Wednesday, June 28, 2006

The other one somewhat free

DESTROYER "Why Banacek Doesn't Love"

Here's a rad rarity appearing courtesy of the lovely and talented Dan Bejar. It's an outtake of sorts from the YETI 4 CD (in that instead of this awesome, long song we chose two shorter ones for the disc instead). Mr. Bejar writes: "Recorded the summer of '95 / spring of '96, on a 4-track which has since stopped working... Originally released on a cassette entitled Ideas For Songs (edition of 50, maybe a little more), in 1997 I think... To be rereleased soon, in some for or another..." Hope you like.

Today was awesome, mostly.

Got a full night's sleep, since it was not in the upper '90s any longer (Portland's made to handle a lot of things but intense heat is not one of them, especially when you currently live in an attic space).

Almost most awesomely, it would appear that we reached our goal for ad revenue in the next YETI, which goes to press in about two weeks. The CD is probably the best one yet and the book itself has amazing stuff, especially the archival Australian police and crime scene photos captioned and submitted by the brilliant and multi-talented Peter Doyle.

Money's been tight for me personally due to simultaneous snafus with several of my outlets, but shit's been a lot worse before. That's something I reflected upon a bit last Thursday, the lucky thirteenth anniversary of me getting stabbed in the chest during a mugging in front of my old place in Bushwick, Brooklyn. I wanted to have a "blood" and "heart" themed party where only red food/ drinks were consumed, but whenever I mentioned it to people they looked at me like I was a nutty crazy ghoul so... I wimped out, I guess.

Went to the farmer's market on Interstate, where I acquired some very tasty local berries (the rasp- and the blue- kinds), fresh basil (as I have a black thumb and dare not grow my own), fancy micro-asparugus (as I am a fancy lad), and a pretty and inexpensive bouquet of flowers for the people I live with (as they just put a bid in on another house, unfortunately one in Hood River). Lily got an exceptionally rich cupcake, the few mini-bites of which seemed more than enough (as I remain a diabetic despite me saying to myself that maybe I am not one and it was all a mistake almost daily).

So yeah, the big news is that I'm moving in with my super awesome girlfriend! I'm not even rich and I get to date a girl this gorgeous and rad? I hope she doesn't ever wake up and realize that she's like twenty times out of my league.

Moving is dreadful, we all know that, especially when you are a records/ books/ art nerd. It is my hope that the process of moving/ boxing/ etc. will help me to jettison more possessions over the course of the next month, to become fully organized while packing, and while the chances of those things are slim-ish at least I know I am going to save money, as I'll move from a cheap place to a really cheap place. Most most awesomely, I get to hang out with my girl more, and I'll now be within walking distance of a lot of friends and the YETI office, and biking distance to downtown Portland (as I shall be living in what is called "close in SE").

We'll be postponing our mid-to-late-July California trip, but that should probably happen in like early September anyway; maybe we can do little in-store events to help sell the new YETI (as it will just be out then) or also the Loveless book (as that should also be out by then) or whatever. Apparently The People like when you do in-store events, as much as I tend to shake and stutter and crumble when I am exposed to even the least bit of the attention I otherwise am craving. That sentence was poorly constructed. But fuck it, this is blogospherical writing, man. And I answer to no one. NO ONE!

Umm, sorry. I think there was something in my coffee.

I just realized I'm actually gonna be living half a mile or so from the new-ish Disjecta space, which is now for certain where Chantelle of Blackbird Booking and I are going to hold the HALLELUWAH festival. But more on that in a week or so, after we get more definite confirmations and the website up, all that jazz. If you hate the name, keep it to yourself okay? Fucking haters.

Ohh man, I can't believe I just wrote "all that jazz" three sentences ago. Would someone please come and shout at me that I've become my father, only the fatter than him version of him, and hit me really hard in my ear? Thanks so much.

Had a great brisk little walk throughout North Portland today -- am definitely going to miss this idyllic and (at least partially) racially / economically mixed neighborhood. I like living in a place where you can say 'hey' to people you encounter and they're not too hipster or scared to say 'hey' back to you.

(Long as I'm jumping headlong into the most banal of all "livejournal" type information -- which the goddamn pencil-pushing thugs can do whatever the hell they want to with -- I'll state that I) ate Trader Joe's sushi for breakfast. Reheated vegan stir fry with fresh spinach in it for lunch. Snacked on Spanish olives and local hazelnuts, both from Sheridan's fruit market. Dunno what for dinner yet.

Picked up three one-gallon cans of recycled/ reconstituted (and supposedly excellent/ thick) paint for the two rooms we're gonna be sharing -- three gallons of paint, $23.00(!), thanks to the local gov't's Metro Paint, who also give far deeper discounts to non-profits on their stuff. Man, not only do I get to live in one of the only towns in the country where the mayor tells the FBI to fuck off, but I get cheap paint that helps me feel like a good citizen, too? Well, and save $$? Huzzah.

PS: People, please be a tad less dorky about whether or not Jeff Mangum is gonna make music or not. Don't you see that a lot of the reason he bailed on the whole thing is he was totally getting stalked by crazy people? Sheesh. Besides, it's apparently a fake post. (I can't believe such a thing would happen on God's green Internets, but some people are sick...)

PPS: For anyone who shares my deep distaste for Chuck Klosterman's uhhhhhh, "work," here's a great break-down of a feature about his very zeitgeisty self here from Gawker a little bit ago, in case you missed it. Does that make me a hater? Drat.