An elemental force of nature? Perhaps.

An elemental force of nature? Perhaps.


Of course, the one thing Marcus forgot in today's rather, erm, unique weather forecast was the high probability of a whole bunch o' hot air coming in from all around!

Survival of the fittest.

Survival of the fittest.

Hey! Guess what? I survived another year of my thus far pretty awesome life! Thank you lord!

To celebrate I'm having a little get-together at The Burlington tonight. I intentionally decided to have my birthday partyon my actual birthday -- a Tuesday -- this year to avoid all the weekend BBQs / parties / shows / conflicting DJ gigs / general summer scheduling insanity, so I hope you can stop by. I'm going to try and get there between 9 and 9:30 so folks who need to work early the next day can at least pop in early for a drink to say hi. I'm probably going to DJ a little bit, but the evening's soundtrack will primarily be provided by the boys I've been DJing the most with in the last few months; Keep, Marcus, and Rudy.

Hopefully I will have completely ditched this dang summer cold I started getting yesterday by the time I get to The Burlington tonight!

See you there?

Dancing 'til dawn.

Dancing 'til dawn.

If you weren't there at The Continental on Saturday you fucked up. It was a little slow early on, but by the end of the evening the place was jam-packed with drinking and dancing (thanks in no small part to an influx of 20 Something Bloggers hellbent on dancing their faces off). I was bouncing around the booth and between Rudy and I we managed to keep everyone happy without ever resorting to cheese. We make a good team because we bounce tunes off each other and stay on our toes throughout the sets.

After it was all over we stumbled out the door and into the early Chicago morning sun, only to wake up a few hours later to go down to the Gay Pride Parade. No small feat when your DJ set just ended 4 hours ago.

Best MJ tribute thus far.

Best MJ tribute thus far.

Man, do I love Lily Allen or what?

Man, do I love Lily Allen or what?


Don't forget to come out and see me and Rudy DJ at The Continental tomorrow!

Revving up for the weekend.

Revving up for the weekend.



My staycation begins after work tomorrow and boy do I have a crowded plate of social events. I've actually had to pull out of shooting two shows (Lupe Fiasco and Sonic Youth) because I just have TOO MUCH GOING ON.

You can't go everywhere I go the next few days, but if you're looking for some suggestions of where you can see me without feeling like a stalker (in other words PLEASE attend these events!) peep the words below.

Thursday: Chicagoist writer's happy hour at Happy Village (you can stalk us, we won't bite) and then Brad Peterson at Double Door.
Friday: The Midnight Shows at Darkroom
Saturday: DJs Tankboy and Rudy Tuesday at Continental!
Sunday: Gay Pride Parade y'all!
Monday: Rehab
Tuesday: MY BIRTHDAY PARTY AT THE BURLINGTON!
Wednesday: A day of rest, lawd.

Lily Allen RMXD.

Lily Allen RMXD.

Apparently this dude named Doctor Rosen Rosen has taken Lily Allen's last album and remixed the whole thing. "It’s Not Me, It’s Doctor Rosen Rosen" isn't out yet, but I assume when it is it'll be free.

He's sent out a sample of what to expect wherein he takes Lily Allen's jouncy kiss-of of aa two-finger salute, "Fuck You," and turns it into something creeping with sadness. But in a good way.

Check it out.

MP3: Lily Allen "F--K You (Doctor Rosen Rosen Rx)"

Less than one week away!

Less than one week away!

Next Wednesday I will be a year older. I will probably wake up late from Tuesday proper's celebrations, wobble into the family room, let the dog out, and then settle on the couch to ponder my place in the world the past few decades and change and where I'm heading in the coming years.

No I won't.

I'm self-aware, but not exactly the "I-must-review-my-life-at-certain-milestones" kind of guy. New Year's Eve doesn't bring forth new resolutions, the day of my dad's death doesn't bring about a new bout of mouring, and birthdays don't feill me with the desire to do a yearly observation. These are all things I think belong in every single day I occupy. You don't make big plans once a year! You have an ongoing focus on where you want to head and you adjust daily to get there, while leaving yourself open to new discoveries. Personal improvement is a 365 day project, and should be treated as a living organism, not a chart on a wall.

So I look forward to celebrating another year lived next Tuesday night (at The Burlington, if you'd like to join me). A year with highs and lows, one with some sesimic life shifts, and one I'm glad I lived. But don't expect me to get all sentimental about it. Birthdays are momentary stops along the whole journey, right?

Summer sleep schedule.

Summer sleep schedule.

I sleep way less in the summer.

Part of that is due to the fact that hey, we're in Chicago, and we need to take advantage of this slim window of welcoming weather while we can! Part of it is the ramped up social activities. Part of it is just a rejuvenation brought upon by more exposure to the sun. Part of it is just that summer melts away your age to bring back out the young and adventurous and throw-your-arms-open-and-smile spirit in everyone.

It also means I grow more prolific than usual, which is no mean feat. I think my brain actually fires off more quickly in the summer. One would think that hours stuck indoors would spike creativity but in my case it's the wide range of options possibilities the summer lays at my feet that stoke my synapses in the most interesting ways.

It's almost like my brain runs off chlorophyllic mechanisms and solar power causes it to really thrive.

How about you, does summer get the same response out of you? And if you live in a continually sunny / warm / habitable clime do you just level out all year long or is their a particular time you feel at your strongest too?

Photo by Somewhat Frank

My unsolicited thoughts on Iran.

My unsolicited thoughts on Iran.

It's difficult to record any quick thoughts on the situation in Iran, since it's such an incredibly complicated situation. And while I'm pleased any time I see Westerners actually giving a hoot about anything going on in the Middle East that doesn't directly impact them, that excites me. I want people to be at least aware of what goes on in other corners of the world. I want folks to care.*

So it's nice to see so much chatter around the Iranian elections, but at the same time it's disheartening to see people trying to boil it down into sloganeering. I read a comment equating the turning of Twitter avatars green as the new AIDs ribbon of 2009; in other words folks are showing support but not really getting involved. I think that's somewhat true, but I do hope that if someone turns their avatar green it also indicates they're showing slightly more than a passing interest in what's going on.

And what's going on is, well, convoluted. Face it, the election results were skewed, but it's very probable Ahmadinejad did have the most vote, even before results were tampered with. And the "opposition party" isn't exactly the opposition. Moussavi has already been prime minister under the current regime so it's not really a case of the bad guy versus the good guy.** They're both bad, and they're both pretty hostile towards the West.

So if you're one of the folks insisting that Moussavi be put in power, you're probably missing the point. I don't think anyone supporting democracy would also support the notion of protests placing someone into power that actually lost an election (and, for the sake of keeping this point clear, we'll pretend Bush vs. Gore didn't muddle our own nation's stance on this particular point.)

No, what these protests are about is free speech. At the base the crowds in the street seem to be angry about a perceived loss. But I think it's safe to say that anger is rooted in their dissatisfaction that no matter what, it seems as if they have little to no say in their government. A government that posits itself to be democratically chosen, but is in fact rigged from the get-go. Believe me, no one would ever make it onto the ballot if they actually weren't approved by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right?

So I don't think we should be angry that Ahmadinejad won, because he probably did. If you want to side with the protesters you should be indignant at the suppression of their voice by a brutal government who sees fit to shoot people in the streets that don't agree with its positions. Be upset

*I was recently shocked to learn that educated people I know didn't even know that a) the U.S. had backed the Iranian government until b) the 1979 revolution when c) U.S. hostages were taken and d) nightly coverage of the situation prompted the creation of Nightline. And that part of the reason Reagan won the next election was due to the Iranian situation and his promise to free U.S. hostages, which he did. I always thought everyone knew all of this and I'm slowly learning that many folks' grasp of history rarely extends more than a few years back, if that far.

**In fact, Moussavi's exhortations to continue to protest on his behalf fairly smacks of a megalomaniac needlessly sending lambs out to the slaughter.

21.

21.

Hanging with sorority girls celebrating a sister's 21st birthday with 21 shots right now. It's kinda like running with the bulls, only scarier.

Trickle down writenomics.

Trickle down writenomics.

Been reading a bunch of stuff by younger authors to review for the site and I'm beginning to see the effects of blogging on literature. People are beginning to mistake directness for craft. It's weird. Not bad, writing always shifts its sensibilities, that's the point. But weird to actually see it happening.

I suppose that's a byproduct of getting old and attaining some semblence of wisdom and perspective through experience.

How reunions should work.

How reunions should work.

Dinosaur Jr are two albums into their amazing reunion of the three original members who, at one point, famously disliked each other more than I dislike The Grateful Dead. And I really do not like The Grateful Dead. Both albums are absolutely glorious -- Farm, the latest is a must buy -- and proves this reunion to be the extraordinary exception to the rule. You always want your favorite bands to team back up and recapture their glory years only to walk away sorely disappointed because they just don't have that fire in them any more.

Dinosaur Jr obviously still has that fire.

Talkin'bout the passion.

Talkin' 'bout the passion.

This is literally the first second I've had to actually do non-9-to-5 writing today! Truth be told (and this should be obvious since I just resorted to a cliché) I'm a tad tuckered so what's say we catch up tomorrow, eh?

Seems like everyone had a good time at that surprise Blur reunion gig.

Seems like everyone had a good time at that surprise Blur reunion gig.

Holy shit, why wasn't I there?

The other Tankboy.

The other Tankboy.

I was out Friday joking with friends about being away from a computer when the Facebook name-grab kick off. I had been planning on using my real name since intend to continue using Facebook as less a professional "Tankboy" resource and more a way to connect with folks I actually know, but I wondered aloud if the "other" Tankboy would snag the moniker for himeslf.

The other Tankboy is a photographer from New York who I've sort of shared the name with. From what I can tell we both started online about the same time, and he snagged tankboy.com before I did. I don't really know that much about him (other than the fact he takes really good photographs) but have always been secretly amused at our parallel existence? Doesn he Google Tankboy and get upset when I come out as the top search? When he signed up for MySpace was he annoyed I was already Tankboy? When he registers to leave a comment somewhere and Tankboy isn't available does he shake his fist at the heavens? Probably not, but it's kind of funny to think of.

Well, Saturday morning I rolled out of bed, got the Facebook name I had intended on getting, and then typed in facebook.com/tankboy just to see if it had been claimed ... and it had! By the other Tankboy! So he DOES still try and snag the name from time to time.

Whaddya know?

Anyway, did you get the Facebook name you wanted?

Giving credit where credit is due.

Giving credit where credit is due.

Dear God,

Remember how I was grousing up a storm yesterday, griping about having lousy weather in the middle of June? And complaining that my vacation day would be beset by November-like weather.

Well, I'd just like to thank you for taking mercy on me and making today -- my day off -- nigh perfect weather-wise. Betty the Beagle and I just got back from a glorious walk, and now I'm going to focus on being unproductive and enjoying the day until I have to hustle up north to Ribfest to hug Tom Shraeder and then OFFICE.

And tomorrow, please make Amazing Baby and Phoenix play the best sets of the tour. And Sunday please make Metric more awesome than I am already expecting them to be. I mean, you seem to be listening to me right now so I reckon I should get my requests in while I can, right?

Love,
Tankboy

Extracurricular activities to fight the summer blues.

Extracurricular activities to fight the summer blues.

It's one of those mornings where I sit down to write and nothing wants to surface. I think some of that has to do with the weather. Ferchrissakes it's June and it's chilly and wet and we've only seen the sun in brief spurts and isn't the Chicago summer the reason we suffer through it's brutal winters?

I'm feeling a bit gypped by this.

If you live in Chicago and feel like lifting your spirits might I recommend attending tonight's live taping of Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me in Millennium Park? I've arranged for GalPal and I to have seats for it, but if you just want to hang out on the lawn say hi to my colleague Amanda at her Tweet-up on the lawn.

Afterward I'm going to try and catch old time favorites The Starlight Mints at Bottom Lounge. I've got a piece going up on them on Chicagoist later today, so I'll just say you should go see 'em too.

And I took tomorrow off, so let's do it up tonight!


A cloudy day at Millennium Park by onlymayday

To iPhone or not to iPhone ... that is the question. And the answer still isn't clear.

To iPhone or not to iPhone ... that is the question. And the answer still isn't clear.

I've struggled with buying an iPhone from the get-go. At first I kept telling myself that I would get one when my contract was up, but then I went and dropped my old cell in the toilet and replaced it with a Blackberry, foolishly thinking that when the next new gen of iPhone came out I could just renew my contract again and snap it up. lat winter, knowing that the new iPhone was likely to be released this summer, i started to look into what I would need to do to upgrade, and it was then that I realized that AT&T would be happy to let me fill out another 22-year contract, but that would do nothing as far as allowing me to purchase a subsidized upgrade. I grumbled and decided to wait and see what new features the next iPhone would have.

Well, here we are in June, and the new iPhone is ... well, just not that exciting. It seems to be just catching up with what most other smartphones already offer and, truth be told, the only thing that really makes it attractive at all to me anymore is its browsing capability. Apple has grown so used to calling the shots and ignoring consumers figuring they know our actual needs better than we do, it's left a chink in their armor. And you see, since last winter, it's become obvious that quite a few other smartphones are closing in on Apple, not least of which is Palm Pre. It's a 1st gen offering, which means there's no way I'd buy it, but if the next gen has a bigger screen and more storage I/d be pretty tempted to get out of my AT&T contract.

Which brings me to AT&T. I've been an AT&T customer for over a decade. I've personally liked their service on the phones I've used, and valued the fact that the same phone could make calls in the U.S., China, and London without a problem. However the company's greed in the case of the iPhone has put me ill at ease, and when you compound it with the fact that technically they seem to be a poor match with Apple, with reports of lousy call quality, constantly dropped calls, lousy texting options, and snails-pace internet.

So what's the end result? I kept waiting for the next version of the iPhone before purchasing it, but now it seems as if there is no next version that will be convincing enough to get me to shell out the cash. And on top of that, because of its handling of the iPhone, I've become distrustful of a company that has actually treated me reasonably well over the years, and when I finally do decide on a new phone there's a good chance it won't be one AT&T carries, and I'll make the move without the guilt I might have felt abandoning its brand just two years ago.

Way for two companies to completely squander one customer's brand loyalty. Well done, folks.

Zack attack!

Zack attack!

I actually stayed up to watch this last night and was (obviously) richly rewarded.

Though I'm getting tired of Fallon mining my idols for yucks!

The prodigal son returns!

The prodigal son returns!

It has been quite a while since DJed at The Burlington -- don't ask but the hiatus was certainly deserved -- so I really want folks to come on out tonight since I plan on playing what could only be described as "a stellar set." Join me, won't you?

TONIGHT
June 9

DJ Tankboy

9:30pm - 2am

The Burlington
3425 W Fullerton

Steve!

Steve!

This photo pretty much sums up Friday night at Old Oak ... cute girls and crazy guys.

It was a blast.

I am a DJ, I am what I play, I've got believers ... believing me!

I am a DJ, I am what I play, I've got believers ... believing me!

Yes, indeed, it is the first Friday in June so that means I tonight I'll be at Old Oak Tap spinning all the platters that matter (man, I never get tired of that phrase ... thank you Spike Lee)! I have lots of new stuff -- as usual -- along with a grab-bag of classic goodies so if you come by to visit for a spell I guarantee you'll hear stuff you either already do, or will soon, love.

TONIGHT
June 5

DJ Tankboy

10pm - 2am

Old Oak Tap
2109 W Chicago

Lady Madonna make everyone go GaGa.

Lady Madonna makes everyone go GaGa.

I was reading the Rolling Stone interview with Lady Gaga* and it struck me that she really is Madonna. Their backgrounds are strikingly similar, they both have an obviously strong work ethic that includes "anything to be famous for my art" and both are honest to God pop stars. I shudder to voice it out loud, but Madonna / GaGa appropriate a lot of Bowie's tricks, allowing their inner chameleon to come out and embrace whatever modern sounds are tickling their fancy at that moment. Trust me, I don't think she's some kinda feminist icon or anything, just that she's using what she got to get what she wants.

I'm just dashing this out, and really do have a lot more to say on the subject, but for now I'll leave it at this: Lady GaGa is a pop star manipulating everyone around her for her own gain. She's outrageous, unapologetic, brash and shocking in a total college art student manner, and it's quite possible that once the dust has settled, if she can continue to reinvent herself, there's a good chance she might have a Madonna-length career. We'll see.

For now, though, I offer to you the absolute best Lady GaGa songs by other artists. The first features her guest turn on a Wale track that's been in my DJ sets since it was emailed to me a month or so ago. The other samples GaGa to provide Kid Cudi with some porn rhymes, Kanye with some B.M.O.C. swagga, and Common with, um, some backpackin' smut with a sly smile?

MP3: Wale "Chillin'"
MP3: Kid Cudi (with Kanye West and Common) "I Poke Her Face"

*A subscription has been arriving unbidden at my door for the last few months. I can only guess they put me on some mailing list in hopes of increasing their circulation numbers if not their subscription revenues?

Taking art pop and making it funky.

Taking art pop and making it funky.

The Buffetlibre DJs just sent me their remix of a new Patrick Wolfe track and I am really enjoying it. I was just talking with Saam last night about how we're both kinda sick of the whole SQUEE-WHAM-BAM-BAM! treatment of remixes that have infiltrated the scene, making many Chicago dance nights sound exactly alike while they assault your ears and ram the beat down your throat. Saam mentioned he was enjoying the gradual rise of more moldy getting infused into remixes employing beats that are infectious and not garish.

Well, this remix is just that. Enjoy your Wednesday morning soundtrack and turn your office into an afterhours dance party!

MP3: Patrick Wolf "Who Will (Buffetlibre Remix)"

Wherein our hero grows unusually excited about a tribute album. So excited, in fact, he actually cut-n-paste's a portion of the press release...

Wherein our hero grows unusually excited about a tribute album. So excited, in fact, he actually cut-n-paste's a portion of the press release announcing said tribute album.

Usually I would pooh pooh a Love And Rockets tribute album. They're one of my favorite bands and would usually prefer to hear their songs as interpreted by them, not some crop of fawning fanboy/gals. Luckily for me this tribute nicely sidesteps that issue by relying primarily on A-list talent and peers. There are a few stinkers, and a handful of nameless entries, but c'mon, how can you not look forward to seeing what The Flaming Lips, Dandy Warhols, or Maynard Keenan is gonna do with the source material? And Black Francis hols a dear place in my heart in relation to the album's subjects since The Pixies opened for Love And Rockets the first time I saw either band play live.

Added points for drafting Shepherd Fairey to create the cover art.

New Tales To Tell, A Tribute To Love and Rockets track listing:

1. Black Francis "All In My Mind"
2. Puscifer "Holiday On The Moon"
3. War Tapes "Love Me"
4. Blaqk Audio "No New Tale To Tell"
5. Dubfire "I Feel Speed"
6. The Dandy Warhols "Inside The Outside"
7. The Flaming Lips "Kundalini Express"
8. Sweethead "Life In Laralay"
9. Film School "An American Dream"
10. A Place To Bury Strangers "The Light"
11. Monster Magnet vs Adrian Young "Mirror People"
12. The Stone Foxes "Fever"
13. Frankenstein 3000 "No Big Deal"
14. VEX "It Could Be Sunshine"
15. Better Than Ezra "So Alive"
16. Chantal Claret vs Adrian Young "Lazy"
17. Ian Moore "Sweet F.A."
18. Snowden "No Words No More"

Actual early morning conversation.

Actual early morning conversation.

ME: C'mon babybabybabyBABYbaby pleeeeease?
HER: No.
ME: It'll only take a few minutes.
HER: No.
ME: It'll be over before you know it!
HER: No.
ME: How can you say no to these eyes?
HER: No.
ME: I'll love you forever.
HER: No.
ME: C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon.
HER: No.
ME: Pleeeeeease!
HER: Jim, I am not taking the dog out this morning. Do it yourself.

Help Hammertime.

Help Hammertime.

My friend Sarah is a gifted dancer, and from what I've seen of her work she's actually trying to expand the medium in ways that are engaging and not just confounding. Anyway, she's launching a fundraising effort for her independent studio, as you can see below...