Flaming Pablum

Goodbye, 2009!

Well, it's the end of another year here at Flaming Pablum. Under normal circumstances, I post a video clip of U2 blustering their way histrionically through "New Year's Day," but is it me, or has that joke just gotten way too old? Even though I'm not doing that, I am going to revisit this lame survey one more time. Enjoy. Happy New Year.

What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before? Speak on a panel.

Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't believe I made any. I am tempted to make one this year, but that almost guarantees that I won't accomplish the goal, so perhaps it’s best that I don't bother.

Did anyone close to you give birth? My managing editor at the job had a baby. Or his wife did, I should say.

Did anyone close to you die? We had a very close call right before Christmas, but mercifully everyone's still with us.

What countries did you visit? None besides this one.

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Full-time employment status somewhere.

What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory? While there were a few momentous occasions and big events this year, I can't honestly say that any one specific date has any special resonance.

What was your biggest achievement of the year? Remaining employed.

What was your biggest failure? Not landing a specific job I was interviewing quite seriously for in the early summer.

Did you suffer illness or injury? I had a lengthy bout with a Kidney Stone that made me wish my parents had never met. My children had to deal with everything from Scarlet Fever and The Croup to a tenacious strain of head lice.

What was the best thing you bought? My iPhone

Whose behavior merited celebration? My wife Peggy for being an unflinching rock of awesomeness.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The wingnut Republican "tea baggers." Please go die.

Where did most of your money go? Kids' tuition & the fine makers of Sapporo beer

What did you get really, really excited about? The prospect of landing a certain job (that, sadly, did not come to fruition). That said, I was then hugely relieved and psyched to return to my seat at the previous gig (where I am now).

What song will always remind you of 2009? Specifically about 2009? Hmmm. This might sound weird, but I'll go with "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga

Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder? About the same, really.

Thinner or fatter? Probably fatter (no scale in our home)

Richer or poorer? Certainly feel poorer, but probably about the same.

What do you wish you'd done more of? Working/earning.

What do you wish you'd done less of? Beer-drinking.

How did you spend Christmas? With the family.

Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? No idea.

Did you fall in love in 2009? Only with inanimate objects like my iPhone

How many one night stands in this last year? Zero. I'm very happily married.

What was your favorite TV program? "Collision" on BBC-America

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Beyond idiotic public figures like the Gosselins, Hennes & the Salahis, no. The usual suspects still fire my ire.

What was the best book you read? "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer

What was your greatest musical discovery? The Great Destroyer by Low

What did you want and get? After my years of grousing about it, I finally got a turntable (for Christmas)

What did you want and not get? A staff position somewhere

What were your favorite films of this year? Nothing current. I can count the movies I went to this year on one hand and still have a few free fingers.

What did you do on your birthday, and who old were you? Kept things low-key. I'm 42 now. Ugh.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Beyond the laboriously over-cited full-time-employee status somewhere, probably the untimely demise of Glen Beck, Dick Cheney or Sarah Palin.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Beergut Obfuscation

What kept you sane? Charlotte (5) & Oliver (3), although they both excelled at driving me crazy too.

What celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? None spring to mind.

What political issue stirred you the most? Gay Marriage. Let them have it. Let's all evolve, shall we?

Who did you miss? Several friends & former co-workers. They're all still alive, but I just didn't see that much of them.

Who was the best new person you met? Probably my tirelessly entertaining colleague Drew.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009? Drink a lot of goddamn water. Kidney stones suck.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

 And all the world's babies are crying still/While all the police cars harmonize with power drills/As jets and kettles form a chord with screeching gulls/Accompanied by truncheons keeping time on human skulls

- "Across this Antheap" by XTC

When Flat was Where It's At

I spotted this nice little find on one of Tim B's many `Net sites (among them Stupefaction, The New York Nobody Sings, the Karate Boogalo Tumblr and I'm sure there are others ... he's a busy one, that Tim), and thought it was quite cool. Courtesy of Shorpy, check out this strikingly detailed hi-definition image of the Flatiron building circa 1902 (still in the stages of construction). Very cool stuff. Be sure to click on the "full size" option for extra wows.

To the Core

You may remember my post of a while back wherein I waxed rhapsodic about my adoration of vintage hardcore punk flyers. Well, in my travels around the `Net, I've recently found a great website devoted to same, featuring a truly stunning collection. Check out the somewhat clinically-named Hardcore Show Flyers (and its sibling site, Hardcore Punk Misc) for more. Tell'em Flaming Pablum sent'cha.

Halford for the Holidays

Last night found WNYC airing another great episode of The Sound of Young America. You may remember that I posted their interview with Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat/Fugazi a few weeks back. Well, last night they had Rob Halford of Judas Priest (talking about his -- deep breath, now -- newly released album of Christmas music) and the directors of the new black metal documentary, "Until the Light Takes Us." Because I'm such a pal, I'm embedding the podcast here for you to enjoy. Have a very metal Monday.

The Sound of Young America

Favorite Songs of the `00's

I'm sure I said something to the same effect at the close of the previous decade, but I simply can't believe it's been ten years. The 90's still seem so fresh to me. Wasn't it only yesterday that we were all worrying about the approaching technopocalypse that the advent of the dread Y2K was going to bring? I pondered this question the other morning as I reached into the cupboard to grasp a coffee mug. The mug I absent-mindedly pulled out couldn't have been more apropos: an official Portishead coffee mug procured at a mid-90's show at the Supper Club in midtown. Much like the lustrous sheen of newness that once accompanied the signature sound of those somber trip-hop pioneers, the design on the mug had almost entirely faded. Yes, the 90s were that long ago. And now the 00's (or however you'd care to call them) are about to join them.

Of course, it wasn't the giddy anticlimax of Y2K that defined this decade, but rather the events of September 11th, 2001. Without succumbing to maudlin cliché, it was that date that truly drew a stark, black line between what came before and what came after, and we're still reeling from the ensuing hangover, hoping for some fanciful fruition that almost nine years later simply doesn't seem likely to ever arrive. But that's a post for another day.

Anyway, while some may decry this weblog as being slavishly steeped in nostalgia, I'm not about to write a fond look back at the 00's. For me, this decade was defined my experiences as a struggling professional, a husband and -- most importantly -- a father. It was in these past ten years that I – by choice or not – moved away slightly from many of the trivial preoccupations that ruled the previous decades for me. Sure, I still voraciously pursued music (and even flew to the U.K. a couple of times early in the 00's for the purposes of seeing bands), but I simply didn't have as much time, energy, funds and, frankly, interest to keep up in the same capacity that I did in the 80's and 90's. As I've lamented here before, I've long since crossed the Rubicon into the realm where I find more of interest in the re-releases than in the new releases. That all said, I haven't been totally clued out. Thus, when my colleague Dave sent me one of those Facebook challenges that asked me to cite my favorite songs of the decade, I dutifully filled it out. Here are those answers -- and a few more I added. It is invariably rife with omission and bound to flummox a few of my friends, but so be it. Without further ado, here are (most) of the tracks I'll remember from this closing decade in no particular order. Oh, I also tried to limit my list to only one song per artist. Crank'em up.

"Blood On Your Hands" by Killing Joke

"6:45" by Firewater

"King of the Mountain" by Kate Bush

"Die Alright" by The Hives

"Go With The Flow" by Queens of the Stone Age

"Monkey" by Low

"Ball & Biscuit" by The White Stripes

"The Road Leads Where It's Led" by The Secret Machines

"Winter's Wolves" by The Sword

"Break Ya Neck" by Busta Rhymes

"Bouncin' Back" by Mystikal

"Keep Forgetting" by The Cinematics

"Carnival Kids" by The Futureheads

"Watch Us Work It" by Devo

"Train" by Goldfrapp

"Hyper Music" by Muse

"Out of The Silent Planet" by Iron Maiden

"The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" by The Postal Service

"Two Weeks" by Grizzly Bear

"Start Wearing Purple" by Gogol Bordello

"Gossip Folks" by Missy Elliott

"Club Foot" by Kasabian

"Get Innocuous" by LCD Soundsystem

"The Skin of My Country Yellow Teeth" by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

"Boner" by Grand National

"Cut You Up With a Linoleum Knife" by Mastodon

"Jesus Christ" by Brand New

"Phantom Limb" by The Shins

"Your Touch" by The Black Keys

"Wildcat" by Ratatat

"Over & Over" by Hot Chip

"Inaction" by We Are Scientists

"I Want To Hear What You Have to Say" by The Subways

"Skin Is, My" by Andrew Bird

"Bad Weekend" by Art Brut

"Leaders of the Free World" by Elbow

"I Predict a Riot" by The Kaiser Chiefs

"Made You Look" by Nas

"The Modern Age" by The Strokes

"Naked in the City Again" by The Hot Hot Heat

"Wish I Didn't Miss You" by Angie Stone

"PDA" by Interpol

"Norfolk Coast" by The Stranglers

"The Coming of Spring" by The Rapture

"Banquet" by The Bloc Party

"Beautiful Day" by U2

"Oops, Oh My" by Ladytron

"Hey Ya" by OutKast (although "Bombs Over Baghdad" almost trumps it)

"99 Problems" by Jay-Z

"Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga

"Helena" by My Chemical Romance (the quintessence of guilty pleasures)

Addendum: Whoops! As expected, I forgot (at least) one:

"Count in Fives" by The Horrors

My Prezzie

My wife loves me.

Christmas Eve 2009

I've bought my wife a lot of silly crap in my day, but of all the items I've procured for her, rarely has one been greeted with such rapturous appreciation as the Yule log DVD I picked up for her about two weeks ago at Gracious Home. Fellow New Yorkers will doubtlessly remember WPIX (Channel 11) airing the Yule log every year; ultimately an hour & a half or so of footage of a burning log in a fireplace, scored by Christmas carols. Sure, it sounds corny, but for city-dwellers who didn't have fireplaces in their homes (i.e. most of us), it at least provided a pleasant illusion. Peggy saw an ad for a DVD that replicated the same illusion and mentioned how that would be fun to have. I didn't take her seriously at first, but on one blustery walk home down 6th Avenue two weeks back, I happened to pass a Gracious Home. Nine bucks later, the DVD was mine.

As goofy as it sounds, it really is kinda nice. Mercifully swapping the shrill carols in favor of authentic hearth sounds (popping sparks, crackling flame, etc.), watching the DVD is strangely soothing. The warmth is missing, of course (along with the inevitable grumbling and physical maintenance that goes along with tending an actual fire), but Peg's been playing it pretty solidly every night for the last week. If your apartment is as spatially compromised as ours, I heartily recommend picking one up. If you can manage to suspend your cynicism (not always an easy feat for me), you'll be surprised.

On a more serious note, a very close member of the Flaming Pablum family was involved in a car accident this past Wednesday, and we very nearly lost them. As such, they're going to be spending the holiday in the hospital. The whole experience has been scary and heartbreaking, but has strangely leant Christmas a new resonance for me. In this spirit, I strongly encourage you to reach out to the ones you care about today and tell them how very much you love them. You simply never know when you're going to lose the opportunity to do so. Do it today.

Merry Christmas.

7 Years Gone Today

December 22nd, 2002, Joe Strummer passed away. Pour one out for the great man. The above shot of Joe on East 14th street was culled from this fine collection of photographs by preemenint punk shutterbug (and CBGB hostess), Roberta Bayley.

You Got Yours & I Got Mine

I currently work with a character named Drew who shares my adoration for bloody-knuckled hardcore and stentorian metal, although being about a decade younger, he's constantly citing bands and scenes that came about long after my time. In turn, I'm continually chucking band names back at him. As such, we've managed to hip each other to music that we were both heretofore unaware of. I was recently incredulous to learn, however, that he wasn't that taken with Motörhead. Drew didn't buy into their outlaw tough guy shtick (which is, admittedly, fairly ridiculous – although I'd contend that the band's inherent ridiculousness is wholly part of their charm.) In due course, I swiftly IM'd him several YouTube clips of the classic line-up of the band performing hallowed hymns like "Iron Fist," "Overkill" and my perennial favorite, "(We Are) The Road Crew." After a single airing of a Top of the Pops performance (wherein the boys play a rollicking rendition of "Bomber"), Drew was hooked.

This, however, had me stuck in a loop of exhuming old Motörhead classics, and I stumbled across a the video for "I Got Mine," from the band's arguably maligned 1983 opus, Another Perfect Day. I'd been indoctrinated into the cult of Motörhead via the absolutely crucial No Sleep `Til Hammersmith. Increasingly fatigued by hair-metal hosers like Motley Crue and Ratt, I was hungry for metal that shared the same adrenalized punch as the punk and hardcore records I was loving at the time, and the furious sprint of No Sleep.. handily sufficed. When Another Perfect Day hit the racks in 1983, though, something was amiss. Guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke had left the ranks, replaced by former Thin Lizzy string-bender Brian Robertson. The end results were unlike anything the band had released before or since. While it still packed a wallop, there was a musicality (thanks to Robertson's fluid playing) that had been otherwise completely dormant when Clarke was handling the riffage.

Anyway, many fans hated it. The fact that Robertson was jettisoned from the proceedings prior the arrival of the band's next effort (a compilation dubbed No Remorse, which found a new line-up of the band fleshed out as a quartet playing "Killed By Death") was fairly telling. While they'd never return to the bullet-train athleticism of the classic line-up (Lemmy Kilmister, Fast Eddie Clark & Philthy Animal Taylor), it was clear that the comparatively sprightly melodiousness of Another Perfect Day was just going to be a momentary detour.

Regardless of popular opinion, I still think it's a great record. While not my favorite of theirs (that'll always be No Sleep…), the inclusion of great tracks like "Shine," "Dancing On Your Grave" and the afore-cited "I Got Mine" make it a keeper. Another Perfect Day also boasts arguably the band's best cover art, a hallucinatory depiction of the band's iconic snaggletoothed mascot as rendered by longtime sleeve designer Joe Petagno.

About twelve years ago, I vividly remember waiting on line at the Film Forum on West Houston Street. I can't remember the film I was waiting to see, but there was a couple standing in front of me. The gent was wearing a painstakingly detailed replication of the Another Perfect Day sleeve on the back of his weathered denim jacket. Unable to curtail my appreciation, I tapped the guy on the shoulder, complemented the handiwork and immediately launched into a full rumination about how great the album in question is and whatnot. In a near identical scenario to this incident that would happen years later, the owner of the jacket passively obliged me before informing me that he'd bought it at a vintage clothing store and hadn't the first clue who or what Motörhead was, let alone anything about their music. I was, of course, summarily disgusted. Don't fly the colors if you don't know what they stand for.

Anyway, if you're as enthused about that sleeve as I am, why not check out Joe Petagno's website for more of same. And, for what it's worth, here's Motörhead playing "I Got Mine." Crank it.

Word on the Street

 

And, at last, cryptic BNE's full name is revealed....