Lemon Ice Forever

A New York Idea

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:14:06 -0400

Today I was walking around Brooklyn, New York, where I live, and I realized that almost every corner store’s awning features a random selection from the same bank of about 30 words. “Mart.” “ATM.” “Cold Beer.” (Always “cold.” Even if the beer inside isn’t actually cold.) “Deli.” Nevermind that most of these stores stock more or less the same exact inventory. New Yorkers (and non-New Yorkers, I would think) are well-versed enough in the corner store economy that we don’t need to be told what’s inside.

I’m forced to assume that, be it a function of limited writing skills, simple uncreativity, or some sort of bureaucratic rigmarole that I can only dream of, most corner stores are getting their ideas for awning copy from other, pre-existing corner stores.

The only way for me to prove this is to accept a donation large enough to found a number of corner stores large enough to introduce another corner store awning word into the lexicon. It can be something that most corner stores sell (“Limes”) or something they do not (“Dogs”). I would bet that it wouldn’t matter.

sarahbelfort: The Monks - I Hate You

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:29:03 -0400

sarahbelfort:

The Monks - I Hate You

The Fugs - Slum Goddess Rest in peace, Tuli Kupferberg. ...

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:06:00 -0400

The Fugs - Slum Goddess

Rest in peace, Tuli Kupferberg. “Jumped off the Brooklyn bridge this actually happened,” indeed.

UV Race - Society Made Me Selfish

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:42:21 -0400

UV Race - Society Made Me Selfish

My Essay About the 1968 Monkees Movie Head Is Up On Bright Wall Dark Room

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 14:56:23 -0400

My Essay About the 1968 Monkees Movie Head Is Up On Bright Wall Dark Room:

I had been sitting on this for way too long, and I am glad it has finally seen the light of day.

Three Random Lines From the First Three Ramones Records

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:15:40 -0400

Three Random Lines From the First Three Ramones Records:

I could probably come with some witty “and oh I don’t know why”-based comment on the reasoning behind my creating this, but in reality I’m late for band practice and I wanted to stick my feet into learning jQuery. Some of these end up being oddly profound, though.

What can I say?
Now I wanna have somethin’ to do
But isn’t it always that way?

Jim Shepard - One Percent of Nothing

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:28:54 -0400

Jim Shepard - One Percent of Nothing

"Byrd’s death also makes senator Daniel Inouye the president pro tempore of the United States...."

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:55:25 -0400

“Byrd’s death also makes senator Daniel Inouye the president pro tempore of the United States. This means that the father of a Dischord Records artist (Kenny Inouye, Marginal Man) is now third in line to the presidency. So consider this an official heads up; don’t come whimpering to me when the guy from Iron Cross is in charge of your oat rations.”

- Sam McPheeters.

I had no idea Inouye’s son was in Marginal Man. And here I didn’t think the guy could get any cooler.

"Sooner or later, life is going to humiliate and kill all of us, but there is a certain dignity and..."

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 04:09:42 -0400

“Sooner or later, life is going to humiliate and kill all of us, but there is a certain dignity and power in not screening out this information but trying to let it wash over you as much as possible, and just standing there smiling with shit all over you.”

- George Saunders (via)

Photo

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:03:35 -0400

A Public Service Announcement

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:22:00 -0400

Pootie Tang, one of the funniest and most underrated movies of all time, is on Hulu for free. If you have not seen Pootie Tang, watch Pootie Tang. If you have seen Pootie Tang, you have probably already clicked that link and are anticipating seeing it again. Good on you.

PS: Did you know that Louis CK has apologized for writing Pootie Tang, because he views it as so unsuccessful? That is the very definition of tragedy.

RIP Manute Bol. I wish the “Manute Bol Cruise Line”...

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 15:29:49 -0400

RIP Manute Bol. I wish the “Manute Bol Cruise Line” SNL sketch was online, but it doesn’t appear to be. In a way, that’s a fitting tribute to his understated legacy, but this picture of him and Mugsy will have to do.

Medication - Didn’t Wanna Know

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:28:49 -0400

Medication - Didn’t Wanna Know

I’ve basically been laughing at Fancy People Adventures...

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:00:00 -0400

I’ve basically been laughing at Fancy People Adventures all day.

"So we’re all hanging out in the green room. The dudes with the headphones and the clipboards..."

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:18:27 -0400

“So we’re all hanging out in the green room. The dudes with the headphones and the clipboards are running around all terrified and shit. Belushi’s hanging out because he wanted to hang with all of us. I had black spiky hair, and Belushi’s like, ‘You should get a mohawk.’ Somebody had their clippers, and Belushi gave me a mohawk. Fear played, and we were just doing what we do, going nuts. I think that was America’s first glimpse of slam dancing and crazy punk dudes. The microphone gets knocked into the audience, and of course I grabbed it and I yelled, ‘Negative Approach is gonna fuck you up.’ That aired over live TV. That was kind of a thrill. I was about 18. When I got home, I wasn’t feeling the mohawk, so from that point on I was a skinhead.”

- John Brannon of Negative Approach, on witnessing FEAR’s 1981 performance on Saturday Night Live.

I think that of all the things I like about this year’s...

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 03:17:00 -0400

I think that of all the things I like about this year’s Celtics team, (The charm of aging superstars, the rise of Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen’s irregular-but-astounding outside game, Tony Allen coming hard off the bench lately and having the same last name as Ray Allen, etc.) I will never quite get over how much I love the fact that Doc Rivers always looks and sounds like he’s about to start crying.

Husker Du - I’ll Never Forget You (Live, 1983, Goofy’s...

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:07:40 -0400

Husker Du - I’ll Never Forget You (Live, 1983, Goofy’s Upper Deck, Minneapolis, MN)

Completely insane version of this song, as performed just a few months before Zen Arcade was recorded. I’ll always be a Grant Hart man (I almost posted “Books About UFOs” on here a couple of days ago, regarding how it’s “the best love song that’s barely a love song,” and which is basically the polar opposite of this), but very little in the HD catalog can hold up to Bob Mould totally losing his mind on this one.

(Thanks to Andrew Earles for finding this.)

Nothing is sacred anymore, I guess.

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 01:53:28 -0400

Nothing is sacred anymore, I guess.

A Game I Just Made Up

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:19:00 -0400

1) Think of a dumb, vaguely topical-sounding pun.
2) Google it in quotes.
3) The person whose pun is the title of the most ham-fisted news articles or alarmist books wins.

So far I still haven’t been able to beat the first one i came up with: “The Kids Are All White.”

The Prats - Disco Pope This is a song from 1980 called...

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:59:00 -0400

The Prats - Disco Pope

This is a song from 1980 called “Disco Pope.” I think the oldest member of The Prats was fifteen, and the singer was something like thirteen. Rock and roll really has gotten demonstrably worse.