Really. This image might top the dream I had about my friend Dominic booking a concert with Steely Dan, Jandek, and Robyn.

Yup, it’s true. I got a ticket to today’s taping of The Colbert Report. I’ll post updates from it here. Big thanks to Penn Democrats for making my dream a reality! I am unbelievably psyched!

Readers of this blog are well aware that I’m quite fond of WPRB to the point that I will say it’s the best damn radio station in the whole wide world — and our neighbor/friend/hot date to the north, WFMU, is not so shabby either — BUT this station trumps them all.

Why, you ask? Because it’s some guy in West Philly with a CB radio, blasting an array of funk, oldies and whatever they want. I’ve never actually listened, because I don’t own a CB, but this makes me want to buy one. We should all forget about lame-ass Muxtape, podcasts, and just start doing crazy fun shit like this.

» BTW, hello there visitors?! It’s a shame you had to visit on a day where I was busy and stuff.

I gotta give a small shout-out to the Gdowiks — without these people, Philadelphia wouldn’t be half as fun as it can be at times. My amazing friend Trishy, has entered the blog world again with Cities In Pixie Dust. As she puts it, “This project aims to be a visual storybook documenting cities — and the lifeforce and people who make them alive. The agony and the ecstasy. The beautiful, the mundane, the silly and the bizarre.” You might remember her old site, Groovelingo, which was one of the first sites in town covering music & arts in a quasi-blog form.

Trishy’s brother, Steve, runs Too Drunk To Blog, and it’s just as fun as the Dead Kennedys tune it references. Wii! Karaoke! Who needs to drink when you can do it vicariously through Steve?

I think I’ve written this post about a million times now, but I would be thrilled to write it a million more: Pilam’s Human BBQ is my favorite music-related event in Philadelphia. Period. Hands-down. Simply put. Finito. And you know how much I loathe this godforsaken town.

So what’s so great about it? The free food (veg and non-veg), the bands, good vibes, and the welcoming nature of Pilam make it worth my time every year. For me, it’s the official start of spring, and when my first pangs of longing for summer begin.

This year I’m excited specifically because not only am I DJing (more on that in a sec), my good friends, Brooklyn’s Oxford Collapse and Philly’s own Brown Recluse Sings are playing, in addition to a slew of awesome bands.

So yeah, I’m DJing, 8:30 p.m. to midnight, along with England Belongs to Twee/FunVampires.com’s own Brian Labuda. You know the deal — indie rock, girl groups, power pop, and more. After us it’s Dave Nada and Cullen Stalin, who are part of the amazing Tax Lo party that goes down in Baltimore. And after that, the party will rage on until the next sunrise.

Anyway, here’s a track from Bellevue, who are reuniting for BBQ this year. (Thanks to Ben Morgan for tipping me off to the tune.) I think I saw them once or twice, most likely at Pilam. (Oh the hazy memories.) It rocks in a strangely Kinski-esque way (except that the vocals are terrible):

This is a top notch post. Note to self: I need to post my interview with Sharkey and Chuck Meehan The Legend on here, like, tonight.

Is an appearance at the Franklin Mills Mall a sign that your career is on the way down, or up?

This event is a lot of fun — it’s like our own Zaireeka (kindofbutnotreally) and right up there with strange community ritual performances like the Mermaid Parade, Running of the Santas, and so on. So, don’t miss out. It’s BYOBB (Bring Your Own Boom Box), but I think they’ll have a couple loaners in case you show up without one.

A word of advice, inspired by the howling wind outside my window: “I went to ‘Unsilent Night’ and all I got was pneumonia because I failed to take into account the weather situation when dressing myself that morning” does not sound the least bit hilarious or cool if you ever find yourself in a situation where you have to explain why you’re sick, nor does it make for a vaguely funny t-shirt slogan. A human body loses most of its heat through the head, so whatever you do, at the very least, make sure to wear a hat.

Check the Accuweather forecast for tomorrow »

Nope, I’m not making this up. Thursday and Friday there is a symposium on James Brown (!!!) at Princeton, and Xgau is coming into the studio to talk about it tomorrow:

On Wednesday 11/28 at 6:30PM EST, Matt (host of “Rhythm of the One”) will interview Robert Christgau, Ferris Fellow of Humanities at Princeton University and the “Dean of American rock critics”. He’ll discuss his work at Princeton, and the upcoming symposium “Ain’t that a Groove: The Genius of James Brown” presented by Center for African American Studies.

Visit WPRB and tune in. Personally, I would like to hear Xgau rate the record reviews we put on all the music in the library. That would be hilarious/awesome.

Chunklet on what’s probably the first public appearance of long standing comedic favorite, Philly Boy Roy.