i love the new tv ad campaign for msn 8. the first ad featured a giant cocoon hanging from a tree...out of which pops the msn butterfly guy.

it just feels right knowing that msn had a larva in its history. very appropriate.

on my way to work today i passed a long ling of cars, lights on, obviously heading toward a cemetary. the car at the head of the line (in front of the hearse) was a beautiful cream-colored carmen ghia. the favorite car of the deceased? i bet it was.

kinda cool...kinda sad.

Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True

dang, these rhino reissues are cool!

snow in new england today. it seems a little early to me.

where the hell is my car brush? my mini is buried in an inch & a half of snow.

i'll bring on the late-season heatwave by removing the air conditioners this weekend.

while poking through the used vinyl bins this weekend a friend of mine picked up "In The Slot" by Tower Of Power. originally released in 1975 this big pile of funky bass and rippin' horns really brought back some memories.

but maybe the best find was the text of the paper liner, describing the Warner/Reprise "Loss Leaders". it's not exactly a shocking read, just a little ironic to imagine that at one time the labels would consider it a good idea to gain some extra sales by exposing the public to new music for "free":

Warner/Reprise Loss Leaders are full stereo, double albums in deluxe packaging. Each double album ($2 for two records) averages about 28 selections. Each is filled with the finest selections from the artists' latest work, plus some extra collectors' items (such as unreleased singles).

You can't buy Loss Leaders in a store; they are available only by mail.

We can get away with that low price because these celebrated artists and this record company have agreed not to make a profit on this venture. We (and they) feel that it's more important that these albums-about-albums be heard.

Each Loss Leader is divinely packaged, having been designed at no little expense by our latently talented art department.

Loss Leaders are compiled from new stuff, NOT old tracks dredged out of our Dead Dogs files. No selections are used on more than one album.

If our accounting department were running the company, they'd charge you $9.96 for each album. But they're not. Yet.

Still, if you're suspicious of big record companies as we feel you have every right to be, we can only tell you that Warner/Reprise is not 100% benevolent. It's our fervent hope that - after hearing one of the Loss Leaders - you'll be encouraged to pick up more of what you hear on these albums, at regular retail prices. That's where the profit lies. We Think.

ProjeKct Two - Live Groove

one of the mini-King Crimson outfits. makin' noise.

ugghh!! the constant barage of compaign ads in the northeast is driving me insane. it's all so condescending and nasty.

the copy is so pathetic that it borders on saturday night live material:

John Sununu is warm human being, who loves his wife and loves spending time with his children.
Jeannne Shaheen is a nasty bitch who cheats on her husband and spits on her kids. She loves to raise taxes too!!

wake me when it's over.

once again, microsoft has been caught with their pants down.

the software company attempted to created their own version of the Mac/Switch ads. unfortunately, they were stupid enough to publish their own marketing drivel, complete with bogus picture, instead of something genuine.

anybody who's surprise raise their hand.

i've always been a fan of completely "turned around" covers of songs. the following list obviously won't happen. but it sure would be fun:

• Starship Trooper (Yes) - Public Enemy
• Gotta Serve Somebody (Bob Dylan) - Marilyn Manson
• Genie In A Bottle (Christina Aguilera) - Les Claypool
• Radio Free Europe (REM) - The Nields
• Philosophy Of The World (The Shaggs) - NRBQ
• Heartbeat (Kink Crimson) - Tori Amos
• Free Will (Rush) - Ani DiFranco
• Baby Got Back (Sir Mix-a-Lot) - Tom Waits

Drums and Tuba - Mostly Ape

is it rock? is it jazz? what the hell is it?!!

so the fcc has aproved plans for digital radio...

yawn

so we'll get the same crap that's available now. but it'll be "cd quality". yea!!

1. this is going to be even better than the last time
2. i don't see how they can improve upon that insane show from a few years back

this tour brings with it some new issues...mostly related to sept. 11th. The Rising is built on songs that express Springsteen's reactions to those events and his thoughts on the aftermath. the public's response has been mostly postive (there have been some of the usual conservative "how dare he"-type of reviews but that's a topic for another day). the emotion displayed in this collection of tunes runs from melancholy (You're Missing) to joyous (Mary's Place, Waitin' On A Sunny Day). that being said, it's still not exactly a party record.

so as the evening of the boston show approached i began to wonder just how they would pull off a typical e street band show. would the intensity be there? would the weight of The Rising bring the crowd down?

not hardly.

while the setlist leaned heavily on the new tunes, the old songs (and one ancient one!) cranked us all up, giving new meaning to the stately mood of The Rising.

some highlights:

• Bruce calling out Candy's Room as they held onto the last chord of Prove It All Night
• She's The One
• For You (on solo piano!)
• a completely over-the-top Ramrod
• Peter Wolf coming out to help exhaust us all with an 18000-voice singalong of The Standell's Dirty Water