quite offset my discontent with my poverty salary at this job is the education benefit — I’ll barely be paying anything to take: Mass Communication Process, a low-level comm class (my secret is that I’ve taken barely any actual classes in communication, but I’m planning on maybe doing grad work in communication), and Intelligent Life in the Universe, a geology class. The comm class is Ms. Ghilani’s section, hopefully enough people will register and it won’t be cancelled. The geology class is with Charlie Jones, possibly my favorite professor from the undergrad days. He puts pictures of chickens in the middle of his slide shows!

- I have now seen both Lucas Sloppy’s Flying Organ (super good, kind of bordering on funny but not in the dumb sort of way) and October, the band (maybe not quite as good as October, the month, in general but a great deal better than my last October).

- I’m working on a piece for Rustbelt Radio on the Consumer Health Coalition and Cover the Uninsured Week (cf. my Rex Morgan, M.D. obsession). It should air next monday night, the 24th.

- Despite my lack of funds, going to see The Dirty Projectors at Garfield Artworks tonight because it should be really good.