Run, Runner are Adam from TRB and Dave from Trouble Everyday [the non-drama queen one]. Grammar Debate! are a pleasant collection of friends, including one Carolynne McNeel, whom I played with in Rock Lotto and who contributed a track to the Plain Parade compilation.

I’ll be playing records in between sets. The show is free — I promise it will be a good time!

one of the nice things about this weekend, besides paying off my sleep debt, was that i had time to prepare my class lesson for today. yes, you heard right — today i taught my first class ever. how did i wind up doing this? well, a friend of mine who’s a prof at penn had to be in dublin to present a paper and i guess she found me qualified, ignoring the fact that i have a BFA from an art school where the students valued looking cool more than learning [but isnt education wasted on the youth anyway?]. i guess i have cred and really, thats enough to earn me the title of “guest lecturer”.

lots of people tell you that teaching is a rewarding experience but does everyone ever mention how utterly terrifying it is to stand up in front of a class? its like having a conversation with someone you don’t know very well and you’ve reached the bitter end where you’re grasping at straws just to keep talking. thats the point where i generally fall silent, awkwardly smile and then just walk away because im such a spazz. but since these future leaders of the free world are paying upwards of 50K a year, i gotta keep talking.

the course i subbed for is called “rock and roll sublime” — its a writing course that makes you watch at lot of rock films and read philosophy books to understand the idea of the sublime [which is pretty much not the way its used commonly]. its an awesome class and the teacher is phenomenal, so if you find yourself at penn, i highly recommend taking it.

anyway, the class in its final stretch, which talks about music that is not sublime, ie, punk, and thats where i come in. today i taught the following songs: sex pistol’s “god bless the queen”, black flag’s “t.v. party” and x-ray spex’s “oh bondage up yours”. the sex pistols song was the one i was required to teach, the other two were my own doing. the game plan was to explain that punk = not sublime and that the sex pistols could be considered the ur-punk song, but interestingly enough, the students did not see it this way. in their eyes johnny rotten was too heroic, the song was too slick and it advocated a message that was ultimately sublime.

i didnt see it this way, so [i feel like] i asked a lot of dumb, cyclical questions. for the teachers in the crowd: do you usually feel like you’re talking in circles? in fact, i was a bit worried that when they werent buying the sex pistols bait, that i wouldnt be able to teach today’s class properly. and then… i remembered i brought in black flag.

what didnt click with them on the first song, did so with “tv party” and “oh bondage”, so that was kind of a relief. if it didnt work, id be screwed! now im just curious to find out what they thought of me. perhaps it was the same thing i thought: this lady is a fraud.

» in other news, i have plenty new musix to blog about and yes, you shall be thee lucky recipients.

» i have no reason to attend pizza club now that itunes lets me download episodes of “desperate housewives”.

» yesterday i reached a new low in locust bar karaoke — i asked for a monitor check before doing “blue monday” got it. furthermore, i asked for a touch more reverb in my vocals and i got it. am i high maintenence or what?

» my next column for xlr8r rolls out in january. i wrote it at like, 5AM and it sounds insane. love it!

during thanksgiving break i covered the top ten show, which i rather liked. it was nice going into the station knowing that half my show was somewhat mapped out and then id only have to cover an hour’s worth of programming otherwise. i took this opportunity to bust out some 1980’s flannel rock, for the most part. i played the 7″ of “alex chilton” rather than the full length because i was noodling around in the 7″ section and saw that. plus, i like the 7″ format better. i wanted to play some spiral jetty but i forgot to do that. ditto for dogzilla’s “lunch with ed”, which would have made my friend ann laugh.

10 silver jews - the poor the fair and the good - Tanglewood Numbers - drag city
09 sun kil moon - neverending math equation - tiny cities - caldo verde
08 vashti bunyan - here before - Lookarftering - dicristina
07 devendra banhart - now that i know - cripple crow - xl

06 the go! team - ladyflash - thunder, lightning, strike - columbia
05 Books on Tape - Upon Rock City - Dinosaur Dinosaur - alien8
04 deerhoof - running thoughts - The Runners Four - Kill Rock Stars

03 lady sovereign - a little bit of shhh - vertically challenged - Chocolate Industries
02 Animals and Men - dont misbehave in the new age - Revel in The Static - Messthetics
02 Animals and Men - we are machines - Revel in The Static - Messthetics

method and result - private eyes - songs from the sixth borough - plain parade
a-sides - expressway to your heart - songs from the sixth borough - plain parade

01 animal collective - grass - feels - fat cat
01 animal collective - The Purple Bottle - feels - fat cat

[and now an hour of non-top ten music]

clem snide - i cant stay here tonight - you were a diamond - spinART
volcano suns - sea cruise - 7″ - Homestead
oxford collapse - land! - some wilderness - kanine
flower - beauty pt II - concrete sky - bear
crippled pilgrim - people going nowhere - head down hand out - fountain of youth

the feelies - the last roundup - the good earth - coyote
electric light orchestra - showdown - all over the world: the very best of - erpic/legacy
olivia tremor control - courtyard - dusk at cubist castle - flydaddy
oh OK - brother - wow - db records
sky saxon - starving for your love - destiny’s children - PVC
the replacements - alex chilton - 7″ - sire

busker soundcheck - perfect foil - 7″ - fullgroan

this is what you look like after a very, very difficult month. i released a record, freelanced* like a crazed person and somehow held down a desk job. in short, i am so ready for thanksgiving break.

*yes, i said freelance, not freebase. though i certainly do look cracked out, eh?

This record is finally available today. Click on the pretty link below to listen to a free stream, and if you like it, eight dollars will get you mp3’s.

You already know I’m ridiculously proud of this record, so it would be nice if you checked it out and told me what you think about it!

i cant wait for the weekend — i’ll be able to write on here. whee!

if you dont know what plain parade is, then clearly we’re not doing something right. sara and i have been booking shows for three years, losing money, losing friends and goddamnit, i think that qualifies for a little celebration. three bucks gets you some free booze, good tunes [including the official preview of songs from the sixth borough] and raffle prizes. remember when brian from grand fabric spent 20$ on raffle tickets, only to win nothing? we all learned a lesson that day — brian’s not a very good gambler. [but he gets an A for effort!]

so what im trying to say is: please come out. not attending is like blowing off my birthday. i hate to pull the friend card like that, but well, you know…

not sure which is sadder — the fact that i make crap pay at my awesome job or that my crap blog can potentially rack in more than my awesome job.

not only did i send out the press release about our comp, which is one of the reasons i have been so damn busy and unable to put up some much-needed mp3’s; today, november 8th, 2005, is the day philadelphia jumped the shark:

» terrell owens.

» gilmore girls: jess lives in philly, works on locust and they talked about “that new york times article”. oh. my. god. my mind is blown.

» neil ferguson blows his last rockist gasket on hipsters.

» i cant believe that all these years ive been a new radiant storm king fan, i’ve never seen ‘em. finally got to right that wrong on saturday at indre. they were really good.

» also at indre: bigger lovers final show. yes, i cant beleive it either — so sad! but they went out in a brilliant burst of light. im also incredibly impressed by their cover of “do ya”. i thought i was weaning myself slowly off ole ELO but no, sucked right back in.

» went up to nyc last night to catch my favorite dudes the constantines and oxford collapse. the cons are so brilliant, they’re proof of god’s existence. the perfect combination of heart and head. if you dont like this band, you hate america, love, ice cream and swimming pools.

» post-show all of us went to some brooklyn bar called daddy’s, which i wish existed in philly. best approximation is the upstairs bar area at the standard tap, but thats not even close. brad from blood on the wall was seriously tearing up the dj booth and i spotted jim eno of spoon chatting away with miss sally crewe [whose new record is super good, i highly recommend it]. thunderbirds are now! rolled up around 3AM and more partying commenced. i got on a train at 6AM and heard that cookie rendell got septa back on its feet.