Zoink!

Eh, I'll take the palendrome.

"Sit jon a potato pan, Ojtis." Or something like that. As my friend Eliot likes to say, "A man, a plan, a canal, a hat."

Sleet in Austin, huh? Gotta be some kinda joke about our ex-Gov. President saying he'd quit when Austin freezes over.

One can only hope.

I wrote a song around the (semi-)palindrome "tulsa nightlife: filth, gin, a slut."

Hec, have the Cowboy Bebop CDs shown up yet?

How can the Weakerthans hate the city that's home to The Burton Cummings Theatre?

Didn't you hear the part where they say "the Guess Who sucked"?

OK, one more question, Sue. Were 19 and 20 accidentally switched or did you intentionally hit us with Madonna when we were expecting REM?

Whoops!!!

No, yeah, I meant to do that!

Hec, have the Cowboy Bebop CDs shown up yet?

Nope. But now I get to be all tingly with anticipation knowing they'll be here soon.

Dude, TMI.

I have a controversial question, which I'm aware may lead to shunning:

Is anyone *not* a fan of live shows, in general? Any venue -- coffeehouse, huge arena, 300-seat theatre.

Because the time has come. I have to stop pretending. Live shows do very very little for me. The one exception, of course, is jazz, because so much of it -- at least, the shows I go to -- is very loose and improvisational.

But for pretty much all other musicians -- even ones I am apeshit crazy about -- live shows don't really thrill me.

I realize I'm posting this on a thread with actual musicians who play actual live gigs, and I mean no offense to y'all.

So. Anyone else feel that way, or am I the lone insane infidel?

The one exception, of course, is jazz, because so much of it -- at least, the shows I go to -- is very loose and improvisational.

I think I see where you're coming from. You want something from the music that you can't get by listening to the CDs? I've been to plenty of rock shows that give me that, though obviously the more a band utilizes improvisation, the more that need is satisfied. But, for me, there's also an immediacy I get at live shows that can't be replicated in a recording studio -- it's that connection between artist and audience. The live bands I like the best are the ones where 1) you never know what you're gonna get and/or 2) the live versions of the songs have an emotional presence lacking on the CD. Bands that don't have either of those things? I'll see 'em occasionally, but won't go out of my way for them.

I have to add that the smoking ban in Boston/Cambridge has added immeasurably to my enjoyment of going out to clubs.