Pepe the cleaning woman part 2

My friend Boof has a cleaning woman, Pepe, who always does strange things when cleaning his apartment. Here is her latest work, according to Boof.

"Yeah, Pepe did work this week and she left a little surprise for us that we didn't find until two days later.

Underneath the sponges we use to clean our dishes we found ... the
dirty sole of a shoe!

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

What I don't understand is:

a) Why did she put it there?
b) Why did she remove it from a shoe in the first place? and
c) What more will it take for Mrs. Boof to fire this serial killer?!

Man, this weekend we were all talking about pepe (Mrs. Boof's sister uses Pepe as her cleaning woman too). They're starting to believe that Pepe can't read. they leave her written instructions and she doesn't follow them. That just enfuriates me even further.

I don't expect a literary genius like Jean-Paul Sartre to be
folding my clean underwear, but I at least expect a modicum of
intelligence from this woman!"

Pepe the cleaning woman part 1
Mission of Burma on BBC 6 Radio, plus MP3s

Here are three songs recorded in April 2004 for BBC 6 Radio. The files are real audio, but still sound pretty good.

-Academy Fight Song
-The Set Up
-That's When I Reach for My Revolver

And here are two Mission of Burma MP3s.

Progress - from the Ace of Hearts "The Wasted Years" compilation
Peking Spring (live) - from "The Horrible Truth About Burma"
McG's top 5 for May 30

5. The Cooler - William Macy gives another great performance in this neo-film noir. Mario Bello is super hot and sexy in her role as casino waitress who seduces Macy's character.

4. Mission of Burma - ONoffON - Excellent new studio album from this seminal post-punk group. Hopefully this will give guitarist/songwriter Roger Miller the recognition he deserves as one of the underground's best musicians.
MP3: Mission of Burma - "Wounded World"
MP3: Mission of Burma - "Dirt"

3. Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse - I got a sneak preview of the new SY album and thought it sounds great. Many songs start off mellow, but then blossom into sonic maelstroms. The addition of Jim O'Rourke was a wise choice.
-->You can listen to the new album using the Sonic Nurse media player.

2. HBO's "Smashed: Toxic Tales of Teens and Alcohol" - A cross between "Trauma: Life in the ER" and a high-school anti-alcohol propaganda film. Harsh realities of drinking and driving exposed including kids who have head trauma from accidents. Intense.

1. "Slowing Down to the Speed of Life" - Effective self-help book that helps overdriven, anxious and irritable people mellow out and enjoy life. "You Can Feel Good Again" is also a good book in the same vein. The theories in these books are based on psychology of mind. Easy to use, definitely can help you get on with your life and not be so hard on other people and yourself.

Download free Edith Frost demos album

You can download an album's worth of Edith Frost demos here.

I've always been a fan of Edith's music including her first EP and her debut album, "Calling Over Time."
Benefit for Gehrett Ellis in Philadelphia tonight

Tonight is the benefit for ex-CDNOW'er Gehrett Ellis. You can read about Gehrett and the benefit in my column from this week or you can go to the benefit information page.

Gehrett needs your help. If you can, consider donating a few dollars.

Thanks to all the people who read the column and dropped a line to say hello.


Getting up early sucks out loud

I went to bed at 6:30 p.m. last night. That's what I get for having a job where I have to get up in the middle of the night to go to work.

I'm really psyched to pick up and read Rodney Dangerfield's new book, "It's Not Easy Bein' Me : A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs.

Rodney was awesome on the Howard Stern Show this week. He even fessed up to being a pot smoker for 61 years and says he still smokes "quite a bit."

I finally got the Motley Crue book, "The Dirt," which I borrowed from my library. Hopefully I can get some reading done over Memorial Day weekend.
Read my new column, "Someone to Lean on"

As some of you know, I used to work at CDNOW in the late '90s and early 2000 before the Internet bubble burst. For three years I reviewed CDs, interviewed artists, reported on live shows and was fortunate to have a laid-back job with cool bosses. Perhaps the coolest thing about working at CDNOW was the sense of community among all the people who worked there. One of those cool people is Jen Oliver.

If you know Jen, you wouldn't be surprised to learn that she has organized a benefit to help another ex-CDNOW'er, Gehrett Ellis, and his mother who both are fighting serious illness.

The benefit for Gehrett takes place this Saturday May 29 in downtown Philadelphia at the Khyber Pass (...more)

"Top 5 American Idol Moments" article is a hit

I threw together an article "Top 5 American Idol moments," for my day job at phillyburbs.com on Wednesday.

Despite the fact that I've never seen the show, a lot of people told me I was right on with my choices of Clay Aiken and Justin Guarini.

I remain blissfully ignorant of the whole American Idol phenomenon.
Super quick punk rock update

Man, I sure got busy all of a sudden. Let's see, I weeded some of the backyard, took the dogs to the dog park, went and saw the Riverboat Gamblers play and went shopping for some new work clothes.

I'm working on a new column right now with reviews of Ghetto Ways, Antietam and some other surprises. The main focus of the column isn't music however, it's about benefit for an ex-CDNOW employee, Gehrett that is happening this Saturday in Philadelphia. Please help Gehrett if you can.

I stopped by Bert's Compact Discs (Wilmington) today and Bert was showing me his collection of old school boxing photos and was teaching about all the old time boxers and how they used to have boxing matches in Wilmington. Pretty cool stuff.

I finally got Flipper's "Generic" on CD - at the New Castle Farmer's Market for $3.00. Not bad considering it's only available as a German import at the moment and runs about $25.00.

I'm working on a follow-up to my very own punk rock compilation, "Killed By McG." This second edition will dig deeper into the rare and obscure punk vaults. If you want a copy of the first edition, just send me an e-mail with your mailing address and I'll hook you up.

Finally, did anyone hear Rodney Dangerfield on Howard Stern the other day? Rodney is the man. I went to Border's today to pick up Rodney's new book and of course they didn't have it in their lame-ass corporate bullshit selection of books. Plenty of Dr. Phil and South Beach Diet books though. I'm glad they didn't have it. I'd rather buy it from an independent store anyway.

I saw a guy with a boycott Wal-Mart sticker today. Right on!
The power of rock and roll

I never read anything by Nick Hornby before reading this op-ed piece
"Rock of Ages," (this link may require registration) in the New York Times.

I hate when newspapers make you register to look at articles. Whenever I'm asked to register, I never bother doing it.
Read my new column, "Remembering Elvin Jones"

Legendary jazz drummer Elvin Jones, who was part of John Coltrane's classic quartet, died this week at the age of 76 due to heart failure. (more...)
Air America Radio needs a lot of work

I listened to some shows on Air America Radio last night including The Majority Report with Janeane Garafalo.

Man, that station needs a lot of work. I don't think listeners want a liberal version of the type of radio shows done by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Air America seems to have adopted the right wing rant-and-rave format and is spewing a lot of negative energy towards conservatives.

I'd much rather hear more informative reports on politics and some practical advice on what an open-minded person can do to speak out against the Moral Minority.

I also listened to Alex Jones this week as well. The crazier things get in Iraq and at home with Bush's secret administrations and alleged coverups, the more Jones' farout conspiracy-based theories seem plausible.

Oh well, enough politics. Let's party. I'm going to see the Riverboat Gamblers play tonight.

Elvin Jones, Drummer With Coltrane, Dies at 76

New York Times obituary of Elvin Jones

San Diego Union-Tribune obituary of Elvin Jones

Below is a review of one of Elvin Jones' final performances by Dr. Jazz from the latinjazz yahoo group from last month.

"This might be beyond Latin Jazz, but this is the only egroup that I think might be interested in the description of my experience during a recent 4 days stay in the SF for a meeting. I was able to go to Yoshi's to see Elvin Jones Jazz Machine.

I am not that familiar with his work, but knowing he was John Coltrane drummer and more recently worked a lot with Candido with his poly-rhythm stuff that I wanted to check him out. First of all, Yoshi's is a great modern place to see a Jazz band, good acoustics, pretty big as well. The only problem is that it is in the middle of a mall-like complex and after the last set we were stranded, without a cab or even a person to help us out to get back to SF. I tried to ask for somebody at Yoshi's to actually call a cab for us or help us out, and he looked at me like "Are you from another planet?" (and he was the last person there, once he left, we were truly alone). Took us an hour to actually get back to a BART (subway) station to head back to SF. But that is beyond the point.

I was really eager to see Elvin Jones, waiting to see the Black
Thunder pounding those drums. The scenario was perfect, no mikes over the drums so I though "wow, he can really pound those drums, eh?". Well, the band came out (2 saxes, pianist and bassist) and the place went crazy but...no Elvin...and no Elvin...and no Elvin. After about 5 minutes of constant applause, Elvin Jones came out, couldn't walk and had to be helped by his wife and the band members. We were a group of physicians and nurses and we all looked at each other with the same expression in our faces "he is dying of heart failure". His wife gave him the sticks and the band started playing a bebop-like tune.

It was quite an experience seeing him playing that night. The stick in his right hand (hitting the cymbal) kept slipping back and he needed to reposition it. He was certainly off, considering the timing of the tune. I couldn't see his left hand, but I could not hear any beats. Similarly with the hi-hat, I did not hear it all night long. As the performance continued, he looked more ill...in fact, he closed his eyes once, and grabbed his stomach as if he was in pain, and everybody in my group got up because we though that he was going to fall. He finally woke up and continued playing.

He took one solo all night long, and basically what he did was to drop the sticks on the drum one at a time, at a very slow speed. He did not have the strengh or energy to lift up the sticks from the drum fast enough. The band sounded great thought. I guess he is like Art Blakey and surrounded himself with the best young players available. The bassist kept the rhythm going all night long, working super hard and the pianist would take very long solos, as both sax players. Elvin could still swing at a very low speed, but was well complemented by the bassist and pianist.

At the end of the performance, his wife whose name I couldn't catch, came out and said that Elvin Jones was very ill, dying from heart failure. She also said that he had not eaten anything that day but that she had fired his prior 3 physicians when they said that he was dying and decided to take care of things herself, booking him continuosly until July (she also went on and on talking about medical insurances, doctors, etc) Elvin did not said a word all night long, and I actually wondered if was still coherent enough (which is a common, late event in patients with heart failure).

He stayed there, sitting by his drums for about 20 minutes after the performance was over. We all gave him a standing ovation, I guess is the way of thanking him for what he has done. He did wave goodbye as he was helped out of the stage. We sent him our cards as there are some options for patients with advanced heart failure (which we happen to especialize in our group).

I am not sure I can actually describe the feeling I had that night.
The music was good, and seeing him on the drums made me happy and
sad. Happy because I got to see him before the inevitable. Sad
because somebody like him should be at home, spending the last few
days of his life surrounded by family and friends. I know he also
needs our support (income as his wife put it).

I haven't heard anything about his health in the news, and patients with heart failure have good and bad days, but I can actually say that he is in bad shape, weakened by his illness (already cachectic). I will forever have the image of an elderly Elvin Jones playing the drums that night."

-review by Dr. Jazz.
Gene Simmons: The world's funniest comedian

Gene Simmons has a new record coming out June 8 titled, "Asshole."

In case you didn't know, in addition to being one rock's baddest badasses, Gene is also a very funny comedian. Check out his ladies in waiting website. This is high comedy.

Gene's funniest moment is easily his 2002 interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air. You can read it here.

Gene is going to save the music industry. He's relaunching Simmons Records. One of the requirements is that, "you should be able to write songs."

I think this article is making fun of Gene. Whatever.

This is Gene's world, we just live in it.

Remember, you wanted the best, you got the best.

magic link (right click, save as).
Cheney sings Wal-Mart's praises

A few days ago I told you about Wal-Mart's continued practice of polluting at their sites by not managing runoff water. They even polluted in my state, Delaware. How dare they?

Now there's this article where Vice President Dick Cheney praises Wal-Mart for their contribution to the American landscape.

When I think back to when I first got into punk and hardcore, bands such as MDC and Dead Kennedys sang about how bad corporations and government were. Now 20+ years after that time, I'm beginning to realize how on target the politics of those types of bands were.

Greg Palast: You should know this man and his work

Here's a new article about Greg Palast from LA City Beat.

I have only read two chapters of the expanded edition of Palast's, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" and I already found Palast's documentation of government fraud and corruption enlightening, but also very disturbing.

Brittley Black, Crime drummer dead

Brittley Black, drummer for the San Francisco band Crime, died last month from complications due to diabetes according to Crime's official website.
Read My New Column, "Thanks Howard"

I was as surprised as anyone when Howard Stern read my last column, "Unfrigginbelievable" on his radio show two weeks ago. (more...)
Wal-Mart busted again for polluting rivers, oceans...

In 2001 Wal-Mart failed to control polluted runoff water at their sites. They paid a $1 million dollar fine. Think they learned their lesson? Yes.

Runoff water at construction sites carries pollutants such as heavy metals, oil and toxins into storm sewers, which evetually leads to polluting rivers, wetlands and oceans.

Instead of controlling water runoff at sites, big corporations such as Wal-Mart can continue to ignore the problem and just pay a fine instead of actually cleaning up the hazardous and poisonous mess they make.

Wal-Mart just paid a $3.1 million dollar fine for polluting with runoff water and promises they won't do it again.

Yeah, right. Just like in 2001. I'm sure.

Best line: A Wal-Mart spokesman said the company hopes to be a "trendsetter in environmental compliance."
When Things Aren't Going Well on Earth Think Space

It's been five months since Bush announced his space initiative. As this article points out, "the president has felt no need to rush to make additional public comments," regarding his plan.

Now he's ready to talk.

Resurrecting a space initative that no one seems interested in supporting is Bush's attempt at redirecting your attention away from the derailed war on terrorism that and polls that say Bush's approval rating is sinking.
Good Cheap Web Hosting That is Worth Checking Out

I just switched over to 1&1.com for my web hosting. If you're looking to save a few bucks, this is the place for you.

1&1.com's prices are insanely cheap - starting at $4.99 for hosting, 500MB of storage and 5 GB transfer, with a free domain name to boot. No set-up fees and they offer a 90-day money back guarantee. What's not to love?

I'm really glad that I switched over to this company. I'm saving money and getting more than I was at my old hosting company. Check them out.
Smack My Bitch Up ...

NYC's Hot97's idea of good radio is two women smacking the hell out of each other. Video here.
Really Red - "Teaching You the Fear" CD ...

I have to give a big thanks to Empty Records for reissuing "Teaching You the Fear," the debut album by Houston, Texas' Really Red. Originally released by CIA Records in 1981, the album still stands the test of time 23 years later.

Much like the Big Boys, Really Red’s musical roots are punk, but the band's sound isn't generic hardcore. It incorporates rock, funk and a unique exploration of post-punk style. The opening "Too Political?" sets the album's tone with its cutting post-punk lead-in with PIL-esque guitar leads before jumping into a power rock groove that bands such as Naked Raygun would perfect in the mid-'80s.

Lyrically, the band had its share of political thoughts and focus on racism ("Teaching You the Fear"), apathy in the scene ("The Fee") and indifference to world culture ("Starvation Dance"). It's worth noting that the political tone of the album doesn't seem cheap or silly in retrospect. In fact, the call for political and social awareness seems an appropriate response as ever in the midst of G.W. Bush's reign and the religious right's growing presence once again.


Beetlejuice & McG chilling at Car Jamz 2001 in Claymont, Delaware ...

Note: Polaroid is signed by Beetlejuice.
Pepe the Cleaning Woman

My friend Boof has a cleaning woman named Pepe who does more harm than good. Here's an example:

"So I just got a call from Pepe here at work. She called to say that she was cleaning out the cupboard, turned her back, and one of the cats hopped in there, and knocked over a martini bottle that shattered on the floor. She was totally discombobulated and said "I don't know what to do."

Typical.

She's a cleaning woman, there's a mess on the floor, and she "doesn't know what to do."

Cuckoo!

I wanted to fire her right over the phone. But she's at my home and could have trashed the place before leaving. So, I told her it wasn't a big deal. Besides, I don't drink martini.

She actually had the gall to say that the bottle was not well placed in the cupboard and that's why it fell so easily."

Pepe the cleaning woman part 2
1991: The Year the Cops Busted Sebadoh ...

One of the first shows I put on was in 1991 in Newark, DE. Sebadoh played a party at my friend Liz and Missy's house. Even though the band played an acoustic set, they played so damn loud that the cops came and busted up the party and gave Liz and Missy tickets for disturbing the peace.

Jason Loewenstein and Lou Barlow gave all the money we collected at the door back to the girls so they could pay the fines. They even stayed around for an extra day or two and answered everyone's dumb questions about Dinosaur Jr., told stories and jammed with me and my friends. I always thought they were some of the coolest and nicest people in a band that I ever met.

Here's a new interview with Lou in the Onion.

Here are some really nice words Lou wrote about Elliott Smith.
LPs Have the Last Laugh ...

This article, "CDs and DVDs Not So Immortal After All" states the obvious.

Best line: "Mark Irons is still pretty happy with CD technology, since it beats vinyl LPs and tape for longevity."
Yes That Was Me ...

In case you were wondering ... YES! You did hear my name mentioned on the radio on Monday.

In case you didn't, you can revisit my 15 minutes of fame.
Glad I Don't Live in China

In Shanghai Internet cafes, the government has installed video cameras to monitor users who try to visit restricted sites that contain porn, have religious content or are otherwise "superstitous," according to this article in the Guardian.

George Orwell was heard saying, "I told you so!" from the grave.

Fortunately in the USA, we have the ACLU who work to preserve our rights including Internet Free Speech.
If you're trying to e-mail me and can't ...

For the time being you can use: letitbe2000@yahoo.com

I'm in the middle of changing ISPs and transferring my domains and my e-mail is screwed up because of it.