The Return Of Mechasmack

What is up with Lake Shore Drive these days!?!? The past couple of weeks, the traffic has been horrendous in the morning. This morning it was a parking lot practically to my front door. And it's been like that a lot lately. I don't see any construction going on. I haven't seen any accidents. What's up?

I'm hungry.

Street Fighter II Fans will enjoy this:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1711287

New Order - Blue Monday

Way back in the day, I used to stay up late on Friday and Saturday nights listening to the DJ's spin house music. It was just gaining steam at this point and Chicago was the place to be to hear it. At this point, it was still young and innocent and you could see it's roots in disco and Kraftwerk. Most of it was very simple electronic beats and samples that eventually took on traditional song structures with an emphasis on the endless beat.

In 1983, New Order released Power, Corruption & Lies. This was the album that locked the door on their previous incarnation, Joy Division. This was also the album that introduced one of the greatest dance songs ever.

The mixes I used to listen to late at night incorporated lots of different styles that still fit within the beat mentality. It was not unusual to hear some Kraftwerk or Art of Noise. When New Order released Blue Monday, it became and instant classic. It fit right in with that drum machine beat, infectious bassline, and haunting lyrics. And it still fits right in today. As dance music has evolved, this song still universally evokes something in most people. I know Bizarre Love Triangle is their seminal track, but Blue Monday will always get me to the dance floor.

I found this site that looks up the number of occurences of your name in the U.S. The pooter didn't find my name. One is the loneliest number..."

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Vincent would be proud.

The Empty Train Car
Every once in a while, a train will pull up that has an empty car. Any CTA rider's first reaction most likely is, "Score! I can sit anywhere I want to!" But they'll soon find out why the car is empty.

Pee Man
One common reason for the empty train car is the homeless man who has peed on himself and has now stunk up the car so no one wants to be on it. It is an obvious ploy by the homeless to shoo away all those noisy commuters. One of these days we need to fight back and crowd around this homeless person and let them know that their pee is not going to scare us away. Somebody let me know how that goes.

Hot Car
It's summer. It's hot. The train has AC. Oh look, an empty car with no stinky people using up all the cool air. WRONG! That car is empty because it's 110 degrees inside. I get warm enough just walking to and from the train. The last thing I need is to bake in an oven on the way to work.

Cold Car
It's like Hot Car, but in the winter.

This morning, I was fooled by the half-empty car. I thought to myself, "There are plenty of seats on that car." My eagerness blinded me to the homeless man in the corner. It wasn't long after I sat down before I noticed the distinct smell of pee. Luckily, there were seats on the other end of the car. I felt bad for the people getting on the train further south because it was soon going to get too crowded for people to have the option.

I dugg an interesting article from the Washington Post this morning. It's title Why I Gave Up On Hip Hop. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301426.html)
As someone who grew up on hip hop and is now in their thirties I can certainly relate. But I'm still not giving up.

This article reminded me of part of Chris Rock's last stand-up special. He loves hip hop, but he's getting tired of defending it. And it is definitely hard to defend a lot of what's on the radio and MTV these days. Now, just to qualify, I think most of ALL the music on the radio these days is not worth my time, not just hip hop. But I can't imagine wanting to hear most of these songs 20 years from now. Sometimes I'll hear a nice beat with a catchy hook, but I know I'll be sick of it in 2 weeks and don't even get me started on the lyrics.

But I'm not completely jaded. Thank goodness for the indie scene. I wrote earlier this year about the appeal of indie rock. I questioned how the raw sound has an appeal over the slick production of pop. I suppose the same goes for hip hop. There are still plenty of groups out there producing what some would call true hip hop. They're not rapping about bitches and ho's. They not rapping about rims or cristal. They not rapping about being hard or gangsta. And they don't need to litter every verse with nigga. That element of hip hop may reflect the reality of those producing the music, but it has unfortunately come to dominant the scene. So now we have a generation of listeners who are getting the wrong message.

I'd like to thank the old school and underground MC's that are still holding it down. The rappers that have something to say and realize there needs to be a balance between the bling and the violence and enlightenment. I wish I heard more of you on the radio. Hopefully, some day soon hip hop will implode upon itself so it can start over. Until then I'm grateful that the internet has exposed me to so much better music.

I'd like to send a shout out to the four people who read my blog. Thanks for your support. Without you, my words would just be floating in cyberspace like that proverbial falling tree in the woods with no one around to hear it.

Anyway, some of you may have received a communication from my alter ego - tmm. tmm is finally getting back to making some use of all of his records. The past year has been a push to do more mixes and post them online. And now tmm is venturing out to play for actual people, live.

There's a small event at TarBar on November 17th. tmm will be spinning drum&bass. It's a start.

There's a hot dog place near the bar called Chubby Weiners. I kid you not. So I'll take the four of you out for a hot dog after the show.

bootytronic.com/events/

Everything's so easy for Pauline
Everything's so easy for Pauline
Ancient strings set feet a light to speed to her such mild grace
No monument of tacky gold
They smoothed her hair with cinnamon waves
And they placed an ingot in her breast to burn cool and collected
Fate holds her firm in its cradle and then rolls her for a tender pause to savor
Everything's so easy for Pauline

Girl with the parking lot eyes
Margaret is the fragments of a name
Her bravery is mistaken for the thrashing in the lake
Of the make-believe monster whose picture was faked
Margaret is the fragments of a name
Her love pours like a fountain
Her love steams like rage
Her jaw aches from wanting and she's sick from chlorine
But she'll never be as clean
As the cool side of satin, Pauline

Two girls ride the blue line
Two girls walk down the same street
One left her sweater sittin' on the train
The other lost three fingers at the cannery
Everything's so easy for Pauline

Neko Case - Margaret vs. Pauline

When did we get so lazy that we can't carry a backpack?

I've been noticing more and more people using those backpacks with the handles and wheels on them like they're a piece of luggage. Now I can certainly understand if you're traveling and have more than one bag, but do you really need those just to carry a few papers to and from work every day? Yesterday this lady on train almost missed her stop and had to roll her bag over everyone's feet to rush out the door. Pick up the damn bag next time! Back problems aside, we could all stand to do a bit more lifting these days. I just read this morning that we're using more gas because we weigh so much. I'm trying to do better. I've lost 6 pounds on my diet so far. I'm hungry.