…when you have a new Radiohead album to listen to. I figured out that I’ve been listening to this band for something like ten years. Saw them once at Blossom in Ohio, and once in Florence, Italy. Every album is a great event to look forward to. They’ve never let me down.
BADASS, LIKE A BEAUTICIAN AT THE WHEEL
Today at the shawarma shack Meg and I had a 15-minute conversation with a semi-homeless, ex-con musician about ZZ Top. He offered me tips on how to play their stuff (“stick to pentatonic, dude”) and some merchandise (“I can get you some stuff autographed by Billy, man”). This is actually pretty standard for a Thursday afternoon in Austin, as is coming back to the office and chatting with the boys about “The Top.”
My current favorite ‘Top lyric is from “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide”:
Well I was rollin’ down the road in some cold blue steel,
I had a bluesman in the back, and a beautician at the wheel.
Here’s some stuff from an old New Yorker profile of ZZ Top Guitarist Billy Gibbons:
“Gibbons drinks beer through a straw, to keep the suds from getting in his beard….A straw apparently helps beer go down quick. Gibbons made frequent trips to the bathroom, trotting through the bar, a slight figure with a little paunch, leaving double takes in his wake. A TV was showing footage of a tornado. Once, in Kentucky, Gibbons recalled, “a tornado preceded our arrival and passed us by. It so happened that there was a bra-and-panty factory in town, and the tornado tore it up. We were greeted by the sight of bras and panties hanging from trees for five miles.”
Lester Bangs’ review of Degüello:
“Punks used to wear razor blades, but these guys play ’em, lividly. It’s fun, like eating tequila backward. They’re bound and determined to suck you into their cliché–but, hey, everybody has to search for roots, remember? Alex ‘n’ Newsweek said so. ZZ Top just laid off awhile to dig up more of theirs. Yet listening to Degüello really is as painful as trying to swallow tympanic jalapeños, so proceed with caution (and eat your “high energy” hearts out, mush-grooved power poppers). If you lose control, you can always douche with guacamole.”
How come nobody writes about music like this anymore?
I miss playing music. Comics and writing are so lame compared to rock and roll.
It’s the truth, admit it.
WAKE ME UP!
I’ve been in a funk lately, and I’m dying for a good book to read. I don’t care if it’s a comic book, fiction, non-fiction, or a religious text. It just has to be a book that swings for the fences. A book that won’t let me put it down. A book that smacks me around and makes me want to live.
Leave me a comment if you can fill this tall order, please.
Or just tell me your favorite book.
Feed me some ideas.
GEORGE SAUNDERS WAS ON LETTERMAN LAST NIGHT
It was so bizarre watching him. Dave’s got great taste. (And George a good publicist, probably.) I’m just glad we got to meet him before all this “breakout tour” madness. Nicest, sweetest guy in the world. And brilliant. My favorite bit was when GS was talking about his past work experiences, how he was trying to live out his romantic, Hemingway-esque idea of working “lowly jobs,” like convenience store clerk, roofer, knuckle-puller in a slaughterhouse…
Letterman: But one learns from experiences that way, right?
Saunders: One does…don’t be an idiot!
And “Old Turkey Buzzard” cracks me up every time.
LABOR DAY WEEKEND
This blog has been dead lately, and it makes me feel guilty, but I was having too good of a weekend to get in front of the computer and post:
Thursday, I hit the annual Labor Day sale at Austin Books. I walked away with 3 Eddie Campbell books, 3 of the Complete Peanuts books, and Ivan Brunetti’s anthology — all 50% off.
Saturday was my first experience of the Alamo Drafthouse. A Shiner on tap, basket of french fries (done just the way I like them: seasoned and crispy), and the last Bourne movie: I was in heaven.
Last night we watched the documentary You’re Gonna Miss Me about Roky Erickson, the legendary singer for the 13th Floor Elevators. It wasn’t as great as I thought it was gonna be — if you want to watch a movie about a whacko genius musician from Texas, watch The Devil and Daniel Johnson instead. But the music was incredible…that electric jug! (Watch the Elevators.) I’d love to see someone release a Roky Erickson “unplugged” with just him singing and playing acoustic guitar. There was a great quote where Roky was talking about being in church and hearing “O Holy Night!” and it knocking him out. Come to think about it, go ahead and Netflix it if you’re an Elevators fan…
Today we went to see Superbad with friends. Absolutely hilarious. Worth the money in gut laughs. Afterwards, we went to the famous Hut’s Hamburgers and had burgers and shakes. More thumbs up.
On the way home, I stopped at BookPeople on a whim to see whether they had the new George Saunders collection of non-fiction, The Braindead Megaphone. They did! So now I have something to read on the bus this week.
What a great city.
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