My Nicole Reynolds piece is up, find it here. There’s a link at the end to a lil ol’ video that I shot of her at the farm. Nothing too high-budget, just a little song.

Tonight is Cages at ModernFormations, which is where I’ll be if I’m not at home bellyachin’ about this toothache that has taken hold in my life over the past couple days. It’s my fault, I should’ve gone to the dentist earlier, I know.

Otherwise, lots of Olympic watching, still. Also, got out to play a little tennis earlier this week with a couple friends who blog. Hopefully I’ll do that again. I do like some tennis (speaking of which, Federer and both Williams sisters got booted already in Olympic play, eh? Always weird times).

Sticking with rotary

“If you are calling from a rotary phone, hang up and call back from a touch-tone phone.” This is what I was told by a woman’s voice on a machine, as if we all have the responsibility to abandon rotary phones and buy a touch-tone phone.

Our responsibility is to switch our business to a place where this heinous policy is not being practiced. It’s been 24 years since Big Brother — I think it’s all coming true.

May God help us.

EUGENE PATRICK BARRY
West View

May God help us indeed, Eugene. I remember that part in 1984 where Big Brother forced everyone to use touch-tone. And the punishment for phonecrime was not pretty at all.

Coming up? This wknd: tonight, the Pammer and I go to see the Synge Cycle stuff that Pittsburgh Irish & Classical is doing. “Riders to the Sea” and something else that I don’t know anything about. Two short-ish plays. Should be alright. I’ll be missing the first Steelers pre-season game but it’ll be boring.

Tomorrow is OLYMPICS and also the Burndowns/Brain Handle/Weird Paul show. Later on is Screaming Females on Tuesday Monday, and Oneida on Wednesday. Etc. etc.

Now then. Lately reading: How to Grow More Vegetables etc. etc. etc. I’ve not read up much on biointensive ag in the past, and I’m getting more and more interested in the idea of dropping out of life and starting a farm. Okay, not DROPPING OUT OF LIFE. But having a farm someday. Into it.

The garden — I’m finally getting way into it, but unfortunately since I was slow to start this year, there’s not that much I can do at this point.  It’s  odd because usually I’m way stoked early in the season, and I’m burning out around now. Maybe next year I’ll get it right.

I’m planning to put in a few fall crops soon; I’ll update you on that. Otherwise, I’ve been harvesting a bit. Not a yield of Torley St. proportions, but a hot banana pepper here, a handful of grape tomatoes there, some zucchinis. I ate my entire summer bean harvest as a side dish the other night.

Musicwise: as noted, two weeks of Andy-penned music features coming. Burndowns Wednesday, Nicole Reynolds next week. Sometimes I write a 250-word piece and run out of things to say; these two were both 800ish and I ran out of room to write things. Also on the upcoming, the MANS show this Friday was cancelled, but Screaming Females play Roboto next Monday (the 11th).

Otherwise, getting pumped on the Olympics in all their cheesy, commercialized glory. OH AND STEELERS SEASON WHICH IS ABOUT TO START. I watched Sunday night football last night because I stumbled upon it, not realizing it would be on, and I was pretty pumped. Okay that’s all bye.

Sorry, I’ll chill. Not much new on this front. Got a guitar, playing it a lot. Working a bunch. City Guide came out last week, for what it’s worth — pick up a paper today if you haven’t gotten one, since tomorrow the new issue will be out and City Guide won’t be in it. Next week (not this) I have a big feature on Burndowns (in anticipation of their August 9 release at Gooski’s with Brain Handle and Weird Paul) and the following week, a big feature on Nicole Reynolds. I haven’t had a main music feature in a while, so it’ll be nice. It’s fun to work in a slightly longer form.

There are things I haven’t done yet this summer (play tennis). I will try to catch up with those things. It’s nearly August. Of course, rain notwithstanding, fall is a good time for tennis — not as hot — so it’ll be okay if I play tennis in the fall instead of summer.

Otherwise, kickin’ back, chooglin’, apparently taking a blogging vacation of sorts. It’s all good. What have YOU been up to?

Don’t read too much into this one, kids. Here’s hoping Mary comes back to Jeff so she can do it many more ways.

Also, on an unrelated note, I had a dream the other night that I killed a spider that was having babies and that was carrying two mini pierogies and one spool of thread. (Ironic, I suppose, that a spider would feel it necessary to carry a spool of thread . . .)

If you haven’t yet, devote a good 15 or 20 minutes to watching Fred Durst, who now looks like he’s about 70, on Tom Green.  It’s an interesting interview, and yields such gems as:

“This is KORN, with a ‘K!’ And a backwards ‘R!’”

and

“I don’t recommend that anyone drink anything though. Except, like, Yoo-Hoos, and Sun– Sunny Delight, Sunny D . . . and, like, milk and stuff.”

Not to mention the part where he shows off his tattoo, then completely forgets and shows it off again thirty seconds later.

There have been a few enjoyable acts, and a minimum of hilarity from the Hoff, but on the whole, I’m not that sold on it this year, and I might not keep investing my Tuesday nights in it. My time is precious, people.

Also the part where Hasselhoff hit his buzzer while that guy had a sword halfway down his esophagus last night was terrifying. Holy hell. Get it together, Hoff.