For a bunch of guys that "retired" they sure are making a racket...

Remember that free track from Gorillaz / LCD Soundystem's James Murphy / Andre 3000 I told you about a couple days ago? Now there's a video to go with it!

Do trolls get to you?

Don't let 'em. As I tell all my writers, if something you write provokes a response--good or bad--in someone, that's a good thing. And if you're writing for a site with a large readership you can also take solace in the fact that more people are reading what you write than reading mean comments. And WAY more people are silently appreciating your work than loudly criticizing it.

Unless someone threatens you or veers into the the vile territory of the purely hateful I don't mind people expressing their opinions about what I write. In fact I welcome them. And even if they hate it I appreciate them taking the time to read it. And so should you.

Emily Wells resurfaces.

Emily Wells FINALLY has a new album coming out. Here's a sneak peek via a remix of the first single.

MP3: Emily Wells "Passenger (Kid Koala Remix)"

If you have a chance to ever see her, DO IT. She's one of those one-person orchestras creating lush works out of on-the-spot loops. Very cool. GalPal and I saw her in Millennium Park a few years ago and I hope she comes back through town soon. No Chicago dtes yet, but since sh'e got an album coming out hopefully that'll change (and she won't just be playing Lollapalooza).

On the occasion of the Queen's Jubilee, we discuss the history of the English monarchy.

Two discussions points, one subject.

ONE

HER: So I saw the end of Elizabeth. With Cate Blanchett.
ME: You've never seen that?
HER: So is that true?
ME: Oh yeah, the whole virgin queen thing?
HER: Is that true that she was actually a virgin the whole time?
ME: Yeah, like, can't a queen get in a little strange on the side?

TWO

HER: Henry VIII kinda fucked everything up by being such an asshole.

Ahn RawkWriting.

Well, not really on rock writing in general, though I do have a long gestating idea to put together a post on just that subject since people always ask me how I started and how I got to where I am and how they can do it. But that post is coming another day.

I've been getting a lot of compliments on the Guns N' Roses review I wrote earlier this week. people seem honestly impressed by it. And I can't tell if that's because my writing of late has been lousy and this is a return to form or if I'm still generally a solid writer but this piece just shines a little more brightly. I wish I could say it was because I went through draft after draft to get it to perfection, but that ain't the case. Maybe it's because I found a nugget of truth in a subject that is usually treated in a less than serious manner because of the fractured history of the band's frontman. Or maybe sitting through a three hour concert stone sober leads to me working through stuff in my head during the show that I remember more clearly the next day (though I swear it didn't feel that way when writing it).

Who knows? But if you haven't read it yet, people are telling me the piece is good, so take a look.

Way behind on album reviews...

Right now currently in the middle of processing:

• Fun. (Took a while, but its genius is slowly revealing itself._
• Mark Lanegan
• Sleigh Bells
• Andrew Bird (Still on intial listens but might be my favorite from him yet.)
• Canyons
• Bobby Conn (Twisty.)
• Pretty Good Dance Moves
• Unicycle Loves You
• We Have Band
• Oberhofer
• Ben Kweller (Enjoyable, but probably won't warrant a full review.)
• AIR
• The Big Pink (Yeah, probably won't review either.)
• Nada Surf
• Pond
• Dinowalrus (Changed my mind. It's OK, but not for me.)
• Band Of Skulls (Will probably just use in a show preview.)
• Heartless Bastards (Surprisingly good!)

So yeah, behind. And I'm pretty sure I'm missing a few that should be in that list. And the list grows every day...

Gorillaz and LCD and 3000s ... OH MY!

Posted the free new Converse sponsored jam from Gorillaz, LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy and Andre 3000 over at Chicagoist. What a way to kick of the day!

Axl and me.

Guns N' Roses at House of Blues in Chicago on February 19, 2012 photo by me

So I finally got that guns N' Roses review done. Some people seem to really like it. Lemme know what you think.

Guns N' Roses. Huh.

Working on a review about seeing Guns N' Roses ast House of Blues a few days ago and really trying to tie it all together after seeing a show that was as bombastic as expected, more intimate than expected, at times more enjoyable than expected and just all around way weirder than expected (though maybe I should have expected even more weirdness, maybe?). Hrm.

Country sad ballad men.

Oh look, Blur has a new song.

Drum practice.

Get in there son!

This is how you start a day.

The view from my bus stop on the way to the gym today.

Delicious sunshine? Check.
Up early enough to get stuff accomplished? Check.
Forty degrees outside in the middle of February? CHECK AND CHECK!

Higgeldy piggeldy!

When life is s hectic you don't even have time to write it's time to start staying in more nights. So that's what I'm doing again tonight. GalPal's at opening night at the Joffrey Ballet (fancy schmancy!) so I am taking in a little more me time. And it's just what the doctor ordered.

What day is today?

Since I thought I was going to be out of town tonight GalPal made plans with one of her friends to hang out since her friend's boyfriend (still following?) was working late tonight, leaving them both Valentine's Day widows. While neither girl celebrates Valentine's Day, which of course makes them awesome, they decided to take the mutual absence of men in their life as an excuse to go out and eat and have a ladies' night to themselves.

I call that a Valentine's Day win-win for all involved!

And since I ended up being home last night instead of out of town for business I used the occasion to further make my way through all the seasons of How I Met Your Mother. Boy, that Ted guy's a really self-centered dick, huh?

Watch me talk about stuff on TV!

FOX's Good Day Chicago invited me onto their show today to talk about the Grammys, so I did.

Thanks for having me on! It's always an enjoyable time.

Quotapalooza.

The last twenty-four hours have seen two particularly good quotes from me?

[LAST NIGHT AT COAST]

ME: 

What is with girls wearing jeans with spangly things on the butt? 

It looks like they sat on a Bedazzler.

HER: 

Uh, that's not a new thing.

ME: 

What?

HER: 

Girls have been doing that for years.

ME: 

Maybe I'm just now noticing it because now that I'm making better money 

I'm eating at douchier restaurants.

[THIS MORNING, WALKING TO THE TRAIN]

ME: 

What's with this tiny hail?

I've got...

...sushi on the brain. And by sushi I mean BYOB to Coast and nom nom nom some steak teriyaki while GalPal makes her way through the specials.

Sheez, Louise!

I've been thinking about it and I might not make it to SXSW this year. I have a pass but the travel is already outrageously expensive and the hotel rooms might as well come with a mortgage application. When you top it off with just how incredibly hectic my work life is right now I'm beginning to think that week off might do me better if I spent it on a beach instead of running around and waiting in line to see bands and drink two or three free drinks an hour.

Am I getting old or am I just learning how to weigh my priorities? And does that last sentence simply answer my question about getting old in the affirmative?

Don't rush breakfast.

She's coming.

Up the stairs.

Step by step.

So slowly because it's still early and her joints are probably sore after a long night's sleep. Not moving seems to allow the cement to creep into those spaces that are supposed to decrease friction when we move. And she's really getting on in years. When I see pictures of her from just a few years ago I'm shocked at how grey her muzzle has become.

She wants her breakfast so she stares at me while I type. It's still too early and we mustn't spoil her interior clock. Breakfast a few minutes early one day mean we eat a few minutes even earlier another day and next thing you know breakfast is being served at 2 a.m. At the start, not the end, of the day. And we can't have that.

So instead a quick snuggle is in order and we roll around on the floor and suddenly she's a puppy again and she's burrowing her cheek into my hand so I'll rub her ears and we both forget that our bodies are both breaking down, that we're both getting older and that our time together will never be long enough.

O.K.

It's time for breakfast.

The only thing possibly better than Carl Kasell's voice on your answering machine.

Leave a message or else!

Honesty.

When I hang out downtown later in the evening after work I see all the girls I would've chased in my early '20s in hopes they'd talk to me fully aware they wouldn't because I didn't make enough money. Now I make the living they were hoping for and we still want nothing to do with each other. I just don't look like the dude they'd want.

My conclusion?

I'm lucky I found a girl that likes me for who I was and appreciated that before I became the guy I am now.

It's a win-win situation all around!

#FEBphotoaday.

I'm participating in the #febphotoaday project. Huh, that sounds pretentious, doesn't it? It's not like I was invited to participate. It's just this thing someone came up with and everybody that wants to do it can do it. So I'm doing it. I can't commit to 365 photos in a year, but I think I can handle one a day in February. They give you rules on what to shoot each day! And it's a short month!

Anyway. Here's today's photo.The assignment was words.

If you want to follow my progress there are two easy ways to do so.

Follow me on Instagram at: jkopeny
Follow me on ye olde tankTumblr

And we're only two days in, so it's not to late if you want to start too!

It's not all pictures of pets and three sentence snippets, I swear. In fact there's a reason you've seen so many.

Lately this place has resembled Tumblr more than a more long-form site, eh? Part of the reason behind that will become apparent later today but it also looks like my system has readjusted itself so I'll have more time to write.

What the heck does that mean, you ask?

To say I've had many balls in the air -- a few covered in razor blades that had to kept aloft with a delicate touch and others that were new challenges to me and away from my regular rhythm and others still that have always been there that I needed to renew my focus upon; all requiring greater attention than usual -- would be a disservice to the last few months but each and every one of them has been juggled to successfully pay off with tremendous payback and even more tremendous opportunities.

2012 began with great excitement and it is fulfilling and expanding its promise at a rate that excites and astounds me. Can the year keep this up? Hell yes, it can.