Open the Box

A friend recently forwarded something interesting to me. I think it's fairly new because in the past two days, two people who don't know each other and most likely have no mutual friends both emailed me about it.

It's called Pandora. The possibilities with marketing for this thing are ginormous, but for now, the important thing is that it's like a personlized internet radio application. And, you can skip ahead, choose to go directly to iTunes to buy the song, or go directly to Amazon to buy the album.

The basic idea is that you give it a song or an artist/band to search for. Then it (usually) first plays a song from that artist or the song you typed in. After that, it will play several songs in (in their entirety) that are related to the original artist or song you entered. The really cool thing is that it saves all of these initial searches as 'radio stations'. As each song is playing, you can click on it, and there are some options. You can say "I don't like it," which I'm assuming means it won't be included the next time you play that station (and it will then skip to the next song). Or you can say "I like it," which is probably used as some sort of fail-safe to make sure the music suggestions are all relevant. That menu is where you can choose to buy the song or the album from outside sites. Plus you can save the song to a favorites list which is always accessible and available to print.

After the first few searches, Pandora will ask you to register to go further. It's totally free, and appears to be a non-intrusive registration. All it asks you for is your email address, a password, your zipcode, and that's it. You can also choose if you want them to send you any informational emails or not.

So far, I've made about sixty of my own 'radio stations' that span soul, latin jazz, hip hop, electro, disco, avant-weirdness, glam, folk, pop, dirty rock n roll, punk rock, older garage, trashy blues, death metal, alt-country, traditional country, and damn near anything else you can think of. I'm lovin' it so far.

Check out Pandora. You'll be glad you opened the box.

You Were Always On My Mind

My friend Chris has a Beagle/Bluetick Coonhound puppy named Elvis. Like most hound-dogs, Elvis likes to sleep a lot and has big floppy jowls that look kinda like lips. Sometimes when Elvis is sleeping, Chris stuffs Cheez-Its up into Elvis' jowls. Then when he wakes up, he finds food in his lips and doesn't know what happened, but he's happy! I've been trying to talk Chris into stuffing peanut butter up in there because it would be even funnier. Unfortunately, his girl buys all her food at Whole Foods, so all she gets is organic peanut butter, which is really oily. So that wouldn't work out as well as something like JIF.

Tussels In Brussels

So, as I previously mentioned, the Hives have a brand new live DVD out soon called "Tussels In Brussels." I have some stuff to give away involving the new release. If interested, hit me up with an email as to why you should get it. All recent contest winners are exempt (sorry, guys) from this one.

Jacksonville City Nights

It is time to announce the winners of the Supergrass contest. Eli and John are the big winners! Congratulations, we'll be in touch.

Coming soon, a contest involving the Hives new DVD release, Tussles in Brussels. Click the pic below for some info. More coming soon.

If That Ain't Love, I Don't Know What Is

I'm doing this thing this Saturday for the first two hours of my normal DJ gig at the Garden Bowl. Check it out.

First We Take Manhattan

Current re/discoveries:

A couple years ago I decided to give in to the hype and check out Ryan Adams. While I do actually like a lot of this alt-country stuff that's so popular these days, I didn't really like his previous band, Whiskeytown all that much. I saw them years ago up at the Magic Stick and wasn't into it at all.

So, when he put out a 'rock' record, I decided it was time to check it out. In 2003, he released the album "Rock N Roll," a sprawling record that ran the gamut from Replacements-style punk to '70s and '80s power pop to tracks that could give Coldplay a run for their money. Initially, I only really cared about the song "1974" because of it's Westerbergian goodness (new music snob word!). It's just so balls-out rock, I can't help it. The rest of the album was completely different and I was put off by that. For some reason I pulled it out again recently (probably because Andrea said something about it two months ago and I just remembered). It's really, really fucking good. Every song. I mean that. I am not a Ryan Adams fan. Well, maybe I am now, but I didn't approach this record as someone who was already real familiar with his work. So I wasn't pissed that it wasn't country. I think I remember some of his hardcore fans throwing a fit because it was "too rock."

Anyway, you should check it out. Click the pic to go to Adams' site.

A couple weeks ago, I was lying in bed and a song came into my head. It was "Democracy" from Leonard Cohen. In 1992, when his album "The Future" came out, that was my first encounter with Cohen. I didn't know much of his backstory besides that he was a very well-respected singer-songwriter and that he was older. It wasn't until almost ten years later that I bought his first album, "The Songs of Leonard Cohen." Why the hell didn't I do that sooner? Oh, I know why, it was too low-key for me (at the time). When I first heard him in 1992, and then when I got the first album, I just wasn't all that into downbeat music. I go up and down, but mostly up. I was up, then my car was stolen, I lost a ton of music, and I was down, and I probably would've liked to listen to "The Songs of Leonard Cohen" but that was one of the stolen CDs. So, I was talking about this night a few weeks ago when that song popped into my head. I had to get up. It was 4am, and I had to get up for work in three hours, but I had to get up and go to the computer to go online and buy the biggest compilation I could find of Cohen's music. I ended up with "The Essential Leonard Cohen," which came out in 2002. I've been listening to it all day. I was so afraid that I'd lose my punk edge by the time I turned 30. In almost exactly two months, I will be 30, and I haven't lost my edge, it's just taking new forms. Yes, Leonard Cohen is kinda downbeat, but the lyrics are what it's all about. Shit. Click the picture to check out some of his records and listen to some samples.

Then, this weekend, I ended up DJing two nights in a row. Normally I only do Saturday, but this week the Garden Bowl (Detroit) got a double-header outta me. Friday and Saturday. So, at some point in the night, I needed an out. I needed a connection between "Kung Fu" from Curtis Mayfield (soul) to '60s pop stuff like the Zombies. So I played "Strawberry Letter No. 23" from Shuggie Otis. Damn, I always forget how good that guy is. His dad was the '60s R&B bandleader Johnny Otis. By the time he was in his teens he was already a guitar virtuoso, having to wear sunglasses when playing shows with his dad just so the clubs would let him in. When Brian Jones was asked to leave the Rolling Stones (or quit, whatever), Otis was one of the Stones' first choices for a replacement. He was sixteen years old! Unfortunately, he was never directly invited and the band ended up with Mick Taylor. So, his fourth and last album "Inspiration Information" came out in 1974. Pure genius. The kinda shit that people from Stereolab to DJ Shadow to David Byrne all claim as an influence. Seriously good soul and pop and funk. All kinda psychedelic. When the album came out he was too late to get in on the psychedelic soul movement of early Funkadelic, Sly & the Family Stone, and The Chambers Brothers. The album was overlooked and mostly forgotten until 2001 when David Byrne reissued it with four bonus tracks on his Luaka Bop record label. There's one song on it that you might have heard, and that's "Strawberry Letter No. 23," which the Brothers Johnson had a huge hit with. Their cover is the million seller, not Shuggie's, that's why no one knows who he is. Click the pic to check out more from Shuggie Otis.

That's all for today, kids.

Vive la Révolution

By the way, I hope you're aware of all the rioting, cars being burned, people being beaten, immigrants being persecuted, and general unrest going on in France right now. If not, you can read the latest about it here.

Then go back and read my post below about the legislator who wants to make it mandatory for young children to learn Spanish in school. Then reflect and understand that the same discrimination that has prevented this necessary education from already happening is the same discrimination that created this boiling tension in Western Europe. People want to have an open-door policy to allow immigrants and new citizens from other countries, but they don't want to work with them. Total bullshit.

Se Habla Espagnol?

So, I was just checking out Google News, and saw an interesting article. Here's the gist of it:

A Florida Senator has introduced legislation that would change the language spoken in classrooms of nearly 600,000 students. Under Florida Senate Bill S. 522, introduced by Sen. Les Miller, all Florida students in kindergarten through second grade would receive mandatory Spanish instruction beginning in 2007. Despite a serious lack of teachers and an even more serious lack of funding, Florida schools would be required to carry out the bilingual mandate, even for immigrant students from non-Spanish speaking nations.

So, I started thinking, I'm sure there will be some patriots out there freaking out about this when it hits the mainstream news. Or when they learn that their kids have to learn a second language.

They'll go on and on about how 'un-American' it is, and that it should be the other way around, that immigrants should have to learn our language instead of us having to learn theirs. If those immigrants want to be legal citizens, they do have to learn English. And the Department of Homeland Security is making a concerted effort right now to completely rid this country of illegal immigrants. So, in theory, we're just becoming a more progressive nation by requiring our students to learn Spanish. Hispanics are a majority in places like Los Angeles, and their numbers are rising fast in Florida, too.

Another good way of looking at it is like this: in many European countries, students have to learn their native language, plus English, plus the language of a neighboring country. Most Americans couldn't fathom the thought of having to learn three languages when growing up. In Canada, students are taught French at a very young age because there's a large number of Canadians whose primary language is en Francais.

I think this country's slow pace at adopting similar standards is kinda paradoxical when you think about it. We're supposed to be this big, proud melting pot where people can emigrate to be free. Many of them speak some English when they get there, but it would be helpful if more people they interacted with could speak their native language. Part of accepting this melting pot theory is that we all need to get along. Getting along requires communication. Bureaucracy requires communication. Shit, driving in this country requires you to know some English. But then you go to Tokyo, and all the street signs are in Japanese and English.

Is the problem that we're too proud? Are we too proud to acknowledge that somem people come to this country legally, but can't speak the language very well? These are people who we want to do business with, people who we want to contribute to our melting pot, to bring what they have to offer. But how can they do that if we refuse to work with them?

I think making bilingual education mandatory is a good idea, and I wish I could've started learning another language when I was young. About a year ago, I met a seven-year old whose parents are missionaries in Hungary. The kid was born there, and most of his life so far has been spent there. He fluently speaks English, Hungarian, French, Spanish, and Italian. Seven years old. I know that a big part of that phenomenon is environment and situation. But I think it's most important to note that he learned all these language when he was very young. That's when the brain is more of a sponge. So why not teach our young another language? I hope that one day they're teaching Spanish and Arabic in our schools. Makes sense to me.

The Glove Compartment Isn't Accurately Named

I've been obsessed with the Death Cab For Cutie album "Transatlanticism" lately. Don't know why, but it's grabbing me. Don't like the new one ("Plans") all that much, though.

G-Ma

My voice of reason comes in a 5'2" blonde package, and I'm lucky to have that.

The Glue Holding Breakfast Together

Brunch is more than just Eggs Benedict and a Bloody Mary. At least, I think it is. This is the first installment of a new regular rocknrollscientist feature: brunch reviews.

Last week, I went to Honest John's with Ryan, Mark, and Brianna (names changed only slightly to protect the guilty). We started going to brunch semi-regularly about a month ago. It happened kinda spontaneously the first time. But then a week and a half later, I didn't call anyone and ran into Ryan and Mark at the bar. Apparently I was supposed to know that our brunch club would be a weekly event. Thanks for telling me, guys. Brianna didn't know, either.

So, that first time we went to Union Street (Midtown Detroit) for their new Sunday brunch. This was the first week they were doing it. For that, I am willing to cut 'em some slack. Our server (name unknown) was obviously hungover and not accustomed to waiting tables at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon. Ryan was still drunk from the previous night, so he didn't notice. This was also the day when he uttered the now familiar phrase: "Pig is the glue that holds breakfast together." He doesn't remember saying that.

While waiting for Mark to show up, Brianna, Ryan, and I looked over the huge menu. I think it may be bigger than the restaurant's regular menu (but that could've been the hangover...). All the typical brunch items were there, in addition to some regular Union Street lunch menu items. The entire drink/beer/wine list was also the same as usual. There are a few specialty items like the Biscuits and Jambalaya and a few others I was too hungover to actually remember. If I liked Cajun food, I'd be all over that, but I'm not the biggest fan. I like my biscuits and gravy with pork sausage gravy, the way it's supposed to be.

Quite a few of the brunch dishes sounded really good, but for me, a good measure of a brunch is the Eggs Benedict. The Bloody Mary can also be used as a barometer.

Oh, there's a cool thing about the Union Street brunch, they have a whole section just for bagels and the various stuff you can get with them. Then there's the bagel buffet. That's what we called it, although it's listed as the Friends and Family on the menu. This comes with a plate of about five toasted bagels sliced in half on one plate. On the other plate, there's a stack of prosciutto, smoked salmon, pineapple, melon, (huge) strawberries, a scoop of whitefish pate, a wheel of cream cheese (the dry kind - which I like), and a huge helping of garlic-laced boursin cheese. All of that for $15.95. Sounds like a lot of money, but seriously, the four of us couldn't finish all of it because we were so full, just from that. And we still had main dishes coming out!

Sidenote: Ryan had never seen prosciutto or smoked salmon before and kept referring to the smoked salmon as "pink" and the prosciutto as "old" (because we told him it's cured ham).

Ryan and I had the Eggs Benedict, which was less than tasty. The hollandaise was bland, and the english muffins were burnt. There are certain things that you just can't burn in a dish, or else it's totally ruined. The English muffins in an egg benedict are one such thing. Plus we were way too full from our bagel buffett and bloody marys.

That reminds me, the bloody marys were good. It looks like the only choice of vodka is Absolut Peppar, at least that's the way it's noted on the menu. My first one was served without ice, which I thought was odd, but whatever. Our server somehow ended up giving us a couple extra Bloody Marys. No idea why, but that contributed to Ryan staying drunk for probably ten hours straight that day. Mark wasn't drunk, but had been up for a couple days straight after his band played a show in North Carolina (in a dry county, no less) the previous night. He plays bass in a Kid Rock spin-off act. In other words, most of us were a little out of it that day.

Mark and Brianna both got omelets of some sort, and they seemed happy enough, but again, the bagel buffett sated our appetites almost completely.

Overall, I think that in time, Union Street will seriously give everyone else in town a run for their money. They're already known for good food and big portions, adding brunch to the things people love about the place was a great idea.

Last week, Ryan, Mark, Brianna, and I went to Honest John's (Cass Corridor, Detroit) for brunch.

I've had breakfast there before just with Brianna and I wasn't all that impressed. But, I know a lot of people who love it there, so I figure there's no harm in giving the place a second chance. Yet again, Mark met up with us there, so we had some time to make our decisions.

I recommend the bloody mary at Honest John's. Make sure you order it spicy.

Ryan couldn't decide what he wanted, and started writing a list on his paper place mat. For a short guy, he really wanted a lot of food. He started with corned beef hash, changed his mind five times, and came back to where he started. Plus a club sandwich. I don't think he ate more than one triangle of that sandwich.

I had a simple traditional breakfast with eggs, sausage, hash browns, and toast, which was good. Brianna had the swiss and spinach omelet that I had the last time and didn't like. She liked it. Mark had an omelet, too, I think. As far as the food goes, everyone was happy. The bloody marys were good.

Brianna, our den mother took care of business and made sure everyone was good.

Brian told us about the Garbage Olympics, an event he was taking part in later that night. I guess there's a weekly rap battle at Alvin's (Detroit) hosted by Proof (from D12). Brian and Proof were squaring off in a relay involving garbage bags, a dumpster, and a beer bong. I still haven't heard the results, but I guess there was supposed to be a pretty big crowd for this event happening at 3am early on a Monday morning...

Next week should take me and everyone else to Atlas Bistro for brunch. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me soon enough.

Tiny Meats & Cheeses & Salami(s)

Hey! Anyone out there own an iPod? If so, do you like Supergrass? Better yet, do you like getting free stuff from one of the classic bands of our time? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, please refer yourself to this post on this here site.

You can win stuff like this:

From this band:

All you gotta do is hit me up with an email (address to the upper right) or a comment telling me why YOU should win the stuff. There will be two winners. Totally free, no strings attached. I swear. Really.

The Glue

Coming soon, reviews of Detroit-area brunch.

I Am a Fashion God

I guess Michael Brown (former head of FEMA) never saw that clause in the agency's IT policy about not expecting any kind of privacy when using 'company' email...

This piece of shit who joked around and wasted everyone's time with his complete lack of competence in handling the Hurricane Katrina situation is now even more of a laughing stock than before. CNN has obtained copies of several emails sent back and forth between Brown, his secretary, and several of his associates within FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. I just checked and in the hour or two since I read the original article, it has been removed from CNN's site. However, the actual scans of the emails are still up there. Click on "I'm trapped now, please rescue me." to view those emails. Sounds boring, but really it isn't. It's a great view into what goes on in the tiny mind of the man who was supposed to be leading our federally-funded emergency relief effort.