Tuesday, January 31, 2006

new aquisitions

This weekend was fun, spent some time in nyc with Robin (then we came back to Jersey City for REAL indian food). I also saw the Knicks actually win a game for once versus the Magic. I learned that you should never show up at the 42street movie theater at showtime expecting there to be any seats even if you've purchased tickets for the movie 3 hours in advance.

The library it turns out is a nice resource for audio cds, I checked out 10 (that's the limit) and have so far heard about half of them:

Ornette Colman - The Shape of Jazz to Come - I now realize I don't have to listen to Masada or John Zorn! Just listen to THE ORIGINAL ;)
Ornette Colman - Free Jazz - A Collective Improvisation - Another brilliant album, more noisy in a good way. Makes me think of all the Sam Rivers concerts I attended during my Florida years. Haven't seen him play yet since I moved here.
Tortoise - TNT - Back in the late 90's there was no greater a band in my opinion (besides perhaps YLT). I jokingly predicted the disc would not be at all scratched -indicating lack of play- and I was actually right. These days its all formulated angular b/s (insert THE bands here). There is no difference between the 80's hair metal bands and the stuff recently being passed off as "indie rock." The first tortoise album is my fav but this one has some nice gems.
Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister - this was the closest thing the library had to a modern indie rock album. I remember when it first came out how hard matator records was pushing it. Not bad at all but I wouldn't (didn't- I remember listening to it in the store and passing) buy it.
*Clifford Brown and Max Roach* the best album I've heard in a long time! Brilliant, lovely, warm, fantastic. At times even asian? Can't beleive I'm just hearing it now, but since there was so much theft at the jazz radio station I used to work at, it probably makes sense that the schmo before me stole it before I could hear it.
--------
the others I've yet to hear to review:
Don Byron - A fine Line
Don Byron - Plays the music of Mickey Katz
Alice in Chains - Live - One of my first concerts was Lollapaloozah 93: Primus, AIC, Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Front 242, Arrested Development, Dinosaur Jr., I got sunburnt from that summer show. Alice in Chains was the shit back in 93, grunge days.
Skavoovie and the Epitones - Ripe - I think i used to like this band back in my moon ska phase days... I still like ska.
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head - I lost my tape of this historic album. Now I can throw it on my ipod ;)

Little Man Nate in Dunk Contest


One of my favorite players on the lowly Knicks this season is Nate Robinson, who earlier today was announced to be in the NBA All Star Dunk Contest in mid February. Nate is listed at 5'9" but is closer to 5'7" and 180lbs. By comparison, former dunk champion Spud Webb was closer to 5'7", 130lbs. Robinson will go up against dunk powerhouse Andre Iguodala of the Sixers and returning dunk champion Josh Smith of the Hawks, whose listed respective heights are 6'6" and 6'9", an entire foot taller than Nate.
With the Knicks basically the worst and most depressingly pathetic team in the league this year (I believe Clyde Frasier described the Hawks fans last night as 'amused with their futility' watching the Knicks get routed by a god-awful Hawks team) could this dunk contest be the sole highlight for Knicks fans in 2006? I know the NBA draft won't be. Viva Chicago! Right, Isiah?

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Matt Pond PA

Great performance by Matt Pond PA on Conan O'Brien tonight. It is truly sad I've yet to see this band live as they've been living in Brooklyn for some time now (they used to hail from Phili). I wonder if they occasionally rock out a bit more from their ballades, something like Low does from time to time...

Nice chello work. There was also a point during the performance that I heard a moog like sound, but there were no keyboardist on stage so I deduced this was an effect pedal from one of the guitarists. Well done!

Its been over a month since I've seen a show, damn it!

Matt Pond PA plays Bowery Ballroom in early February (see below for more details)

Saturday, January 21, 2006

whip update


Vincent Black Shadow (Iro Mark V)
Originally uploaded by kny_mc.
I don't remember having this much difficulty adding photos to blogger, its come to the point that I had to upload through flickr just to get them to chainbreaker. Oh well, I figured it out.
This is how my bike is currently configured. It is much more comfortable to raise the bars to near seat level, and if I had a longer fork steerer tube, I'd raise it some more with a carbon spacer.
The bar ends were spares from my never used schwinn MTB, which oddly enough I found unappealing with the stock bar ends intact(straight style handlebar). Yet on this bike they are more functional than esthetically appealing. Riser bars are more and more prevalent in the fixed world, I suspect this is due to the fact that people (perhaps including myself) are buying frame sizes that are too small. This frame was the largest size IRO sold, perhaps they could have done me a favor and left the fork uncut so I could have determined the stem height. I like the riser bars, they make me feel like I'm riding my old GT freestyle bike from years ago, but the extra position granted with the bar ends is needed and the effect of their presence is excellent. The clear grips on the bar ends help prevent slip on inclines. I guess I do want moustache bars or albatross bars but I'm growing tired of spending cash on my bike despite how much I enjoy riding.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

skoals

So I rode in my park today (Lincoln Park, Jersey City). Took the old IRO out for a spin with her new home brewed handlebars. I tried to simulate albatross/moustache bars by adding bar ends to nashbar aluminum risers -an idea admittedly orginally conceived by making fun another bike I've mentioned in this blog. Anyway the sun was out and it was about 40 degrees which made for a nice ride. During winter rides you warm up after a while and wish you had put on less clothing. I tried not to get upset at the amount of cars cutting through the park, honking at me thinking I've no right to be on the road with them. After a lap I rode over to a bench where I saw another rider riding up in my direction.
"Do you have any ____s" he said. I heard skoals, as in the tobacco dip that Florida people sometimes use.
"Hey whats up. Skoals? No," I replied.
"no, Do you have any TOOLs," he clarified.
"oh, no. no tools," I said. His bike was converted single speed, the kind where you remove the rear derailleur and simply shorten the chain and go single speed with all the extra cogs still on the rear cluster. He rode off.
I did a few more laps, a few more cars honked for me to get out of their way, and then it was time for me to go. On my way home there was an abandoned house being cleared out for renovation. They had a big dumpster in the front and one guy was tossing crap down from the 2nd floor to the other guy in the dumpster, who caught a glimpse of my bike.
"hey, luke at these bike. its nice, right?" he said to his buddy. I rode on and ignored.
"Its simple. Its old-school," he added.
"Thanks," I said. I did another lap just so the guy doesn't know where I live.

...As an afterthought I've considered naming the IRO "Vincent Black Shadow" in honor of Hunter S. Thompson's bike in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

>>>
"Well," he said, "as your attorney I advise you to buy a motorcycle. How else can you cover a thing like this righteously?"

"No way," I said. "Where can we get hold of a Vincent Black Shadow?"

"What's that?"

"A fantastic bike," I said. "The new model is something like two thousand cubic inches, developing two hundred brake-horsepower at four thousand revolutions per minute on a magnesium frame with two styrofoam seats and a total curb weight of exactly two hundred pounds."

"That sounds about right for this gig," he said.

"It is," I assured him. "The fucker's not much for turning, but it's pure hell on the straightaway. It'll outrun the F-111 until takeoff."

"Takeoff?" he said. "Can we handle that much torque?"

"Absolutely," I said. "I'll call New York for some cash."

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

while it is still fresh in my mind

I wanted to write of my impressions of the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. I'm sure it was required school reading for most but it was one that was passed up in my school so I'm just now getting to it.

Just like 1984, I loved this book. At under 100 pages it reads very fast, I could have read the whole thing in one day if I sat down to do so, but in this case I stretched it out over few nights and train rides. The story is very dark and prophetic, to think that he wrote both of these books before 1950 is chilling considering everything that has come to prove true. I'm aware that the book was intended to be a satire of the Russian Revolution, however I must admit that with every other paragraph I was reminded of something our existing government has done or said at some time.

Just like 1984, certain things are left unsaid that make you wonder:

In 1984, how the heck did 'they' know Winston's greatest fear was of rats? Was it a subliminally implanted fear from big brother or was there some kind of chip on each humanoid that monitored each person's dreams and nightmares? I read one person’s theory was that subjects were genetically engineered to have certain fears which is even more scary in a Brave New World kind of way.

In Animal Farm, the fate of Snowball is never revealed (besides being chased off). This leads to questions about Napoleon's rise to power. Was it a conspiracy? That is, could snowball have been part of Napoleon's scheme and simply hiding out inside the farm? After all, they did build the windmill -Snowball's idea- could Napoleon's demonizing of Snowball just been his way of getting the population to live enslaved and in fear and hatred of 'the enemy'? Many analogies can be drawn between Osama Bin Laden and Snowball. You know? Who REALLY destroyed the windmill? It is left to the reader to decide.

Both books' subjects seem to be incapable of remembering, something that enables the powers that be to stay in power despite their by definition, 'criminal' acts. In Animal Farm, the population is left illiterate so the leaders can come in and edit the constitution at their convenience. Frightening! I wonder if the term, "writing on the wall" originated from Animal Farm. The ending is just shocking, leaving the reader with a feeling of doom, similar to 1984. You could see it coming but not to that extent! I'd leave some quotes but I’m unsure of the legal aspect of blogging on books so I'll just say both are must reads if you haven't done so already.

Required reading?

Some one was talking crap about a book entitled Bike Messengers and the Cult of Human Power so I googled it. I was suprised to see the pay per click topline search results were campus bookstores. What college courses are teaching things having to do with bike riding? Intersting...
These days there are so many books on the bike cult phenomenon, tons of blogs as well...

Thursday, January 12, 2006

David Lynch's New Movie -Hopefully in 2006

It is entitled Inland Empire, and is in a way the opposite of Mullholland Drive since it's the other extreme (east)of Cali. The cast includes Laura Dern (Wild at Heart), Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux (from Mullholland Drive), Harry Dean Stanton, and a bunch of other actors Lynch will not confirm. He won't say much about it besides that it is a movie about a woman in trouble (sound familiar?). He shot the whole thing on DV, and is apparently in love with the medium to the point that he is abandoning film altogether. He shot the movie without a script. I consider his last two movies to be sheer brilliance, and though I am worried that this one will lack the structure to connect with the audience, I am anxiously awaiting the release of this movie. It is rumored to be premiering at Cannes, a US release date would be some time after that...

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Predictions for tonights game against the Mavs

The Knicks go into tonight's game against the Mavs 8 games back from first place in the atlantic New Jersey. Jersey had won 10 in a row before finally losing to Tim Duncan's Spurs. The Knicks have won four in a row (4-0 in 2006). Dallas has won 3 in a row and are a whopping 13-5 on the road this season. Mavs guard Marquis Daniels is out two weeks with a neck strain...
I remember Lee giving Nowitzky fits in preseason, I expect that matchup to be fierce tonight, hopefully Larry Brown will reassign him to guard Dirk again despite their different positions. Due to matchups, Lee and Nate Robinson didn't get major minutes in last night's victory over the Cavs, so I expect big games from each of them.
As Curry gets into better shape with each game, he shall be more dominant like Shaq.
Steph will continue his near flawless execution, Crawford will torch Dallas and the Knicks will defeat the Mavs despite playing back to back games -last nights being on the road in Cleveland.

Dallas has one heck of a scouting report on tonight's game here.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

Okay so I'm in the grocery store the other day flipping through some magazines and come across one of those cycling magazines that usually has nothing to do with the fixed gear / single speed revolution currently going on. It was the December issue of one of these: Cycling, Bicycle, ect...
Next to last page is their featured bike, one they reccomended to a schmo for an "urban" bike under his budget of $1500. It was a Gary Fisher Triton. This bike has road geometry with riser moustache bars, a carbon fork with track cranks and freewheel. It costs well over $1000. It has front and rear brakes.
Now I'm certain that Gary Fisher is a reputable company for moutain bikes, fairly cetain they would make a decent if not pretty nice single speed. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't part of the appeal of getting fixed the cost effectiveness? Isn't part of the appeal of getting fixed not riding a Gary Fisher, a bike that usually costs as much as three bianchis, fujis or IROs?
By now everyone knows that Raleigh is making their own version of the fixed gear / ss called the Rush Hour and I've accepted that all the companies are catching on to the fixed craze (how long before GT starts making their famous track bikes again?). I even though the Raliegh looked pretty cool although it comes with front and rear brakes. Maybe its because Raliegh has always made road bikes, or maybe its because the Rush Hour is significantly less than $1000, for some reason it doesn't piss me off as much to know that Raleigh is making a fixed than the Gary Fisher because I know somebody who doesn't know any better will proudly buy the Fisher BECAUSE it costs that much not knowing they can buy a far more credible street bike for significantly less money. I give it a week after these are on the market before someone posts their new $1000+ street bike on fixed gear gallery. I'm fully aware that some of the custom track bikes on the gallery cost more than 4 grand. I'm betting this bike will probably not be well received by the knowing community.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

shows

Due to the rising amount of goddamn parasitic 80's retro hipsters in this area buying up all the local shows some two months in advance, this is my latest attempt to consolidate forthcoming NYC area shows in an attempt to secure tickets before they sell out. Previously this problem has led to me having to trip to Boston or Phili just to check out a decent band! (worth it, but necessary?) Mind you, this information was obtained from a website catered to said hipsters that even goes so far as to asterisk particularly hip shows (I have since removed the asterisks) so that they can have their deck vans out and ready the night of the show -I wore those shoes back in 1986 and I've no desire to put them back on now 20 years later despite this sheepish trend. I used to plow through Village Voice and Time Out New York with pen and circle dates but perhaps this is more effective although certainly not comprehensive for my purposes -I saw no listings for John Zorn's club, or any Jazz clubs for that matter. The L magazine is also another good source for show information but the fact remains that if I forget about a show and don't pick up L or TONY, chances are it will sell out before I am reminded of it, hence this post serves as a reminder to myself more than anything else.

Sat 1/07
8:30 PM
The Double, Celebration, Kyp Malone (of TV on the Radio)
Bowery Ballroom 18+ $12

Sun 1/08
8:00 PM
Detachment Kit, Tapes 'n' Tapes
Pianos 21+ tba

Fri 1/13
7:30 PM
Laura Cantrell
Mo Pitkins Not Specified $15

Sat 1/14
9:00 PM
Camper Van Beethoven, Trampled By Turtles
Bowery Ballroom 21+ $20a/$22d

Sat 1/14
8:30 PM
Sufjan Stevens
Lincoln Center - The Allen Room All Ages $20

Sat 1/14
10:30 PM
Sufjan Stevens
Lincoln Center - The Allen Room All Ages $20

Sun 1/15
12:00 PM
The Wrens, Nada Surf (acoustic), Breakup Breakdown, Hopewell, Langhorne Slim, Maplewood, Koester, Fresh Kills, Parts and Labor, and more!
Knitting Factory(Benefit for Act Local: All Three Floors) All Ages $15

Fri 1/20
9:00 PM
We Are Scientists, Oxford Collapse
Maxwell's 18+ $10a/

Tue 1/24
9:30 PM
Calexico
Joe's Pub All Ages $20

Thu 1/26
7:30 PM
Broken Social Scene
Bowery Presents @ Webster Hall 18+ $25

Thu 1/26
8:00 PM
Colin Meloy (of The Decemberists), Laura Veirs
Town Hall All Ages $23.50

Fri 1/27
8:00 PM
Rainer Maria, Pilot to Gunner, Annie Hayden, Autodrone
Northsix 16+ $12

Thu 2/02
7:00 PM
The National, Cage (Def Jux), Beans w/ Holy Fuck, Chad Van Gaalen
Bowery Presents @ Webster Hall(PLUG Awards) 18+ $20

Fri 2/03
8:00 PM
Chad Van Gaalen
Mercury Lounge 21+ $10a/$12d

Fri 2/03
8:00 PM
Low, His Name is Alive
Southpaw 18+ $15

Sun 2/05
8:00 PM
Calla, Lake Trout
Maxwell's All Ages $10

Mon 2/06
8:00 PM
Low, His Name is Alive, Death Vessel
Bowery Ballroom 18+ $15

Tue 2/07
7:30 PM
Matt Pond PA, dios (malos)
Bowery Ballroom 18+ $13a/$15d

Thu 2/09
8:00 PM
Sigur Ros
Theater at Madison Square Garden All Ages $38

Fri 2/10
6:00 PM
Feist, Jason Collett
Bowery Presents @ Webster Hall 16+ $25a/$30d

Mon 2/13
8:00 PM
Vic Chesnutt, David Bazan (Pedro The Lion), Mark Eitzel, Will Johnson (of Centro-Matic)
Bowery Ballroom 21+ $15

Mon 2/13
8:00 PM
Saint Etienne
Irving Plaza 16+ $20a/$22d

Tue 2/14
8:00 PM
Cat Power, Memphis River Band
Town Hall All Ages $22.50

Wed 2/15
8:00 PM
Be Your Own PET, Detachment Kit, Cake Bake Betty
Knitting Factory(Main Space) All Ages $10

Fri 2/17
9:00 PM
The Dirtbombs, Be Your Own PET
Maxwell's 18+ $13

Sat 2/18
6:00 PM
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Elefant, The Morning After Girls
Bowery Presents @ Webster Hall 18+ $22a/$25d

Sat 2/18
9:00 PM
The Dirtbombs, Be Your Own PET
Southpaw 18+ $13

Mon 2/20
7:30 PM
Wolfmother
Mercury Lounge 21+ $10

Sat 2/25
6:30 PM
Stars
Bowery Presents @ Webster Hall 18+ $20

Thu 3/02
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
The Hook 18+ $15

Mon 3/06
7:30 PM
Mogwai
Avalon 16+ $19

Wed 3/08
8:00 PM
Nada Surf, Rogue Wave, Inara George
Bowery Presents @ Webster Hall 18+ $20

Thu 3/09
8:00 PM
Mike Ladd
The Kitchen All Ages $8a/$10d

Fri 3/10
6:00 PM
Metric
Bowery Presents @ Webster Hall 16+ $20

Fri 3/10
8:00 PM
Early Man, Priestess, Swords
Northsix 18+ $10a/$12d

Fri 3/10
8:00 PM
Mike Ladd
The Kitchen All Ages $8a/$10d

Sat 3/11
9:00 PM
Early Man, Priestess
Maxwell's 18+ $10

Fri 3/17
6:00 PM
Silver Jews
Bowery Presents @ Webster Hall 18+ $20

Fri 3/17
8:00 PM
Stereolab
Town Hall All Ages $25

Sat 3/18
8:00 PM
Stereolab
Town Hall All Ages $25

Tue 3/21
8:00 PM
Matt Pond PA, Youth Group
Northsix 18+ $12

Monday, January 02, 2006

Hate to Say I Told You So

Knicks Win! Triple overtime. What a game. I was on my feet at the end of the fourth and during each overtime. Lee played tremendously well as a starter, Steph was aggressive in crunch time and Jamal was effective throughout the game. I have to admit, I don't think they would have won tonight if Eddy Curry didn't play the way he did during the fourth and into the overtimes. He was a reliable threat in the post and got fouled nearly every time they got the ball to him in the post. No disrespect to Lee and Steph but Curry was the MVP of the game IMO. The game wouldn't have even gone to a single overtime had the Knicks been able to make their free throws, Knicks would have won it in regulation. This has been a problem for the knicks since summer league. make your free throws New York!

Nash and the Matrix (aka shawn marion) are true competitors with unbeliveable talent.


Knicks 140 Suns 133, 3OT

Steph 32pts 10a 5r
David Lee 23pts 15r 3st 10 for 11 field goals! are you kidding me? (all season highs plus a season high 51 minutes)
Curry 20pts 15r 1bl
Crawford 29pts 7r 7a 2st
Frye 10pts (including a nasty dunk on the Irishman Pat Burke)
Nash 28pts 22a 5r
Matrix 38pts 14r

Suns took 44 3pt field goal attempts in one game...

that's beautiful

It turns out David Lee will be starting the rest of the season for the Knicks! This is fantastic news to me, if you read my other posts this is exactly what I had hoped for. I truely belive Lee to be the most dynamic of the three rookies after seeing him blow by NBA players in the summer league of 2005 for reverse dunks and offensive rebounds.
Apparently Nate and Lee are going to major players in the shortened 8-9 man rotation. Quentin and Jerome James are out! Bah dah pap pah pah -I'm loving it.
It would be nice to see this lineup

PG Stephon
SG Nate (let's face it -the man can't pass; at this stage in his career he's a two)
C Eddy Curry (hope his work ethic changes)
SF David Lee (will be my next knicks jersey purchase if brown gives him 30 minutes a night)
PF Antonio Davis (but the real minutes will of course go to Channing)

Bench
PG/SG Jamal
C Jackie Butler
SF Trevor Ariza
PF Channing

That's nine, just what Brown usually plays on his other teams. Sorry Q, sorry Jerome and sorry Qyntel, you aren't meant to play in NY this new year.
We will win more games. We have no west coast trips remaining...