The Savage Detectives: Current Book Hil Can't/Won't Put Down.

my time on the commuter rail every morning tends to get soaked up by transcribing interviews for TPB, but i'm going to a hip hop show [big digits at harper's ferry, to be precise] post "real" work tonight and didn't feel like lugging my macbook from back bay to allston and on to cambridge, ugh. on the days where pressing play on the tape recorder makes me want to gauge my eyes out, or on mornings such as this one, i read. it's not that exciting. the books i've been picking up lately have been, though. i finally devoured crime and punishment not too long ago and after that i started roberto bolano's 2666, but i used it as a pillow one especially sleep-deprived morning on the train and sadly left it on my seat :/ i was really heartbroken about the loss of 2666 - it was a hardcover, as the paperback version of bolano's opus came in three volumes prior to its release as a single softcover on september 1st, and the book itself isn't exactly flying off the shelves at barnes & noble given that oprah hasn't put her stamp of approval on it [yet] and bolano rarely tends to be a favorite amongst anyone but latin american lit majors and intellectually masturbating poets/vagabonds.

i love bolano. [i don't consider myself an intellectually masturbating poet, though i did study latin american lit pretty extensively.] i had to read una novelita lumpen in eduardo lago's Orillas Atlanticas ["Atlantic Shores"] my sophomore year at Sarah Lawrence and bolano's simple, poignant prose was easy to meander through at a point where i was conversationally proficient in spanish at best and had a waaaays to go when it came to spanish reading comprehension. i can't remember if it was eduardo or one of my other tutors/professors, in new york, buenos aires or elsewhere, who encouraged 2666, but the recommendation stuck with me and i finally found it on amazon for a decent price back when i was bored and looking for things to keep me busy during my bout of funemployment early this year. i bought it and i kept putting off starting it until i got the new gig, found myself loathing my 1.5 hour commute every morning, and needed an escape from an interview or two every once in awhile.

aaaaaaaaanyways. i love, love the savage detectives so far. i'm going to reread it in spanish when i'm through with it in english, as i fear i'm getting rusty. this particular line really struck me today, but i'm not going to give you the context for it because i feel like the sentiment stands on its own:

"You can woo a girl with a poem, but you can't hold on to her with a poem. Not even with a poetry movement."

given a few recent epiphanies, i just thought this was the right sentence for me to stumble across at the right time, and it made me think. i'm horrifically distracted by just that one sentence even still and i'm strangely okay with it, even if i have a never-ending list of things to do today. if i'm gonna be distracted, it might as well be by a genius piece o' lit that gets me thinking, right?

my friends may keep me out too late on a school night, but they keep me sane.

chief, smitty and ace at great scott, 9/12

so the lovely and talented ryan rose weaver (who's not only an established, dedicated foodie but now also our Tastes guru over at TeaParty Boston) wrote this on her blog last night and it makes me feel all kinds of wonderful:

What this means is that instead of working on service pieces, guides, features, etc. in a strictly technical sense, my hope is that this fall, me and my people are going to make some art together. We are going to riff. We are going to ad lib. We are going to graffiti our words across the Internet and hope that someone wanders along and likes what they see. We will do it because we are compelled to point out the genius of the people who are creating things in this city in the same way that bees are compelled to make honey, that birds are compelled to sing, that Jessica Simpson is compelled to soldier on doing whatever it is that she does despite all those "mom jeans" comments. We do it because we must create -- not because we must create something we can "monetize."

ryan, you're not in the picture above, which is silly, but you're so great. and everyone involved with TPB is so great. and everything that ryan just wrote is the complete and articulate and better-phrased summary of everything i love about my friends and what i do.

thanks, ryan. you just made a gloomy morning severely lacking in the caffeine department so much better.

KINGS OF LEON: The TeaParty Boston Interview. [aka: lil ol' me, jared of KoL and a tape recorder.]

i'm on my couch with some vino and a homemade oreo from city feed and i'm watching the VMAs, and i'm actually super stoked about that. the MJ tribute was pretty great, i love russell brand, and the mood seems to be particularly festive. great start, VMAs, great start.

three words on the tips of everyone's tongues tonight, regarding the VMAs? Kings. Of. Leon. the band is unbelievably huge right now. everyone can sing the chorus to "sex on fire", let's be honest. with a few shots of tequila in me i do a STELLARRR impression of caleb followill's "USE SOMEBODAAAY-AH" hook. rolling stone and spin have featured them on the covers of their magazines and nearly every music critic in the country has touted them as the biggest band in the world right now. am i the biggest fan? not necessarily, but i give credit where credit is due and after seeing caleb, jared, nathan and matthew DECIMATE the gloom that had settled in over the rain-soaked comcast center friday night with their absolutely electrifying set, i can say with absolutely no doubt that they're very, very real and worth a listen.

...also i was there because gab, jessie and i were interviewing them for TeaParty Boston. (slight ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG moment of my life.) gab was the only photographer who was granted access to shoot the show friday night. i somehow wound up backstage in a warm up room with jared, the bass player, and we hung out for something like fifteen minutes. the dude is surprisingly down to earth and humble and excited about the amazing things that he's got going for him. anyways, read the interview in full here, but check out some of gab's pics below:

(also, i gotta say, i really do work with some of the most incredibly talented and lovely women on the planet. gab and jessie, i'm so proud of the both of you and i don't think i tell you that enough.)

quick update: TeaParty Boston, Interviewz, Major FreakOuts and Other Adventures.

HI!

real quick:

1) the weekend preview is up at TeaParty Boston. if you're looking for something to do this weekend in boston, you have EIGHT GAZILLION OPTIONS available including concerts in cambridge, somerville, allston and boston proper, of course. there's also a booze-soaked LEGALIZE CACHACA! march plowing through the south end/back bay and design hive kicks off for the season on sunday. long story short: GET YOUR BUTT OFF THE COUCH AND OUT INTO THE AUTUMN AIR, AMIGOS!

2) i am interviewing the biggest f#%#$%@ band on the planet tonight before their concert at the comcast center. if you've got any pressing questions for the followill brothers, drop me a line and i'll include it in my interview.

3) have i told you lately that i'm lucky? i'm lucky.