Lawrence.com

I'm with Jill - the developments here just make me feel cranky and old. Lawrence.com to me was never meant to be a place for AP feeds or fluff stories about cute little girls. It's sorta ironic that this issue has brought me to the site with a frequency that I haven't seen in a couple of years.

Anyway, this is about Phil. I used to freelance for both the Pitch and lcom, and there came a time about 5 years ago when I was asked by the Pitch to pick a horse and either do one or the other. I loved and was grateful for my experience with the Pitch but lcom was an easy choice - the site itself was superior, the content was more interesting to me and more music-based, and I used the calendar for everything. Much of what made my little choice easy was that I'd get to work for Phil Cauthon - he was so easy to communicate with, and so wonderful to me personally. He spent time teaching me a lot that he didn't have to. In my mind, this website was his and I can't imagine it working without him. When I started freelancing I got to better know Gavon, Patrick and Frank. I can't imagine having experienced the 2008 election without those guys.

So where to go now... For a really great local culture blog based in Lawrence, I highly recommend The Rathaus - the writing is really clever and I never fail to find something really great to read there. For concert info, I recommend Songkick - they can personalize a super-useful, customizable local calendar for you in a way that I'd always hoped lcom had been looking into doing. They also update insanely quickly. With all respect to the Pitch, I didn't think it would ever happen that it could become a more viable and interesting local resource for me than lcom but all things considered I suppose the time is here. Their site design-wise is pretty hectic but it's way better than it used to be and there is some really good content there.

C'est la vie. Time moves on and apparently things change whether or not I like it. Mostly, I wanted to wish Phil nothing but the best and say thank you one more time for all that he did.

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If you can manage to sit through this without harming small children or animals in the process, I have a few questions.

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I guess the obvious question is why anyone who hasn't suffered a few too many concussions would enjoy this, but I suppose one place to start is with the weird lesbian prison thing. I'm confused. It just seems so pointless to me. It did make me realize, though, that Madonna's Justify My Love came out, like, TWENTY years ago. Anyway, so after we spend about three minutes perplexed in the ladies' prison, the song starts. The way it starts so abruptly made me laugh, but this confuses me less. Pretty sure I haven't heard anyone defend the music at any point in the last year. It did inspire this spot of genius, however:

So Lady GaGa (who my roommate calls Lady GayGuy, somehow this still makes me laugh) then gets bailed out of jail by Beyonce, sporting blue lipstick and driving the Pussy Wagon from the Kill Bill movies. We then proceed into a very questionable Tarantino... something. I hesitate to call it homage. Most awkward imitation ever, maybe?

There are so, so many bad videos everywhere. Normally it doesn't bother me at all - but few people seem to get as much credit as Lady GaGa does for being such a visual artist. It's making me crazy. I like a person who can get away without wearing pants at the airport... but do we really want a new Madonna so bad that this'll do?

Every year when I post this sort of thing I feel like I have to add the caveat that the more the internet has an influence on the way music is read, the harder it is to keep up with. It's tough enough for any one person to keep a handle on what's going on locally, and absolutely impossible to be able to have any real handle on what's happening nationally, even for those who do it for a living. Plus, of course, there's no accounting for taste. Some of my friends adore the new Girls album - it makes me want to harm small animals - and surely someone will feel the same way about some of my favorites.

Additionally, the way I interact with the internet anymore makes me honestly wonder about the effect on my attention span. I consume what seems like a LOT, but probably retain so little of it it may be no better for my little brain than watching TV.. or staring into space.

Anyway, in acknowledging my internet ADD and the different media I'm consuming more of decided to change my list around a little bit this year. I'm paring the list down to five albums and including five of my favorite podcasts. I feel that if I expanded my music list to ten, it probably would have a couple tossed in just to fill the thing out. Podcasts have been keeping me sane at work for a few years now, and this year for the first time it's possible that I spent more time with them than with music. Also, you can't argue with so much amazing legal, free content available every day.

So here goes...

Music

5 - Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Stare at that image...

Animal Collective is one of those bands that isn't for everyone, but because of those jarring vocals and willingness to experiment, I'm always interested. Come play here, please?

4 - Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Speaking of lovely vocals. Plus this video is video is awesome and creepy. I've tried to blink like this but can't get my eyes to quite do it.

3 - The xx - xx

Especially when compared with the two albums above, this album is so wonderfully subtle. Understated vocals, catchy melodies.

2 - The Antlers - Hospice

Ugh, this album is just so pretty it hurts. It's also a rare album for me in that I actually listened to the lyrics. It's pretty dark, but it's very interesting and has stuck close to me for months. Unfortunately, this has to be the only band on the internet with no videos other than handcam stuff. This one's relatively decent.

1 Matt & Kim - Grand

Most fun! Most pop! Also includes the rare amazing female drummer and a boy on a cheap keyboard.

Podcasts

5 Dan Carlin's Hardcore History

This one took me a little while to get into, but Carlin has a great way of taking a historical topic and jumping in with such crazy passion that it's like being around your favorite teacher. The four-part series on the Eastern Front during WW2 is incredible. And great to sleep to. Also like a good class.

4 Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com

Chuck and Josh explain how everything works, from the Large Hadron Collider to zombies and spontaneous combustion.

3 Slate Gabfests

Slate has five gabfests as of now, bringing together groups of the smartest writers representing the online magazine. Includes the Political Gabfest, Culture Gabfest, Money Talks, Hang Up and Listen (sports) and the Double X (women's blog). Most have new episodes weekly.

2 The Adam Carolla Podcast

He can be obnoxious occasionally, but more often than not the guy's just funny. Usually a great guest. Past guests include Seth MacFarlane, Jimmy Kimmel, Paul Shaffer, Larry Miller, Joe McHale, Kaitlin Olson and more.

1 Radiolab

I podcast a lot of really great NPR shows that I didn't include here because their schedules on the radio are so predictable, but Radiolab really has no set time, has relatively few episodes overall and typically is just so much better enjoyed in the podcast format where you can just enjoy it in your own time and hear the whole thing. It's science made funny, fascinating and understandable... if this American Life were just about science and Ira Glass were a lot funnier. And while I do like some science Friday, it's not nearly as engrossing as the way Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich make their subjects. Plus NO CALL INS, thank god. I'd recommend starting with the episodes on Sleep and Time. The most recent episode was also great: Numbers.

Well, there it is. Hooray for 2009. Bye bye, whatever we end up calling this weird decade.

A Flaming Lips show is truly something to behold, even while their bag of spectacle tricks remains somewhat repetitive over the years. There's Wayne's crowd surfing in a giant bubble — which is sometimes spawned from an enormous spaceship that drops down from the stage lights — there's the massive quantities of balls or balloons and confetti, there's the huge flashlights and the megaphones and the mic-camera, there's dancing teletubbies, and lighting to rival a Pink Floyd show.

Wakarusa 2008 evidently ushered in an entirely new trick in the Lips' on-stage playbook: nekked people. Then it seemed like it might have been completely spontaneous ... and maybe it was.

But with the release of this new video, nudity would seem to be part of the Lips schtick. The new album isn't exactly the Soft Bulletin's second coming, so you gotta wonder how much of this is compensating for music that's not nearly as good as it's been...

(Ahem, caution: contains some nudity.. A LOT of nudity)

If the embed is acting up, this one seems to work consistently.

Jay Nixon has been in office as governor of Missouri for as long as we've had our new President. Unfortunately Nixon, rather than looking presidential, is starting to more closely resemble the Vice President.. Or at least his ability to not talk good.

Most notable has been his seeming inability to talk to his staff (or use the google) when it came to an E Coli outbreak at Lake of the Ozarks. He's still got one foot in his mouth here.

Comedian Jay Nixon. Boom goes the dynamite!

He inserted his other foot in today in regards to you, fine Kansans, with an interesting attempt at humor when once again some pesky facts were dangled in front of his face. He was announcing a program that will expand Missouri medical schools' abilities to take in more students, thus helping with Missouri's lack of medical professionals.

From this post: A reporter (okay, Prime Buzz) pointed out that those graduates could practice rather easily in Kansas, potentially defeating the purpose of the program to expand health care throughout the state.

Ok, see if you get the joke in Nixon's response. I don't. Here goes: "But it's so obvious when you cross the state line. People just start talking slower...Next question."

I spose we just think a little slower over here in Missouri. [Rim Shot].

PS While we're on not normal, I have to highly recommend this new episode of Radiolab. If you're unfamiliar and you enjoy This American Life, Re:Sound, etc., you may thank me in beer.

PPS I love you NPR, but enough with the guilt! I hate pledge week.

Via Wee Windy City, I'm seeing that American Girl, maker of insanely overpriced dolls for children (and creepy adult doll collectors) has added lovely young Gwen to their lineup.

Gwen is homeless. Apparently her character is living in a car. And yes, this is the same company who ropes its child army in with $100 dolls and an endless trove of similarly reasonably priced accessories. I just checked out the site - get your doll its tiny spread of plastic food - only $70! Perfect for your homeless doll.

I did fall victim as a child in the '80s. I was more or less obsessed with my Samantha doll (who was a spoiled Victorian brat and not homeless, thank you) and I remember the evil catalogs that were addressed to 8-year-old ME that were constantly arriving in the mail. 20 years later I find so much about this horrifying. So with all apologies in advance to any hypothetical future children: NEVER.

Maaaaybe with unemployment inching towards 10% it might be a little inappropriate to be marketing a homeless doll. Or maybe it's just the American way.

It's been over a year and a half since we last heard from Ghosty — not that songwriter Andrew Connor hasn't been busy. Way back in December 2007 when we last spoke, he'd just proposed to his girlfriend, artist Liz Gardner. This spring the two were hitched at last and took time out for an island honeymoon... all together now: "aww."

But Connor isn't one to stray from his music for too long — the same group of folks (plus one Carmen Winters) that put together 2008's Answers returns at long last with a new three-song EP, A Mystic's Robe, out this week on More Famouser Records.

You can stream the songs here, and a la Radiohead's In Rainbows, purchase them for what price you will (although there's a $1 min. price each). I particularly like the sleepy, dark haze of "Sunday Morning", but if it's Ghosty's sweet, simple guitars and vocal harmonies you're after, "Secret Language" and "My Girl is Strong" are sure to suit your tastes.

Three songs seems a bit short, to be sure — but hey, it's one tasty bite. We'll takes what we can gets.

With all due respect to Lawrence's other music retailers (I do enjoy a trip to Kief's downtown), the Love Garden has always held the top spot in my heart.

It's always a pleasure to walk up the creaky stairs, past the hundreds of album covers posted on the walls and into its space. It's a little bit like the coolest attic ever, complete with resident kitties and the most knowledgeable staff I've ever encountered in a record store. For 19 years, Love Garden has occupied its current space. This Monday, they're packing their bags and moving on up the street. I do not envy whoever will be carting all that shit out of there... even if it is just Ninth Street. Records, like books, are some of the most insanely, irritatingly heavy things to deal with on any moving day.

The new location will be at 822 Mass, ground level. I'll miss the walk up those stairs - but I probably won't really miss wondering if all of us attendees for the in-house shows are about to plummet to all of our deaths when the floor collapses under the weight of a full house moving to a beat.

The new shop opens September 7th. I should have hopped on this sooner but they're having a bit of a fire sale over there this weekend, so vinyl nerds get on it:

15% off ALL NEW CDs, LPs, 7" SINGLES & DVDs excluding consignment items.
20% off USED CDs.
20% off USED CD BOX SETS.
50% off USED DVDs.
50% off Country, Classical, Comedy & Soundtrack USED LPs.
25% off USED 7" SINGLES, including the high end 45s from the "Valuable" boxes.
30% off All USED LPs with a red dot on the price tag.
50% off all SHOTGUN (bargain) room LPs & 45s.
25% off POSTERS.

It seems that the location at 936 1/2 Mass will stay open until the new location is ready, and any stock they're not wanting to move down the street will be progressively more discounted as the days go on.

It would be a seriously sad day to see the store close, so while I'll miss the old location I'm just happy Love Garden will be sticking around. I trust that we will continue spending money that should be spent feeding ourselves in one of Lawrence's finest shops. Curious to see the new one!

Performance artist Bill Shannon was born with a degenerative hip condition that keeps him on crutches because his legs cannot support his weight properly. I don't know what most people do to manage this condition otherwise (something like 1 in 1200 kids are born with something similar) but Shannon, despite living with more or less constant pain, got creative. He explains his condition in relation to his art here.

It reminds me a little of how Malcolm Gladwell talks about 10,000 hours of practice at something will make you truly expert. I'm pretty sure Bill Shannon's 10K hours went to becoming a badass on a skateboard and some modified crutches.

A short sort of biographical video, but featuring plenty of him performing:

An ad he did for VISA in Britain:

An single-take RJD2 video:

He apparently does other kinds of art besides the stuff involving his movement. His website is here.

After more than 6 months of letting its most recent season marinate in some storage closet, Project Runway freaking FINALLY returns next month. Here's hoping the transition to Lifetime isn't messy. I suppose if the same company is doing all of the production work it'll be the same show, but as a Bravo staple it'll be strange seeing it somewhere else.

Anyway, this next season features a local KC designer, Ari Fish, who we featured back in February. The show had recently wrapped when we met up, and she wasn't (and basically still isn't) allowed to spill a word of what happens on the show, else she fall victim to one of those insane television keep-it-quiet-or-we'll-kill-your-parents contracts that keep us spoiler-free. About all you can find is here on Lifetime's Project Runway page.

Miss Fish most recently presented a collection with another notable local designer, Peggy Noland, at the 18th Street Fashion show (check out the Rathaus' coverage of the show, and while you're there check out the whole site, it's a great local resource for fashion, art and culture).

Before the show premieres, however, Ari not only is likely to be out of the area, she will be out of the country. She is planning a move to Berlin with Noland, who is opening up a new store, an offshoot of her KC Crossroads District location. And because of the transition and resulting litigation between the Weinsteins and Bravo, the finale of the show has already been shot, instead of occurring after the audience has a chance to meet the designers. So, no immediate need to return, basically.

Until next time Ari, I suppose! We'll see you on the teevee.