Saint Etienne Xmas Songs!
21st Century Christmas
Through the Winter
Friday, December 22, 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
I guess it's past time to post another song.
We're back in the 80s again.
There's one song that I totally relate to my whole coming out process. Obviously, I came out (mostly) in the 80s. When I went away to college at LSU, I was urged to become active in the Baptist Student Union. So, I did.
The first year or so of college was taken up by activities with the people I met there. One of the cooler people I met there was a little bit of a bad girl. Her name was Jackie. I remember driving across campus with Jackie with Lucky Star by Madonna blasting out of my car, both of us siging along. We also had a shared fondness for seeing movies at the Varsity Theater, just off campus, only half a block from the BSU.
So, we went to see this movie called Parting Glances. And this was the first really gay movie I ever saw. Boy, did I like it...
One scene that I still remember ever so clearly is when one of the characters is making a phone call from a gay disco and you can hear a song in the background that is the most beautiful bit of gay disco ever recorded to my ears.... and the song?
Bronski Beat - Tell Me Why (Full 12" Version)
It wasn't too much longer before I discovered Nieman's and Xanthus just a little bit further down the street from the Varsity and the BSU... and soon I was actually hearing this song from a dancefloor... and loving every second of it...
*sigh*
We're back in the 80s again.
There's one song that I totally relate to my whole coming out process. Obviously, I came out (mostly) in the 80s. When I went away to college at LSU, I was urged to become active in the Baptist Student Union. So, I did.
The first year or so of college was taken up by activities with the people I met there. One of the cooler people I met there was a little bit of a bad girl. Her name was Jackie. I remember driving across campus with Jackie with Lucky Star by Madonna blasting out of my car, both of us siging along. We also had a shared fondness for seeing movies at the Varsity Theater, just off campus, only half a block from the BSU.
So, we went to see this movie called Parting Glances. And this was the first really gay movie I ever saw. Boy, did I like it...
One scene that I still remember ever so clearly is when one of the characters is making a phone call from a gay disco and you can hear a song in the background that is the most beautiful bit of gay disco ever recorded to my ears.... and the song?
Bronski Beat - Tell Me Why (Full 12" Version)
It wasn't too much longer before I discovered Nieman's and Xanthus just a little bit further down the street from the Varsity and the BSU... and soon I was actually hearing this song from a dancefloor... and loving every second of it...
*sigh*
Monday, October 09, 2006
So... i shall blog about music.
I've been searching for a song online for months and finally found it a couple of days ago. It's a remix of The Unacceptable Face of Freedom by Test Dept. It came out around 1986 and it was a song that I would burn up the dance floor to on those rare occassions that I heard it played at Xanthus, the Baton Rouge bar my friends and I lived in every night of the week.
This song makes me insanely happy. It's a full on sonic assault with all sorts of crazy sounds that leap in and out of the rhythm just driving you nuts.
The Unacceptable Face of Freedom - Face 3
I've been searching for a song online for months and finally found it a couple of days ago. It's a remix of The Unacceptable Face of Freedom by Test Dept. It came out around 1986 and it was a song that I would burn up the dance floor to on those rare occassions that I heard it played at Xanthus, the Baton Rouge bar my friends and I lived in every night of the week.
This song makes me insanely happy. It's a full on sonic assault with all sorts of crazy sounds that leap in and out of the rhythm just driving you nuts.
The Unacceptable Face of Freedom - Face 3
Thursday, September 07, 2006
So... I know I never post anymore... but... I've had a really busy relatively stressful last couple of months. And I haven't really been able to talk about what has been consuming most of my life of late.
But, I can talk about it now.
So... as of this week, I'm the Store Manager of the Large and Viewed as Evil by Many Corporate Bookstore that I work at... I'm still a little stunned by this turn of events myself.
Weirdly, I have Katrina to thank for it more than anything else. My store manager was pulled out of our store shortly after the storm to help with aiding employees of and helping reopen our two stores that were pretty much devastated by the storm. And he was gone for months. And we got grazed by a hurricane ourselves during that time. Evidently, I did a really good job of keeping things running well (not to mention saving tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise with my wonderful pre-Rita preparations).
So, yeah... that's my big news... Sorry, Dave, I guess I'm officially The Man now...
But, I can talk about it now.
So... as of this week, I'm the Store Manager of the Large and Viewed as Evil by Many Corporate Bookstore that I work at... I'm still a little stunned by this turn of events myself.
Weirdly, I have Katrina to thank for it more than anything else. My store manager was pulled out of our store shortly after the storm to help with aiding employees of and helping reopen our two stores that were pretty much devastated by the storm. And he was gone for months. And we got grazed by a hurricane ourselves during that time. Evidently, I did a really good job of keeping things running well (not to mention saving tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise with my wonderful pre-Rita preparations).
So, yeah... that's my big news... Sorry, Dave, I guess I'm officially The Man now...
Saturday, August 05, 2006
So, this morning, for some reason, I decided to sort through iTunes and make myself a playlist of a lot of my favorite old 80s synthpop, freestyle and um... 80s club tracks. One huge hole in my tracks was the lack of the singles by Secession. On a whim, I check out Oink and, sweet jesus, someone uploaded a torrent yesterday of the complete singles discography of them!
No other band defines my good times in the 80s better to me. I was obsessed with Secession throughout the 80s and once had a complete collection of everything they had ever recorded. I sold all the vinyl singles and their one cd off on eBay years ago, because I got a freaking fortune for them... well over $200 for the cd alone...
But... right now... I'm happily reliving a lot of good moments in Baton Rouge and Houston in the 80s... Fire Island is a song I totally associate with my first days going out to Xanthus in Baton Rouge. The two songs that blew the doors off for me when I first found this new world of crazy electronic synthy dancey goodness were Fire Island by Secession and Stranger by Clan of Xymox. I remember just going nuts on the dancefloor to both of them, total ecstatic dance moments... and this was before I discovered ecstasy...
And then there was Touch, which of course I owned on marbelized vinyl... this was the song that 'everyone' first really got nuts about over them... and it definitley introduced the direction that vocals in the future songs would follow. I boogied down to it too, but Fire Island was still my baby.
Michael was the next single... and I loved it... and could listen to it a million times more, but I remember thinking it was a bit too poppy when it came out...
And then... they released it.... THE SONG of the 80s... the song that I danced to EVERY single time I heard it... the song that the DJ at Xanthus played every time I went out because he knew I would harrass him until he did... still, IMO, one of the absolute godheads of synthpop.... The Magician. It starts with that little synthy sound... then the drums... then the beat... a little change in the beat... the absolutely perfected vocal style... orgasm on the dancefloor every time guaranteed... Oh Magician... how I still still love you ever so much... you'll never understand the joy you gave me...
Promise was next. I remember finding the vinyl single at New Generation on Florida Boulevard in Baton Rouge. It was their last great single. Great drum beats leading into those synths that just vibrated down your spine... but rarely did I ever hear it on the dancefloor...
I don't have as fond of memories of the next two singles, Sneakyville and Radioland... unfortunately... they really weren't that great... especially Radioland...
Perhaps... soon I'll write about THE OTHER SONG of the 80s... (Be My) Powerstation by St Che...
No other band defines my good times in the 80s better to me. I was obsessed with Secession throughout the 80s and once had a complete collection of everything they had ever recorded. I sold all the vinyl singles and their one cd off on eBay years ago, because I got a freaking fortune for them... well over $200 for the cd alone...
But... right now... I'm happily reliving a lot of good moments in Baton Rouge and Houston in the 80s... Fire Island is a song I totally associate with my first days going out to Xanthus in Baton Rouge. The two songs that blew the doors off for me when I first found this new world of crazy electronic synthy dancey goodness were Fire Island by Secession and Stranger by Clan of Xymox. I remember just going nuts on the dancefloor to both of them, total ecstatic dance moments... and this was before I discovered ecstasy...
And then there was Touch, which of course I owned on marbelized vinyl... this was the song that 'everyone' first really got nuts about over them... and it definitley introduced the direction that vocals in the future songs would follow. I boogied down to it too, but Fire Island was still my baby.
Michael was the next single... and I loved it... and could listen to it a million times more, but I remember thinking it was a bit too poppy when it came out...
And then... they released it.... THE SONG of the 80s... the song that I danced to EVERY single time I heard it... the song that the DJ at Xanthus played every time I went out because he knew I would harrass him until he did... still, IMO, one of the absolute godheads of synthpop.... The Magician. It starts with that little synthy sound... then the drums... then the beat... a little change in the beat... the absolutely perfected vocal style... orgasm on the dancefloor every time guaranteed... Oh Magician... how I still still love you ever so much... you'll never understand the joy you gave me...
Promise was next. I remember finding the vinyl single at New Generation on Florida Boulevard in Baton Rouge. It was their last great single. Great drum beats leading into those synths that just vibrated down your spine... but rarely did I ever hear it on the dancefloor...
I don't have as fond of memories of the next two singles, Sneakyville and Radioland... unfortunately... they really weren't that great... especially Radioland...
Perhaps... soon I'll write about THE OTHER SONG of the 80s... (Be My) Powerstation by St Che...
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
We're home... we're tired... I'll blog about our trip tomorrow... but... there is one thing you must know...
This is the best ice cream EVER...
This is the best ice cream EVER...
Friday, July 28, 2006
So... dinner at Gary Danko...
Overall, I thought it was a fantastic dining experience. The service was impeccable, although there was some sort of weird tension throughout the meal between the waiter and two of my friends that dined with us.
I had the five course dinner. I started with Glazed Oysters with Osetra Caviar, Zucchini Pearls and Lettuce Cream. It was a perfectly lovely start to the meal, but it didn't blow me away like I hoped to be with every course. I followed that with Seared Foie Gras with Carmelized Red Onions and Brandied Cherries. This was the point at which the meal began to blow my socks off. The one ingredient I was unsure about when I ordered this was the carmelized red onions, but they totally made the dish. It was utterly divine and the flavors all melded perfectly.
Next up was Seared Yellowfin Tuna with Blue Lake Beans, Piquillo Peppers and Pancetta. The tuna was sliced in small pieces stacked on top of the vegetables. Again, everything worked perfectly.
Next up was the dish that knocked it out of the park for me... Pan Roasted Bison with Fricasee of Summer Vegetables and Black Pepper Gnocchi. Tbis was just insanely amazingly fantasticly wonderful.
Instead of dessert, I had selections from the cheese cart and I'm a bit foggy about what cheeses I had... I know I had Roaring 40s, a cheddar, a goat cheese and something that I've totally forgotten. They were all good, but I think perhaps Marisol had a better cheese selection.
And lastly, I ended the meal with a glass of 1995 Chateau d'Yquem.
Definitely one of the most decadent dining experiences I've ever had...
Overall, I thought it was a fantastic dining experience. The service was impeccable, although there was some sort of weird tension throughout the meal between the waiter and two of my friends that dined with us.
I had the five course dinner. I started with Glazed Oysters with Osetra Caviar, Zucchini Pearls and Lettuce Cream. It was a perfectly lovely start to the meal, but it didn't blow me away like I hoped to be with every course. I followed that with Seared Foie Gras with Carmelized Red Onions and Brandied Cherries. This was the point at which the meal began to blow my socks off. The one ingredient I was unsure about when I ordered this was the carmelized red onions, but they totally made the dish. It was utterly divine and the flavors all melded perfectly.
Next up was Seared Yellowfin Tuna with Blue Lake Beans, Piquillo Peppers and Pancetta. The tuna was sliced in small pieces stacked on top of the vegetables. Again, everything worked perfectly.
Next up was the dish that knocked it out of the park for me... Pan Roasted Bison with Fricasee of Summer Vegetables and Black Pepper Gnocchi. Tbis was just insanely amazingly fantasticly wonderful.
Instead of dessert, I had selections from the cheese cart and I'm a bit foggy about what cheeses I had... I know I had Roaring 40s, a cheddar, a goat cheese and something that I've totally forgotten. They were all good, but I think perhaps Marisol had a better cheese selection.
And lastly, I ended the meal with a glass of 1995 Chateau d'Yquem.
Definitely one of the most decadent dining experiences I've ever had...
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Not a lot of time right now... but SF is great. Blogger was wonky last nite and this morning so I couldn't post about our fabulous dinner last night. But I will soon.
The pictures below are of our day spent roaming the city with Richard & Jonno and our new friends Eric & Brian. Because, I know enquiring minds will want to know... the little hottie with his belly exposed is Brian.
The pictures below are of our day spent roaming the city with Richard & Jonno and our new friends Eric & Brian. Because, I know enquiring minds will want to know... the little hottie with his belly exposed is Brian.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
We're on day 3 of our San Francisco vacation. So far, we've mostly shopped and spent a ridiculous amount of money on food. We gorged on dim sum in Chinatown, had a nice homey meal at Chow, near the Castro, last night with Jonno and Richard and had dinner on Monday at Postrio, one of Wolfgang Puck's restaurants. We ate there out of ennui, because it's attached to our hotel and we were starving, but it was actually much better than i expected. And I had foie gras, of course... my favorite food that I have yet to find on a menu in Lafayette. Don had squab prepared three ways and I had suckling pig on a bed of polenta. The best part of either was the squab pate. Although, I think my favorite part of the meal was the amuse bouche of mushroom soup with truffle oil.
I imagine I'll have foie gras again tonight as part of my five courses at Restaurant Gary Danko tonight.
I imagine I'll have foie gras again tonight as part of my five courses at Restaurant Gary Danko tonight.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
So, to make up for the fact that I didn't get nearly as much rest yesterday as I should have, I spent today relaxing by making purchase at Lowe's gardening department and then planting 4 vincas, 3 pots of caladiums, a jasmine vine, 2 ornamental sweet potato vines and 6 shrimp plants.
Is there such a thing as yard addiction?
Is there such a thing as yard addiction?
If you happen to wonder how my life in Lafayette is different from my life in New Orleans... yesterday may give you a clue. A typical day off from work in New Orleans consisted of sleeping late because I was hungover, walking to Juan's Flying Burrito for lunch and taking the streetcar to the Quarter to have coffee with a friend. Whereas, here's what I did with my day off yesterday...
I mowed and edged the yard. I put fire ant poison on three ant mounds. I spent two hours cleaning out and organizing our outside storage areas... wiping, scrubbing, mopping, moving out huge amounts of scrap lumber and old Mardi Gras beads and lots of reorganizing. I brushed paint stripper on the bench in our yard and then scraped the cutesy painted flowers that the previous owner's kid had painted onto the tile surface with a putty knife and then followed that up with scrubbing with a soft scrub and then a good hosing until the bench looked all shiny and nearly new again. I mulched the camelia in the front yard that I've nursed back from oblivion and then worried about another camelia that seems to be fading. I spent at least an hour pulling Virginia creeper up by it's roots from the side fence. I LOATHE Virginia Creeper. I cut down a climbing rose and a random crepe myrtle that were growing in our front beds. I took the top out of a redbud tree in our front yard which was evidently damaged by the drought that we had been undergoing for most of the summer. I cut down 2 magnolia trees that were growing too high right at the base of our magnificinently giant oak tree in our back yard. Oh, and in the midst of that, I somehow found time to watch two episodes of Footballers Wives (I'm midway through the third season).
I'm off today too... I may actually rest a little today.
I mowed and edged the yard. I put fire ant poison on three ant mounds. I spent two hours cleaning out and organizing our outside storage areas... wiping, scrubbing, mopping, moving out huge amounts of scrap lumber and old Mardi Gras beads and lots of reorganizing. I brushed paint stripper on the bench in our yard and then scraped the cutesy painted flowers that the previous owner's kid had painted onto the tile surface with a putty knife and then followed that up with scrubbing with a soft scrub and then a good hosing until the bench looked all shiny and nearly new again. I mulched the camelia in the front yard that I've nursed back from oblivion and then worried about another camelia that seems to be fading. I spent at least an hour pulling Virginia creeper up by it's roots from the side fence. I LOATHE Virginia Creeper. I cut down a climbing rose and a random crepe myrtle that were growing in our front beds. I took the top out of a redbud tree in our front yard which was evidently damaged by the drought that we had been undergoing for most of the summer. I cut down 2 magnolia trees that were growing too high right at the base of our magnificinently giant oak tree in our back yard. Oh, and in the midst of that, I somehow found time to watch two episodes of Footballers Wives (I'm midway through the third season).
I'm off today too... I may actually rest a little today.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Songs I'm digging right now...
Chelsea - Stefy
Equal parts No Doubt and Eurythmics, this is a great summer party song, at least in my way of seeing things.
Dangerous Muse - The Rejection
Only the New York club scene could have spawned the heteroflexible, oh so ironic Dangerous Muse. If you like Fischerspooner and The Scissor Sisters, you'll like Dangerous Muse, even tho their sound is nothing like either band.
Morgan Geist - Most of All
Jeremy Greenspan, the lead singer of the Junior Boys lends his vocals to this song, which is a lovely downtempo electro cool breeze of a song.
Azzido da Bass featuring Johnny Blakely - Lonely by Your Side
Until we finally get a new album from Zoot Woman, I'll manage to survive with repeat listenings of this song. Azzido da Bass songs always have the best (no surprise, you're gonna see this coming) bass in them and Johnny Blakely, of Zoot Woman, has a voice that just does it for me every time. And I'm guessing that we're not gonna see the new Zoot Woman album until a bit after Stuart Price gets done with Madonna's tour.
Hot Chip - Over and Over (Justus Köhncke?s Baking Horse Club Mix)
Any song with the words "like a monkey with a miniature cymbal" is aces with me. And I like the rather Laid Back groove that this remix exudes...
Phoenix - Long Distance Call
I saw Phoenix in concert the night before I left New Orleans, and it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. They've never made a bad song and they've been fairly prolific in their relatively short career. The new single from the new album, both of which are just as perfect as I knew they'd be...
Chelsea - Stefy
Equal parts No Doubt and Eurythmics, this is a great summer party song, at least in my way of seeing things.
Dangerous Muse - The Rejection
Only the New York club scene could have spawned the heteroflexible, oh so ironic Dangerous Muse. If you like Fischerspooner and The Scissor Sisters, you'll like Dangerous Muse, even tho their sound is nothing like either band.
Morgan Geist - Most of All
Jeremy Greenspan, the lead singer of the Junior Boys lends his vocals to this song, which is a lovely downtempo electro cool breeze of a song.
Azzido da Bass featuring Johnny Blakely - Lonely by Your Side
Until we finally get a new album from Zoot Woman, I'll manage to survive with repeat listenings of this song. Azzido da Bass songs always have the best (no surprise, you're gonna see this coming) bass in them and Johnny Blakely, of Zoot Woman, has a voice that just does it for me every time. And I'm guessing that we're not gonna see the new Zoot Woman album until a bit after Stuart Price gets done with Madonna's tour.
Hot Chip - Over and Over (Justus Köhncke?s Baking Horse Club Mix)
Any song with the words "like a monkey with a miniature cymbal" is aces with me. And I like the rather Laid Back groove that this remix exudes...
Phoenix - Long Distance Call
I saw Phoenix in concert the night before I left New Orleans, and it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. They've never made a bad song and they've been fairly prolific in their relatively short career. The new single from the new album, both of which are just as perfect as I knew they'd be...
Monday, June 19, 2006
The sleeper awakens... at least momentarily...
So, I figure that I could share with y'all what I'm hip to lately...
TV shows... I can't get enough of the new Doctor Who. I watched the first season on SciFi and I'm currently pirating the second season from the Web as it airs on the BBC. I went through a brief Doctor Who phase as a young lad, but that's not one of those things you admit to. But the new show has me hook, line and sinker. It's slick, funny, full of continuity and very well acted and directed. It contains just enough of the goofiness of the original series but balances it quite well with much more modern writing and acting. I also really like The Closer... thank yewww very much. And The 4400 is the best comic book tv show ever even thought it was never a comic book (but it does borrow liberally from more than a few of them). Oh, and I just discovered Footballers Wives... omg... the locker room scenes.... meeow...
In the book arena, I've recently enjoyed The Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It's the third book in a thriller trilogy. Their books are sort of what I think Michael Crichton would write if he'd grown up on a steady diet of old horror movies. Agent Pendergast in their books is absolutely one of my favorite fictional characters. I also devoured Prador Moon by Neal Asher in a couple of hours recently. Neal Asher is one of three British guys who are, IMO, the absolute best writers putting out science fiction novels today. The other two would be Alastair Reynolds and Peter F. Hamilton. (I also highly recommend Judas Unchained by Hamilton and Pushing Ice by Reynolds, both currently available at your local Barnes & Noble, you'll have to get them to order Prador Moon however.) And, of course, since I'm a resident of Louisiana, I read The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley. It was an incredible book, but I don't think I could say I enjoyed it...
And the next post will cover music and my favorite music blogs...
So, I figure that I could share with y'all what I'm hip to lately...
TV shows... I can't get enough of the new Doctor Who. I watched the first season on SciFi and I'm currently pirating the second season from the Web as it airs on the BBC. I went through a brief Doctor Who phase as a young lad, but that's not one of those things you admit to. But the new show has me hook, line and sinker. It's slick, funny, full of continuity and very well acted and directed. It contains just enough of the goofiness of the original series but balances it quite well with much more modern writing and acting. I also really like The Closer... thank yewww very much. And The 4400 is the best comic book tv show ever even thought it was never a comic book (but it does borrow liberally from more than a few of them). Oh, and I just discovered Footballers Wives... omg... the locker room scenes.... meeow...
In the book arena, I've recently enjoyed The Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It's the third book in a thriller trilogy. Their books are sort of what I think Michael Crichton would write if he'd grown up on a steady diet of old horror movies. Agent Pendergast in their books is absolutely one of my favorite fictional characters. I also devoured Prador Moon by Neal Asher in a couple of hours recently. Neal Asher is one of three British guys who are, IMO, the absolute best writers putting out science fiction novels today. The other two would be Alastair Reynolds and Peter F. Hamilton. (I also highly recommend Judas Unchained by Hamilton and Pushing Ice by Reynolds, both currently available at your local Barnes & Noble, you'll have to get them to order Prador Moon however.) And, of course, since I'm a resident of Louisiana, I read The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley. It was an incredible book, but I don't think I could say I enjoyed it...
And the next post will cover music and my favorite music blogs...
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Friday, April 07, 2006
Thursday, April 06, 2006
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