Brad Barrish

(This Is Known As) The Blues Scale is set to premier at the Egyptian Theatre on December 9. It will be shown as part of a tribute to the great punk filmmaker, David Markey. There are some pretty cool clips available on their annoying site as well.

With The Lights Out was officially released last Tuesday and The Internet Nirvana Fanclub has been cranking out the news. Rasmus Holman, who runs the site is a super cool guy. He's even sent me a few choice Nirvana bootlegs along the way. In any event, if you are remotely interested in anything Nirvana, it's the only place to start.

I decided to volunteer during the holidays for the Salvation Army. I was at the Santa Monica shelter today to serve some lunch and help prepare their Thanksgiving dinner. When I arrived, they were still waiting for the turkey. There were rumblings that no one knew how to carve a turkey. I wasn't aware that there was a proper way and had seen my mom do it plenty of times, so I volunteered. It was a complete success and they asked me back for Christmas to carve another one.

There weren't all that many people at the shelter, but everyone was very kind. I can't remember anyone's name, but there was this one guy who came out of the men's area looking pretty disheveled. His hair was longish and a total mess. He was extremely thin and drank a lot of instant coffee. I was carving the turkey when our eyes met. He was checking out one of the dining tables and asked if he could use the table. I told him of course he could (as if I had any say). He explained he would need the entire table.

He proceeded to walk to a back room and returned with a very large electric keyboard. He then went back to fetch a small generator and his laptop computer. I was pretty baffled and then he started running a sequencing program on the laptop, used a microphone for vocals and listened to everything on some cheap headphones. After some alone time, he took off the headphones and played "Imagine" and some Billy Joel song. His playing was impeccable and his voice was really good! I wanted to talk to him, but he wasn't very approachable. Perhaps I'll talk to him when I return for Christmas. I would love to find out more about this guy.

Bill Burroughs is so festive. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Ms. Magazine has a great article on church and state. [via MeFi]

Update: Apparently, Steven Williams didn't read the article.

From The New Yorker.

OMG. I must have one of these! Too bad my neighbor listens to the radio so loud. Surely they can make one to switch off stereo receivers.

This site would be so much cooler if the songwriters posted what the songs were about. Most of the explanations are stupid, but every once in a while there's something good. I checked out a favorite Nirvana song, "Scentless Apprentice."

Its based on this book Kurt read called Perfume...its about this perfume maker who kills virgins for their smell and makes them into perfume...I checked it out, cool book.

You learn something new every day. [via TMN]

Welcome to Tokyo. These are our sewers. [via TMN]

The Telegraph weighs in on the 50 Best Cover Songs Ever Recorded. [via Kottke]