Meet and greet.

Do you ever come to this page and wonder just who the heck all those links to the left lead to? Or why I even HAVE links to those folks? I bethca didn’t but you’re going to get the skinny anyway!

We’ll start with the music stuff. Donewaiting is there because I write for them, but the link was there even before I did. Why? Because it was one of my favorite music sites based on both content and writing style. I think one reason Rob Duffy at Donewaiting took a liking to me because he discovered Tiny Mixtapes and I think we both can agree that they report music news the way Pitchfork wishes they did. That doesn’t mean I still wouldn’t mind writing for Pitchfork at some time in the future. Coolfer, Productshop NYC and Stereogum all have content that varies from just plain silly (I’m looking at you 'gum) to really well researched (and the applause is for Coolfer.) Chromewaves, Deviated Septum, Her Jazz and the excellent The Rub are music blogs that are far more personal in nature and I gravitate towards these because while my tastes aren’t always in line with theirs we do share a similar aesthetic view. Ultragrrrl is so bubbly and fun and excited about music I can’t help but love her and Karen+1 never fails to turn me on to great new bands. One day I will DJ with those girls and we will have a blast.

Man, this is getting wordy.

The MP3 blogs are pretty self explanatory. I would like to thank Matt for turning me on to one of the most perfect songs of all time, Yellow Note Vs Pukka’s “Naked Drunk and Horny.” If you don’t believe me go ahead and download it and then come back to thank me.

Bands In The Know are primarily Chicago groups I’ve worked with pretty extensively in the past and love doing shows with. If any of these folks comes through your town DO NOT MISS THEM!

Okay, now for the bulk of my links. #1/usr/bin/girl was something I stumbled across and don’t really know how. It’s usually filled with lots of geek-centric links and is written by a computer programmer – I assume – in Washington. Quirky and fun. Fiendish Plot also appeals to my inner quirkiness with Sarah's views on pop culture, comics and some generally nerdy stuff that I can identify with. She also used to live in Hong Kong which is pretty neat. Also I think Sarah is the only person on my links list who has seen me but I haven't actually met yet. Alright and Oak Park Mastermind were both discovered when I saw that they had been checking out my page. The two writers are roommates and seem to be opposite sides of the same coin. Alright is sunny and enthusiastic while Oak Park Mastermind is borderline psychotic and reads like a bout of tourettes. Both are insanely funny. Sour Bob is a bitter and darkly comic dude that reminds me of me about six or seven years ago. Ken And Ariel are a team that tackles sex related issues and inject them with much hilarity. Paige Six is a hottt Canadian that writes both intelligently and impulsively and almost makes me forget all those Canadian jokes I tell my brother and his own Canadian wife. Anchored Nomad is a recent addition filled with great writing and views on being married to a foreigner.

busBLOG is written by Tony Pierce in a style heavily influenced by poetry and stream-of-conciousness and is one of the more famous blogs, as is the unique verbal dexterity of Detroit’s Whatevs. Thighs Wide Shut is the best destination when it comes to finding a point to leap off and explore the absurdity that the 'net holds. It also remains the only site where Kim Baur being chased by a coyote or wolves or whatever would be seen as a good thing. Oh yeah, Defamer is famous too and is read occasionally by me if I need any hot Hollywood gossip.

The Booze Cabinet and utchmynitz are written by friends of mine who happen to be in the same band. Danny tackles lots of politics from a far-left standing while Rick tends to deal with more personal issue in a conversational tone. Shappy also falls into the category of one of my real life friends but now that he lives in New york I keep up with his goings on through his blog.

Bored yet? No? Good. Let’s keep going.

Danielle Clock is a blog that I began reading for a rather odd reason. I had stumbled across a friend of Clock’s blog through Blogger and really dug the content. I began reading this original writer’s friends’ (following this?) blogs as well and realized that when they were all read together they formed this sort of grand story marked by subtle shifts in perspective. It was really cool. Since then more people have started reading this groups’ blogs, some freaks have intruded and now most are updated sporadically and the content has toned down since the writers – I feel – are afraid of people they know judging or fucking with them. It’s a shame. Anyway, another in this group is On Being Disgruntled And Broke and she got a link because she basically sent me an e-mail and bullied me into it. She updates infrequently but when she does it’s always a hoot. She’s also got a great style to her writing.

I think I found The Decadent West while looking for MP3s one day and was knocked out by the savagely funny writing that took no prisoners and seemed to hate everyone. The Presidential Debate moderated by Subzero is still a classic in my eyes. I Rock/I Roll was also stumbled upon while hopping around NYC blogs and the fact she’s from Chicago is what kept me reading. She seems a little too overeager to be one of the cool kids so her writing tens to be a little overenthusiastic but I don’t really care. I like it. The Superficial combines pictures of hot celebrities with hot gossip and is my one true guilty reading pleasure. What can I say, I’m human.

I’m running out of steam here so I don’t think I’m going to cover everyone. I just don’t have the energy. I’m saving some of the best for last though.

South Of No North and Tripindicular are written by fellow MetroBlog writers. Tom comes in when I DJ rather frequently and I really enjoy hanging out with him. I’ve only met Lauren once but I really dig the tone and content of her writing. So Sayeth The Peabs travels down the same roads as Mark Leyner and if you don’t enjoy reading his delirious misadventures doing hookers and blow with Dr. Bill Cosby you must be brain dead. Daisy Knows Rock is finally back to life and filled with my friend Julie's wickedly stinging views on the state of rock and/or roll. Finally we have The Watergirl, who might just have been the first link every on the ol’ Tankboy blog (it took me a while to figure out how to code in links.) I’ve described her writing as that of a Judy Blume character that’s all – mostly – grown-up but what I really mean is that her output is just simply delightful.

Okay, I think that’s it for me right now. That didn’t all come out quite the way I wanted. I was hoping for more anecdotes about each blog and why I read them but about two paragraphs in I realized how daunting a task that was and gave up. Hopefully what I did get out is enough to maybe spur some of the more casual readers to do a little exploring.
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Tonight's assignment.

Joe's On Weed Street is pretty much my definition of a nightmare fratboy bar. But that's where you'll find me tonight. What could possibly make me throw myself so carelessly into enemy territory?

This:


MINIKISS!
Be there or be square.