June 2012

Going offline for the bulk of the next ten days for some quality time with people, books, and music. See you on the other side.

“Oh! We could watch the lesbian yodeling people movie!” @ChamberMonster has arrived in Brooklyn.

Wondering how many more opportunities I’ll have to miss Iron Maiden live.

My official coverage of the 2012 @usairguitar Boston Regional Championship: usairguitar.com/boston-full-ho…

Very sad to hear that Lorenzo’s – the best drunk slice in Philly – has been gutted by a fire. I hope they bounce back. blog.philadelphiarealestate.com/blackened-pizz…

If you need an explanation of why @jessicahische and @StrangeNative are my favorite creative power couple, try this: jessandruss.us

Louis C.K. is aiming to take the extortionist sting out of ticket sales. I really hope this works and catches on: buy.louisck.net/tour-dates

“Your video will begin in 140 seconds.”

My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: Turbonegro (10), The Moth (2) & Portishead (1) tweekly.fm/twitter/robweycher…

These few days on tour with @usairguitar have been a blast, but I wasn’t ready for how amazing the DC show would be. Great place to wrap up.

It is an election year, and as our president and other political incumbents across the country dust off their dirtiest tricks to retain their posts, so too do our returning regional air guitar champions. Of our first six cities this year, only Portland and Boston are sending new blood to the finals, and neither of their winners from last year returned to defend their titles. So as we pulled up to Washington, DC’s legendary 9:30… See more →

Contradiction @ Hyatt Place instagr.am/p/MN5nNuhM70/

We notice the sort of design that demands to be noticed, and make the mistake of proclaiming it to be some kind of “game changer”, glossing over its functional failings in favor of its unique approach to a problem. But the truth is that the game is much more likely to be changed incrementally, by design that doesn’t call attention to itself. When we wake up tomorrow, we won’t be greeted by a new and… See more →

Boston’s air guitar faithful assembled at Brighton Music Hall on Friday night. They came to talk loudly over the judges’ commentary, and they stayed to marvel at performances that were by turns inspiring and reviling.

The air guitarists of Boston have long toiled fruitlessly in the glittery shadow of four-time champ McNallica (Erin McNally), whose charisma and fire was insurmountable even on the rare occasion she faced a worthy challenger. But with McNallica’s retirement came… See more →

My contribution to @thepastrybox this month is about the decidedly slow march of progress: the-pastry-box-project.net/rob-weychert/2…

There are two things that make New York City one of the toughest markets in US Air Guitar:

1. The staggering amount of top tier talent, both local and imported, and
2. The Daily Show’s Jason Jones, whose commentary has reduced all but the most thick-skinned competitors to quivering heaps in the backstage bathroom.

Alongside ACLU lawyer Ben Wizner and music biz free agent Leigh Lust, Jones returned on Thursday night to his perch in the… See more →

Windhammer @usairguitar halftime shows: NYC tonight (Bowery Ballroom), Boston on Friday (Brighton Music Hall), DC on Saturday (9:30 Club).

Thanks for the kind words and congratulations, everyone! Windhammer would be nothing without such expressive fans.

Thanks to all of tonight’s @usairguitar competitors in Philly for putting on a hell of a show!

Too tired to figure out what to say about winning tonight’s Philadelphia regional @usairguitar Championship. Also pretty thrilled.

Showtime.

The American Shredding truck made its monthly stop at the office building across the street from me today. I’ll consider that a good omen.

Installed my air conditioner yesterday in advance of the heat wave. It was pretty much the inverse of this: youtu.be/E87raPj9m0A

It’s that time of year again.

Best song title of 2012 so far? I think so. rd.io/x/QFyuK0JQ0Hk

Dreams of bedroom insect infestations. No more sleep for me, thanks.

My nostrils tell me someone in this building is partaking of illegal cannabis cigarettes. Perhaps I should contact the local constabulary.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I miss you.

My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: Skeletonwitch (17), Diamond Head (14) & Einstürzende Neubauten (13) tweekly.fm/twitter/robweycher…

Bitter father/daughter feud outside. I want to tell them to put it aside, if only for today. You never know which Father’s Day is your last.

A magnificent solo piano performance of Mastodon’s entire Leviathan album in one uninterrupted take: youtube.com/watch?v=h85KV5… (via @kolbywolby)

A little star-rating math:

Sergio Leone’s overall command of the medium has us beginning at four stars. Alas, his palpable misogyny throughout the film shaves off the fourth star. Toward the end, we lose most of the third star with the reveal of a plot twist that bears the odd distinction of being both predictable and thoroughly implausible. The remaining sliver of that third star is melted away by the bewildering prominence of Ennio Morricone’s… See more →

May the next sounding of your car alarm be the last thing you hear, and may you hear it for eternity in a lake of fire.

Nothing like some good ol’ DVD damage making the final five minutes of a four hour movie unwatchable.

Hey NYC friends, I’m curating a fun segment in @notcoming’s Mix Tapes screening tonight at 92YTribeca: 92y.org/tribeca/ticket…

Wayfinding: none. Employees who know what a DVD-R is: none. Registers open: none. (@ Best Buy) 4sq.com/LNgExz

))<>((

A public supplement to a private conversation. /cc @jennlukas @jsm @mattsutter

Just throw it in Adobe and sprinkle some AJAX on it.

My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: W.A.S.P. (32), Guided by Voices (31) & The Impressions (29) tweekly.fm/twitter/robweycher…

Improbably, I have made a Diamond Head fan out of @ChamberMonster.

Wedding DJs need like fifty songs max.

Let’s pretend it’s not too late for this tip: if you do not own burger.org, do not name your restaurant Burger.org.

Ten years ago today, I bought the t-shirt that remains my favorite today.

Twenty years ago today, Faith No More released Angel Dust. The public didn’t really go for it. But oh man, I did.

Hey, what music are parents scared of these days? I can’t think of anything.

My Top 2 #lastfm Artists: Brian Posehn (26) & Les Paul (19) tweekly.fm/twitter/robweycher…

Bulleit Bourbon and Oreos.

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes! One more year until I’m a prime number again!

In the late 1980s, two recent college graduates in San Francisco began making audio recordings of their elderly neighbors’ loud, drunken arguments, eventually amassing over fourteen hours of material. If you find that material fails to transcend momentary amusement, the ensuing story will follow suit. As the recordings become a phenomenon throughout underground tape-trading networks and spawn albums, comic books, theatrical productions, and feature films, the cult obsession over such a mundane artifact grows ever… See more →

Call them curators, scrapbookers, bloggers, pachyderms; I don’t care. I just want the good ones to keep at it. theawl.com/2012/06/you-ar…

Who is the lead guitarist leading? Isn’t he actually following the lead of what the rhythm players are putting down?

Called one for the treble, the rhythm is the rebel.

A double negative in the space of 140 characters is not difficult to decipher.

Am I the only one who isn’t convinced Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed ban on oversized soft drinks in NYC is a dumb idea?

None of my 3,255 tweets begin with the word “I”. #FunFactFriday

Saw @CoryBooker’s doppelgänger on the subway. Even after I knew it wasn’t him, I still wanted to shake his hand.