Mermaid

July 20th 2006 by E..

So I guess that I had better tell you about all the crazy and neato things that have been going on before they get over-shadowed by the crazy and neato things that are bound to happen over the weekend…

First of all, here are the pictures of Lynn, Melanie and myself with various “Rock Stars”…

So now that that’s out of the way, and I’ve told you about Visiting Day already, let me tell you about something I saw this morning that pissed me off…

In the morning before I leave for the train, I watch The Today Show on NBC…by the time I am ready to leave, they are showing their cultural interest or other sort of not-so-serious topics (later on, they were going to talk about which styles of clothes may be “too sexy for the office”)…This morning I was ready in enough time to see the whole segment, which caught my interest during one of the bumpers before a commercial break…Several people claim that they have lost great amounts of weight by using a “diet” in which they do not decrease or moderate the amount of food they eat, but rather they increase their relationship with God…Don’t believe me?…well, the video clip is available for viewin’ on the Today Show site…so recently I have seen a lot of things about drastic weight loss…”Super Size Me” has been showing on various channels, and I watch it each time (”Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle” has also been on, but that’s a different story)…So these kind folks think that an increased relationship with God, and not a change in their diet pattern, has helped them lose weight…now, I have a thing with “God” and Jesus-Freaks to begin with (to clarify, these were the Jesus-Freak people who have started this weight-loss-through-more-God-loving phenomenon), but come on…do you seriously think that by “training oneself to only be hungry when you are ‘physically hungry’” (whatever the ass that means), or by “instead of reaching for the refrigerator, reach out for God” you can really lose large amounts of weight?…My buddy Matt Lauer challenged this by asking why it has to be a love for God, why it can’t be a love for “Video games” or something tangible but not edible…Matt’s guests were not only one of the people who started one of these Faith-Based weight loss programs (as if we need more than one), but also two people who have, between them, lost about 500 pounds thanks to this lady’s program…the couple were fairly normal, but the other woman was typical Jesus-Freak…if you watch the clip, you’ll see…her behavior (and I point out how she did not answer to the questions that she was asked, and how, if allowed, could have talked all about what she had to say until her face exploded) reminded me of two things: Beth Grant’s character in “Donnie Darko”, and this asshole…what is it with crazy religious people?…is there a school where they learn to be absolutely out of their minds?…even Matt Lauer says it sounds like “brainwashing” (and he should know, since he talked to Tom Cruise….HOY-OH!)…whatever…if you’re a Jesus-Freak and you’re reading this, I really don’t care, just don’t tell me how to lose weight…or how to do anything else, for that matter…

Aside from that bullshit, tomorrow kicks off XPN’s All About The Music Festival…I got my assignments for which artists I will be helping out: New York Dolls on Friday, Konono No.1 on Saturday, and Lotus and Allen Toussaint on Sunday…I am very pleased, and I am anxious to see how Jack and I are going to handle Konono No.1…for those of you who don’t know, Konono No.1 are superstars in their native Africa, and there are about a million and a half people in the band, and, according to Sarah, they like to hit on female interns…which is why Jack and I are going to be there to disappoint them…take that, Africa!…are you ready for wheat mash?

Today, The Klezmatics came to the studio to record a session…it was the band without their horn section, but they were cool anyway…they are promoting their new album, Wonder Wheel: Lyrics By Woody Guthrie…for those of you familiar with what Billy Bragg and Wilco did with Mermaid Avenue and Mermaid Avenue 2, The Klezmatics did a similar thing…throughout his lifetime, Woody Guthrie wrote many, many lyrics to songs that he never wrote music to (in that sense, they were really just poems)…Nora Guthrie, Woody’s daughter and head of the Woody Guthrie archives gave Billy Bragg and Jeff Tweedy a handful of her father’s lyrics for them to write music to and record…so now the Klezmatics are doing the same thing…I would guess that it was to make up for the lack of a horn section, The Klezmatics brought Nora Guthrie along with them for the session…so now I have met 2 Guthrie’s…While they were doing their sound check, Willow (one of the production interns) and I heard that M. Night Shyamalan was in one of the studios recording something for NPR…we go to the studio next to John (the main on-air studio), and sure enough, there’s M. Night Shyamalan…we were coming down the stairs after having to get some stuff from the offices, and M. Night walked by and said hello to us…no, I didn’t get a picture with him, so you’ll just have to take my word for it (and Willow’s, if you should happen to ask her)…It was pretty cool…Klezmatics, Nora Guthrie and M. Night Shyamalan all on one day…that should get me ready for all of the “famous” people that I’ll meet this weekend…yeah, famous, sure…

E.

Lyric of the Time:
If I listen long enough to you
I’d find the way to believe
That it’s all true
Knowing that you lied straight faced
While I cried
Still I looked to find
The reason to believe

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »