Giuseppe Zangara

Music!

And look how that turned out.

The first three songs and, to a lesser extent, "Get It On" and "Planet Queen," are all that's worth salvaging about this record. "Rip Off," too, perhaps, if I'm in a generous mood. Most everything else is an utter drag. No matter how many times I've listened to this album, I can't recall what "Girl" or "Monolith" sound like. Other offenders: "The Motivator" is a poorly disguised (and inferior) rewrite of "Get It On." "Lean Woman Blues" sounds exactly you'd expect a song called "Lean Woman Blues" would sound like. I'd write off T. Rex were it not for the fact that The Slider does everything the previous, lesser album does but better.

Let's just admit that, a few killer cuts aside, this record isn't very good. The Slider blows it out of the water; even Tanx and Dandy in the Underworld are better.

Perhaps we can finally get rid of post counts altogether, so people like Youth N Asia won't feel it's important to have an honest, accurate post count.

Not going to bother finding the thread, but it was when Paul ("The New Me") was moaning about how his wife was leaving/had left him. Bruiser, recalling the time he (Paul) posted his dick in Milky's cock shots thread, suggested that he could've saved his marriage if he had spent more time working on his relationship with his wife and less time posting his wang on message board frequented by teenage boys.

Guys, I think I'm sick of Einstein Bros. The only one in town is very close to my apartment, so I almost always stop by there on my way to work. Poop on making my own breakfast. But yeah, I eat there too much. Blah.

I suggested that the spicier items aren't any good, but I do like their jalapeno salsa shmear. It's just that their eggs are very bland, so any egg-based sandwich or wrap tends to be overpowered by any even slightly strong flavor. Just a spicy spread on a bagel works fine. They have a smoked salmon shmear that's really thick and gummy. I don't like that one.

Is this lousy band finally taking off in the US? lol @ the UK for being into these douches years ago.

I would think a bagel shop could be found in any college town. Students like bagels, right?

Presently making my virgin excursion through The Satanic Verses. The controversy surrounding the novel overlooks the fact that Rushdie really, really likes Thomas Pynchon, and that he must've read Gravity's Rainbow a number of times. Which isn't a bad thing.

Nice, moving article about DFW in the current issue Rolling Stone. Fun Fact: Wallace would periodically become obsessed with famous people, including Margaret Thatcher and Alanis Morrissette. Slightly-Depressing-but-Oh-Well-I-Probably-Would've-Done-It-Too Fact: David Foster Wallace fucked Elizabeth Wurtzel.

Decent bagels & spreads, some OK lunch sandwiches. Anything with "Spicy" or "Southwestern" in the name tends to be very spicy, yeah, but almost completely devoid of flavor. Haven't tried their regular coffee, but they make a good vanilla latte. Discuss.

I like "The Briar and the Rose" quite a bit, enough to where it was a mix staple for awhile. I don't remember much else about the album, "Lucky Day" included.

Some months back, in order to psyche myself up for seeing Tom Waits live, I listened to a bunch of his albums, many of which I hadn't played in a long, long time. This included Blood Money, an album that, in hindsight, surprises me I ever looked favorably on. Perhaps my once-rabid devotion to Waits made me something of an apologist for his lesser works; yet, even at a time in my life when I would go days on end without listening to anything other than Waits, I still didn't like The Black Rider. Mule Variations is underrated. Yes, it could used some editing, and yes, it's largely nothing new, but it's all done well. It contains some of Waits' very best ballads (the aforementioned "Hold On" and "House Where Nobody Lives," as well as "Picture in a Frame") and a lot of fun blues songs.

The worst thing about being called a has-been is that it means you were an ever-was. I am a monk and this board is my whip.

You think you can get away with this shameful shit on Matt Young's watch? Way to be behind the time, guys.

I've only given it a single listen thus far so hopefully it'll grow on me, but the new Jay Reatard singles comp is a yawner. The previous singles comp and Blood Visions hooked me instantly. I'm fine with liking someone who willingly calls himself "Jay Reatard," by the way.

Vicious burn, snuffbox. Kinetic's gonna need a skin graft after that.

I overheard the news from a clerk at the store as he was macking on one of my radio-station cohorts. She was an attractive, slender blonde, and the news of his death came up when she mentioned that Smith was one of her favorite artists.

Also, regarding the Modern Lovers, everyone's entitled to their own opinion and all, but citing "Government Center" as their best song is pretty batty. From that album alone, you have "Pablo Picasso," "I'm Straight," "She's Cracked," and, yes, "Roadrunner."

That Smith went and killed himself a year after that movie came out undercuts the emotional impact of that scene. Re: where I was at the time, I was in a record store in New York City. I was up there for that year's CMJ fest.

Def. serious, and it's getting worse. I'm embarrassed by posts I made just minutes ago. I'm cringing as I write this post right now. I'm thinking about posts I'll make in the future and the seconds it'll take that could be better spent doing something else.

The album it comes from is whatevs, but PIL's "Rise" is one of their finest moments.