September 2012

Writing is hard. instagr.am/p/QNrk4HhM74/

Somebody do a Kickstarter campaign where one of the pledge rewards is that I get to have beers with Doris Kearns Goodwin.

My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: Wussy (54), Nirvana (37) & Dysrhythmia (22) tweekly.fm/twitter/robweycher…

Listening to Bleach and Nevermind back-to-back makes one appreciate the hell out of Dave Grohl and Butch Vig.

You should watch this magnificent Joey Ramone video directed by Greg Jardin: youtube.com/watch?v=2Whlcw…

When the 3D in Apple’s new Maps app for iOS works, it is really, really cool.

Amanda Palmer was (rightly) pilloried for crowd sourcing free musicians. Bon Iver’s tattoo “contest” deserves the same. feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pitchfork…

Oh, Adobe Paragraph Composer, you so crazy.

The only band name of its sort that was ever actually funny or clever was Duran Duran Duran.

That very specific sort of jokey pop culture band name: Com Truise, Ringo Deathstarr, The Cast of Cheers, etc. Everyone stop that, please.

If at first you don’t succeed, buzz, buzz every single apartment in the building.

My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: Metallica (35), Wussy (32) & Swans (21) tweekly.fm/twitter/robweycher…

My dad has been gone for two years. robweychert.com/writing/guide-…

The day will have a typically slow start, so you’ll still be catching up on news and e-mail when your sister calls late in the morning. You’ll expect her to ask if you can make it down from Brooklyn to the Jersey shore where your family is vacationing, mostly out of a genuine desire to see you, but partly out of playful sibling rivalry: your absence from a family gathering makes you the lesser child.… See more →

Planning an etiquette certification program to be required of all train passengers. First course: Inside Voice 101.

Watch out, world. @larrylegend is on his way to becoming your next punk rock messiah. (@ Bark Hot Dogs) 4sq.com/P7p0Pc

Replaying past altercations in my head, and handling them like a champ.

A bout of insomnia last summer led me to sign up for a free trial of Hulu Plus, which would let me use my iPad to catch up on episodes of Bob’s Burgers I had missed earlier in the season. When I inevitably failed to kill the subscription before the negative option billing kicked in, I decided to make the most of the month I accidentally paid for by devouring the entire combined run of… See more →

20+ years later, I still expect “Blitzkrieg” to follow “Whiplash”, as it did on my cassette copy of the ’88 Elektra reissue of Kill ’Em All.

My contribution to @thepastrybox this month is about advertising as tolerated assault: the-pastry-box-project.net/rob-weychert/2…

“I’m on your case, I’m in your face, kick you and your father back in place. Step off, sucker, understand? Don’t you know? I’m the man.”

It is a very, very good thing no one can hear the lyrics I invent and sing to myself when I’m alone.

Starting the week off right.

Either someone is eating cotton candy right outside my window or I’m having a stroke.

The One Commandment: “Don’t be a dick.”

My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: Al Green (10), Carpenters (7) & Tortoise (3) tweekly.fm/twitter/robweycher…

For a 6:30 p.m. show with five bands on the bill and no food for sale, you might want to reconsider your “NO RE-ENTRY” policy.

Thrill Jockey anniversary show last night was the most eclectic I’ve seen in ages. I loved Future Islands fans being made to endure Liturgy.

While I’m still probably not going to be a fan, holy crap does that Future Islands singer guy own the stage.

Buddies.

A bit nervous about the ambitious crop of projects I have planned for the next few weeks, but mostly excited.

The day the Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower is no longer part of my morning will be a sad one.

A sort of companion to my piece from the other day, here are my collected music reviews from my first year of @Rdio: robweychert.com/writing/rdio-r…

I didn’t mention it in my recent analysis of my first year using Rdio, but one of the many reasons I’m reluctant to make a subscription service my exclusive musical gateway is the ephemerality of online content and services. For that same reason, my writing that has appeared recently in a few other places online has been reposted on this site, and I’ve decided to do the same with the various artist, album, and song… See more →

I’ve been following Mike Birbiglia’s work for a few years now, which means I’ve heard this story several times before. Sleepwalk With Me had its origins in his stand-up act, which morphed into a one-man show, which became a book, which has now been adapted into a film. It’s a good story deserving of all these media, but it is still best told onstage with a microphone.

Birbiglia is a gifted storyteller, heartfelt and free… See more →

Dining with famous women while I sleep. robweychert.com/writing/lunche…

Dear Frances Bean Cobain,

First of all, it was lovely having lunch with you, even if you did get a bit confrontational at the end there. I’m glad I woke up before I could rebut, because a cooler head has shown me that your assessment of my taste in music, if incomplete, was remarkably astute. Dark themes, deceptively simple songwriting, played loosely but with discipline. You kind of nailed it. And even if you didn’t,… See more →

And then I had lunch with Mary Tyler Moore and Frances Bean Cobain. They are harsh critics. I woke up before I could rebut.

Until I get details proving the contrary, I am regarding the new iTunes as a serious threat to my way of life. This is not a joke.

Insights from my first year of using @Rdio: robweychert.com/writing/year-o…

I have long been skeptical of music subscription services like Spotify and Rdio. What serious music fan would pay a monthly fee to have a remote, fallible gatekeeper between himself and a woefully incomplete music catalog? To forsake my personal collection in favor of that system would be like dumping a lifetime’s worth of home equity to move into a rental apartment in a gated community. That’s what people do when they’re getting ready to… See more →

Made lemonade from insomnia. About 1,200 words’ worth.

Damn. Rest in peace, Bill Moggridge. Modern design wouldn’t be the same without you. cooperhewitt.org/remembering-…

Wondering if @TheJasonNewsted has played @RockBandBlitz yet. He could hear his bass on ...And Justice for All songs for the first time.

My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: A Hawk and a Hacksaw (35), Harmonia (14) & Taraf De Haïdouks (14) tweekly.fm/twitter/robweycher…

Another day, another game of Crazy, Eccentric, Intoxicated, or Hands-Free Phone Call?

My @Rdio playlist with selections from each of the albums on my Pitchfork People’s List (Top 20 Albums 1996–2011): rd.io/x/QFyuL1HKMw

Apropos of nothing, I’ve decided to watch all of Disney’s theatrical animated features in order of release date. Since Wreck-It Ralph’s release in November will bring the grand total up to fifty-two, it will take me exactly one year to watch them all if I do one film per week.

The marathon began tonight with 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a film of such tremendous historical significance that it’s almost impossible to… See more →

Inheriting the earth.

My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: The Budos Band (32), The Gourds (29) & Swans (22) tweekly.fm/twitter/robweycher…

Attention all satirical news sites that are not The Onion: You are not The Onion. You are not funny. Please cease operations immediately.