Brad Barrish

The news-for-nerds site, Slashdot.org have posted an impressive and insightful interview with singer/songwriter/music rights activist Janis Ian. Her music may not be up your alley (or mine), but the woman knows a thing or two about the music business and the current state of affairs.

The unreleased Nirvana track, “You Know You’re Right,” has surfaced online, in its entirety. Thanks to Buddyhead Gossip and Punknews.org for the heads-up. Grab it here while you can. I don’t know how long the link will be live.

[DISCLAIMER: We had nothing to do with it being leaked, we aren’t hosting it and do not plan to do so in the future.]

Go get your Thursday Three on.

1) What makes a person a hero? To paraphrase, the dictionary refers to a hero as someone noted for courage, achievement and celebrated for their bold exploits. For the most part I think that’s pretty true. A person that I look to as a hero, and there are many, is someone who represents, and otherwise stands for, things that I believe in. It can be as simple as a particular taste in music or as complex as spiritual and ethical beliefs.

2) Do heroes play an important roll in your life? If so, when are they the most helpful to you? Sure, they play an important roll in my life, but I think equally, if not more important, that we look to ourselves for strength as well. As a firm believer that we (every single person and creature on Earth) are all one being, it’s vital that we realize that the inspiration that we look for in other people is actually inside all of us. It’s a nice thing to have people in our lives that remind us of that very fact.

My heroes are most important to me in times of personal doubt or reflection. Sometimes they even become helpful when I’m not looking or when things are going just fine in my life. Those are usually very rewarding instances.

3) If someone was looking to you as a hero, what would be the top three values or characteristics you would emphasize? The first would be honesty, both with themselves and with me. Second would be integrity, or to put it another way, practice what you preach. The third would be to have an open mind and be free of judgement. I guess that’s kind of four.

In getting ready for the month of Rocktober, Jeans And A T-Shirt is proud to present the first in a series of ticket give-aways. You’ll have to act fast and follow the directions. The first person to email us back will win the tickets. Read the following directions carefully.

Spoon will be playing The Troubadour in Los Angeles on Rocktober 23. All you have to do to win the pair of tickets is register as a Guest List member (just click on ‘guest list’ and fill in the blanks). Once you have registered, send an email with answers to the following questions:

1. What U.S. city does the band call home?

2. What is the name of the Spoon track that appears on the Monthly Mix?

Make sure you register for the Jeans And A T-Shirt Guest List before emailing us your answers. We’ll match your registered email up with the email that you send us.

NOTE: This contest is open to all residents of planet Earth, but please make sure you will be in Los Angeles on Rocktober 23, 2002. It’d be a damn shame to see the tickets go to waste, seeing as how we worked hard to get them. Jeans And A T-Shirt will provide the winner with one pair (two tickets) to the show. The winner will be responsible for everything else. By entering this contest you agree that Jeans And A T-Shirt shall not be held accountable for anything under any circumstances (except prividing the tickets, of course).

I don’t usually participate in the ‘How ___ Are You?’ quizzes, but Laura said this one was good. I trust her world, so I gave it a shot. Here’s what my results were (which are pretty dead-on):

You’re A Mix Taper! [no shit]

You’re really enthusiastic about the music that you like. You attempt to discover your new favourite band every week. You continually try to get your friends into the music you like, which annoys the fuck out of them, but you don’t know it. At least you’re not arrogant about it.

In other words, I’m not all that indie. Damn.

1) Do you feel online sources covered the story better or worse than mainstream media? What are some sites you visit for “alternative” news coverage? As I said in my last post, I did turn to the web for a lot of personal accounts. I found the web to be a tremendous resource of information and reaction. There are far too many sites to mention, but a few alternative news sources are AlterNet, ZNet, The Independent Media Source and The Morning News

2) If you could say something directly to the terrorists, what would you say? Wow, that’s a toughy. I would ask why, first and foremost. I guess I just do not understand the hatred that they feel toward America, and the world-at-large. That’s a question though. I really don’t know what I would say to them. And I think no matter what I said, it would not make any difference. These are people that are set in their ways, for the most part. My instinct is to reason with them, but how do you reason with zealous lunatics?

3) Do you approve or disapprove of George Bush’s push to go to war with Iraq? How do you feel this relates to the events of Sept 11th? I disapprove of violence all together. I don’t think two wrongs make a right, but again, how does one deal with lunatics set on terrorizing the world? I don’t have a concise answer for this either. As far as how it relates to 9/11, I have yet to read about a definite connection between the two, aside from the fact that Saddam would love nothing more than to see America fall to its knees. I also do not think that most people are getting the full story from mainstream media outlets. Refer to my links above for some further intelligent reading.

Those are some really tough questions, Chris. Certainly something that I may revisit when it’s not 1:30am with a fair amount of alcohol in my blood.

I woke up this morning knowing that I would be reflecting on what happened a year ago. Despite my residing 3000 miles away from the World Trade Center, it impacted me a great deal. I don’t quite know what to say about it. I’ve avoided the television for the past few days, as I don’t watch much anyway. Most of the news and other commentary that I read is on the Internet, though I won’t deny being glued to the television a year ago. As I sat in front of the television, I was reading people’s words on web sites as well. I contacted a lot of people through email, checking up on friends and sending as much love as could put into words. I published my own thoughts over the days and weeks following the most tragic event I have ever witnessed in my lifetime.

I certainly had a feeling of uncertainty and fear. Living in Los Angeles, I thought that perhaps we could be next. Hell, any city could have been next. I just didn’t know. It didn’t matter how far away I was, it had a tremendous impact on me. It’s difficult to read about the memorial services and personal reflections without feeling sad and angry all over again. It has little to do with being American, and a lot to do with being human.

It’s important to remember how we felt a year ago because while that may have been a time of sadness and anger, it was also a time of love. Boundaries were rendered invisible. People loved one another and came together free of judgement. If you focus on anything today, let it not be the hate and fear, but rather the unconditional love. Remind people (strangers included) that you love them, but by all means look in the mirror and love yourself. Do it in whatever way is comfortable, but by all means do it. We are all one. Love to you all.

A minute after the lights went down, signaling the beginning of one of the best shows I’ve seen this year, Coldplay took The Greek Theater stage with amazing force. Bright white lights lit the entire stage as the band belted out a stunning version of “Politik.” In addition to getting everyone’s attention, it set a fine foundation on which to showcase new songs from A Rush of Blood To The Head as well as a fair amount of material from Parachutes. ‘Give me real, don’t give me fake,’ indeed.

“This is the first show we’ve played in the middle of a forest. Watch out for the bears,” Chris Martin announced.

The production only added to the stunning show. Digital projection screens on both sides of the stage were amazing, as were the four projection panels that were revealed after several songs. Cameras scattered throughout the stage provided the footage, and I found myself watching the screens just as much, if not more than the band.

Following a couple of familiar songs (“Spies” and “Shiver”), the band played one of the finest songs from AROBTTH, “Daylight.” Mixing beautiful guitar and vocal harmonies, this song made my hair stand on end. Guitarist Jonny Buckland has come a long way since the last album, as has the rest of the band. They clearly have much more confidence in front of a crowd, not to mention more material from which to choose. Hearing songs from both albums in the same set, it really does emphasize how much more full the new songs are. I’m not trying to take the piss out of their older material, but the new material hovers above the old, especially live.

Chris’ banter with the crowd was as entertaining. Like a second homecoming, he explained, Los Angeles holds a special place in the band’s heart. LA has been supportive of the band since the very beginning and Chris wasn’t about to let that fact slip by without a thank you to the people, even if, as he noted, almost no one who lives in LA, is actually from here.

Adding comedy to “Everything’s Not Lost,” Chris broke into Nelly’s “Hot In Herre” during the final chorus. Listening to him recite ‘I am gettin too hot, I wanna take my clothes off,’ made the crowd laugh and cheer. With the women screaming so loud around me, it’s a good thing I was wearing earplugs.

Seeing Chris and Jonny playing “Green Eyes” so close to one another, in such a casual manor was appropriate and endearing. The song begs for the camaraderie that was shown on stage between the two.

If I never hear “Yellow,” again, it’ll be all right with me. I can’t imagine the band enjoys playing it much anymore, but seeing them perform it with all the lights and the crowd singing along made it sound so good.

They closed the set with “A Rush of Blood To The Head,” and then came back to perform “Clocks,” “In My Place” and “Life Is For Living” for encores. I walked away with more confidence than ever that Coldplay are not only a tremendous band, but will be making wonderful music in the future.

I did it. Today was the day that I got rid of an entire collection of magazines. Yes, even three year’s worth of Rolling Stone and four year’s worth of Wired. Other recyclables included two years of Los Angeles Magazine, several issues of Wallpaper, Interview, Uncut, Q, and Scuba diving magazines I didn’t even know I had. I still need to dig in the closet for the 60-pound box of Rolling Stone magazines. I admit to keeping the yearbooks and special issues. Hell, I even kept some issues of Wired, but I now have an empty bookcase that will be sitting in the alley behind my apartment for someone to grab.

I also rearranged my office. This was another task that was long overdue. If I could rearrange everything in my apartment every year or so, I probably would. I get bored easy and if nothing else, it’s damn good exercise. The thing is, now I have all of this blank wall space in my office. I guess it’s time to break out the posters…WAIT…the Rolling Stones…I could do a collage! Kidding.

The next project is cleaning out the closets in my office. It’s like a technology graveyard. If anyone wants an old PowerMac 9500 (w/G4 upgrade), A SCSI Zip or Jaz drive or an HP LaserJet 5 email me a price. I’m probably going to end up donating most of it, so I’m not asking much for any of it.

I can’t tell you how amazing it feels to have gotten rid of all of those magazines. It was completely therapudic, and I highly recommend you fellow pack rats to part with your shit. Sure, people won’t think you’re as educated and well-read, but I think it’s a good price to pay for some space.

There’s nothing I like better than a good pissing match. What should show up in my inbox this morning, but an email from Heather, who runs the Friday Five.

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From: heather@phaeba.net To: submissions Subject: a note Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2002 10:56:46

You are politely being asked to discontinue “advertising” your Thursday Three on the Friday Five. I normally wouldn’t have a problem with this except your only intention is to drive traffic to your site by degrading my questions and, in turn, the people who answer them. It’s not appreciated and any further attempts will be promptly deleted.

smattering.org

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Heather,

I never “advertised” the Thursday Three on your site, though I did link to it. If that’s your definition of advertising, we can argue definitions at a later date, if you would like. Actually, I didn’t have a sole intention. There are a couple of intentions, none of which were to insult you or the people who answer your questions.

1. Yes, I was using your site to drive traffic to the Thursday Three. Nasty as that seems on the surface, I have no problem admitting to it. And let’s be fair, I drove a lot of traffic to your site when I participated in the Friday Five. I just want the traffic back.

2. My intentions were never to insult anyone. I think your questions are, for the most part, lame. No need to take it personally. If you take anything personally, you should recognize the fact that Chris and I thought the model for the Friday Five was so good, we ripped you off to improve upon it. You should be flattered. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…or something like that.

No hard feelings, Heather. Perhaps you can even participate in the Thursday Three. We would welcome it with open arms. Thank you for providing the inspiration for the Thursday Three. Seriously.