Bullets! Two days in a row!

Yes, it's true. In the interest of undoing the damage of turkey and pie a few days ago, I need to spend a little more time at the gym in the A.M. This cuts down on my writing time (I'm NOT getting up any earlier than I already do!) so let's get to it!

• This is fucking ludicrous. I get free stuff all the time that people hope I'll write about, but I would never let a company pay me to review a product. The fact that this sort of thing is already ensnaring some music bloggers raises a whole raft of ethical questions. One thing is for sure, I won't trust any blog that signs up with that service ever again since it betrays a severe lapse in judgment that casts any critical opinion they might share as being wholly suspect.


• I wonder if Chinese Democracy will come out today. And I wonder how the G'N'R show I previewed yesterday went. (WARNING: The preview has a terribly disturbing image of Axl imitating Ali G. It's pretty scary.)


• Did you know the '80s didn't reach Canada until the '90s? Neither did I, until my brother introduced me to Robin Sparkles. Totally tubular. Someone want to rip me a quality mp3 / m4a of the tune?


• Chicagoist is having a Happy Hour Thursday at Quencher's. Get there early for some free booze and stay late to see me and other writers make like rock stars fronting Live Band Karaoke.


• Apparently hereditary succession is alive and well in Chicago. First the Toddler and now this? And this? Why are voters such IDIOTS?!


• TV Note One: A member of my household enjoys Deal Or No Deal quite a bit, and I thought the show was silly and innocuous. However, after seeing a couple episodes I've decided that it is actually rather sad, since the only way for folks to truly lose is for them to fall victim to their own greed. And more folks "lose" than "win".
  


• TV Note Two: I've fallen under the spell of Heroes. This isn't too surprising since it's a show totally tailored to attract a guy that was a major comic book geek from the early '80s until the mid-'90s. It's a total bonus that the show's illustrations are done by Tim Sale, an artist whose work on the Thieve's World graphic novels won me over when I was a teen. I do have one minor quibble. Last night's ep was supposed to take place in April 2006, but most of the tunes being played at Peter Petrelli's party weren't released until late 2006. Oops! But that's just the sort of thing only a dork would notice, huh?

Finally, and this is worthy of being set alone from the bullets, one of the perks of DJing is getting to share the spotlight with good friends who have great taste in music. Tonight I'm DJing at The Pontiac with Gina Blitzkrieg and Debbie Bopz, two sensational ladies with swagger and style. These ladies were once my upstairs neighbors and they threw raucous parties that would have kept me up all night if I hadn't been upstairs drinking beer along with them* while trying to avoid shirtless band dudes exhorting us to, "Dance, man, c'mon and feel the music."

I promise there will be no shirtless band dudes at The Pontiac tonight. Unless, of course, these guys show up.

Anyhoo ...

*FULL DISCLOSURE: Okay, I only ever made it to one of their parties, but that was because I was always working the nights they had them. The one I went to was so wonderfully surreal, though, I just knew we were destined to be friends for life.