I can't stop listening to "The Last of the Famous International Playboys" by Morrissey today. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing, but I am very thankful that my officemate is not in today, because the fervent lip-synching at my desk might be a little embarrassing. Not much, but a little.

My earworm of the day: "Can't Hardly Wait" by the Replacements. Good stuff.

I'm listening to Queen's Greatest Hits, Vol 1, 2 AND 3. I'm doomed for earworming, I tell you.

I can't stop listening to "The Last of the Famous International Playboys" by Morrissey today.

Coincidentally, "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" is stuck in MY head today.

My earworm of the day: "Can't Hardly Wait" by the Replacements. Good stuff.

I love that song.

Been listening to the Mekons all day, though.

If it ever went to a vote, mine would be "Talent is an Asset" by Sparks. The #1 earworm song.

I can't say this better than the brilliant Leonard Pierce on his LiveJournal:

Hey, writer-types, professional and otherwise!

We’re getting the band back together. That is, the editorial staff of the High Hat (of which I am privileged to be a part) is putting out a new issue. Issue #6, this will be, and if I have anything to say about it, it’ll be the boss jock issue of all time.

The High Hat, and if you don’t know ya betta ax somebody, is the best goddamn cultural studies/criticism ‘zine on the whole fuckin’ world wide web. It’s put out five issues since its inception in 2003, and they’ve been so good that if they were in paper format, you’d pay a hundred bucks for each one of them and be happy to do it please sir may I have another. Well, yes! You may! And at the low low cost of free.

What we need to make the next one even better is your help. If you’re interested in writing for the next issue of the High Hat, drop me a line (leonard at ludic kid dot com [or highhatmagazine at hotmail dot com works, too]) or post in comments – but only if you’re serious. We won’t take everything submitted, and even though we can’t pay you, we demand quality pieces, turned in on time, from people who really care about what they’re writing. From us you’ll get effusive praise, a deft editorial hand, and a well-read, swanky credit for your port-folio; from you we want sharp, insightful, funny (or dead serious) criticism, great prose, the best you got. This is for the love of the game, kids. If you haven’t read the Hat before, take a look, and if the excellent articles we’ve done in the past don’t convince you this is something you wanna be a part of, nothing will.

Deadline for application is Sept. 9th. Deadline for your completed piece is Sept. 30. Projected publication date is mid-October. Here’s what we need:

DETRITUS – the junk drawer. This is where the uncategorizable stuff goes: politics, general culture studies, games, technology, rants and raves.

MARGINALIA – our books section. Book reviews, literary criticism or theory, retrospectives on authors or genres, comics writing, state-of-fiction, whatever you got about the world on the page.

NITRATE -- film and video. Movie criticism, interviews with filmmakers, trends in cinema, video, stage and screen. If it moves, write about it.

POPS & CLICKS – our music section and general raison d’etre. Classical, rock, hip-hop, experimental, jazz, and everything before and after. Criticism, essays, laments, obituaries.

POTLATCH – every issue, we have a special themed section where we talk about one general subject or idea; in the past we’ve done potlatch pieces on Sam Peckinpah, our yearly Top Tens, democracy in popular culture, labor issues, and people who died. This time around, it’s “The Academy of the Underrated” – cultural artifacts, phenomena and trends that our writers think are criminally underappreciated by the critical consensus. Got an idea along these lines? Wanna write a piece about it? Hit us up.

STATIC – television, the drug of the nation, all hail grand pixelator. If it’s on the small screen, we wanna cover it: TV series, minis, foreign television, DVDs, anything. Smart writing wanted.

That’s it! Length is negotiable; should be at least a thousand words, though, and probably fewer than 50,000. Pay is non-negotiable: it will be zero. If you’re interested, send me your pitches in comments or via e-mail and I’ll run them past the other editors and let you know ASAP if you’re in. Thanks to everyone who wants to be part of this, and especially to everyone who already has.

(ETA: We're not just looking for writing! If you've got art, photographs, recordings, or anything else that seems relevant to the High Hat's outlook, by all means, we'd love to consider it. Note that we aren't looking for fiction or poetry, but we do occasionally run comics, games, and the like, as well as our usual essays, criticism, cult-stud and memoirish stuff.)

I just noticed - only 88 posts to go in the music thread. That could take a week, or an afternoon.

Any thoughts on titles?

X-posted in bureaublahblah.

Buffista Music III: Second-billed to the Puppet Show

Buffista Music III: Remember when it was about the music, man?

Buffista Music III: Lick My Love Pump

Buffista Music III: No one knows who they were or what they were doing

Buffista Music III: I envy us

Buffista Music Mach III: Jazz Exploration

Buffista Music 3-Way: Mike Watt Would Approve

Buffista Music III: You Can't Really Dust For Vomit

Buffista Music III: Straight to the cut-out bin

Buffista Music III: Switched On Buffy

Buffista Music III: Hooked on Skag and Hitting the Groupies

Buffista Music 3: Power Trio

It's going to be tough to find one as good as this one though.

"How high's the water, Mama?"
"Three feet high and rising."

"When the levee breaks / we'll have no place to stay."

After the flood, after the flood
The land that washed away felt like my flesh and blood
I’d rather be shovelin’ through the slush and mud
than to leave my home where I grew up
Life goes on after the flood

My favorite old oak tree’s rooted up,
well I’ll plant myself a new one after the flood

A place to call your very own means so much though it’s a little soggy
After all the water’s gone, I’ll scrub it clean and make it home again