Comments on: Saturday Salon

By: Paul Burns

Paul Burns — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:25:44 +0000

My insomnia is getting the better of me again.
Yesterday and today watched Series 1 of Upstairs Downstairs. Some of it is in b/w and there are two episodes so soapy they almost reach the standard of B&B, but mostly it was very good. Looking forward to buying the rest of the series.

By: Paul Burns

Paul Burns — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:46:30 +0000

Was still out at about 11 am this morning. Okay now.

By: Scorpio

Scorpio — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:52:37 +0000

Maybe the site is getting hacked by CC deniers who resent the anti-e-mail posts and comments?

By: David Irving (no relation)

David Irving (no relation) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:37:51 +0000

LP provided a similar page last night, Frank.

I was alarmed, and quite relieved when I got to work this morning and everything was OK again.

By: Frank Calabrese

Frank Calabrese — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:29:23 +0000

Test Post as folk over at Pollbludger are getting a domain expired page – I can see the page fine in both firefox and IE8 Windows 7 Professional.

By: Paul Burns

Paul Burns — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:58:55 +0000

Lot of smoke haze here in Armidale yesterday. There is (or was) a bushfire to the west of us yesterday, and there’s still haze in the air this morning.

By: Ambigulous

Ambigulous — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:40:25 +0000

The 1913 Flying Merkel is magnificent, Liam. But is it an ancestor of the Flying Road Cyclist R. Merkel, of this district?

I think we should be told.

By: desipis

desipis — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:09:42 +0000

Just a little snapshot of the biased work at the Opposition Organ, today.

The latest appears to be that because the government hasn’t completed their 5 year super clinic plan in 2 years that it’s “in tatters” and Rudd has “failed to deliver”.

By: furious balancing

furious balancing — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:48:38 +0000

I saw The Feelies do a song at the REM tribure at Carnegie Hall earlier this year. They did Carnival of Sorts, highlight of the night for me, though Bob Mould was great doing Sitting Still too. I’m well pleased to hear about these reissues, as the next best thing for me has been some mp3s I knicked off the net. Thanks for mentioning it here.

Also thanks PB, I enjoyed the John Adams thingee on TV too.

By: There's a kid I know but not too well

There's a kid I know but not too well — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:34:24 +0000

I was in a record store on Sunset Boulevard the other day, and was quite nerdily thrilled to see that there’s been a nice re-issue on CD of those two erstwhile hard-to-find, twin pinnacles of nerd-rock — I mean of course “Crazy Rhythms” and “The Good Earth” by The Feelies. Man, those freakin’ guitars.

For those too young to remember, The Feelies in 1980 or so were the final word in guitar-and-percussion nerd perfectionism, they made David Byrne and Tom Verlaine look like the laid-back cool kids in class. Their sound was/is inimitable — it seems simple at first, until you realize that it’s been built up through millions and millions of tiny details. There aren’t many things quite like “Crazy Rhythms,” suburban-nerd-New Jersey’s answer to the hipster downtown-isms of “Marquee Moon.” I used to catch them live at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, and brother let me tell you, they totally smoked.

Pick up both records if you can, but if you’re only going for one get “Crazy Rhythms” which has much more focused songwriting, and that insane, eccentric percussion sound, and the kooky cover version of Lennon’s “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide”. The second stanza of “Moscow Nights” is worth the cover charge all by itself.

Give it to a nerd for Christmas. As a thought experiment, both of you should listen to it together: you’ll only hear the tight songwriting and amazing guitars, but your nerdy friend will hear *molecules*.