Tankboy is everywhere (you want him to be).

Periodically I like to remind y'all that there are many places you can find me online, and these are the main ones that have the most content generated (or aggregated) by yours truly. Follow! Subscribe! Keep up with the Joneses!

• Follow me on Twitter.
• Not on Twitter but still wanna follow me? There's a feed for that.
• Read my Tumblr.
• Follow me on Instagram if you have it, my username is @jkopeny. If not you can still view my Instagram photos whenever you like!
• And while Google Reader no longer has the shared stories feature, I still try and share some stuff from there on my Google+ page.

Hope to see you at some or all of the above regularly!

Panic! I'm DJing this weekend!

It's been quite a while since I last DJed the monthly Panic! dance party at Darkroom but I'm looking forward to reuniting with Pogo and Aruro tomorrow, April 28, to tear it up. I'll be playing Britpop, music that might have appeared on 120 Minutes when it was originally on, and whatever else I feel like playing that fits the vibe of the night. RSVP for free entry before 11 p.m.!

Come on down, it'll be fun!

Holy crap, a Rock And Rule documentary?!

I have the 2-DVD set of Rock And Rule (and why oh why won't they just frickin' release the soundtrack) and I don't think I've ever seen this period doc on the making-of one of my absolute favorite rock and/or roll movies of all time.




To be honest I might have seen this, bit it's been so long that I don't remember if I did or not...
[via]

Where not to park your car.

GalPal and I spotted this Saturday morning on the way to brunch.

We couldn't figure out what the story was; did the porch collapse due to structural problems or did a car run into into it? One of my colleagues actually happened to pass the place earlier in the day and confirmed it was actually the latter, so the car must have already been carted away by the time we got there. Egads.

Yr outta here!

We went to a baseball game last night, and I saw something happen I had never seen before!

I can't wait for our turntable to be fixed...

...so I can listen to this!

You need to keep moving until you need to stop.

The best way to deal with a hectic schedule is to try and stay ahead of the constant flow rushing to overtake you, right? Wrong. Sometimes you need to turn around, realize that wave is further away than it actually appears, and sit down for a spell to catch your breath. I'm beginning to understand this. I thought I always knew that simple fact but now I realize I might not have actually been practicing it like I should.

How many of these cats are at YOUR gym?

I see all of 'em almost every day.




To be honest though, The Face doesn't really annoy me. I find that archetype just kinda funny.

Looking to buy me a birthday present?

Look no further! You can get me this. It comes out ON my birthday. And Blur will be 19 years younger than me at that time.

How not to be a jerk on the CTA.

Let's say the train is super delayed.

And after waiting for a tain for thirty minutes one blows by half full.

And then ten minutes later another one blows by, not even slowing down, and is again half full.

And then, another five minutes later, finally a train slowly draws next to your platform. And it's packed.

Everyone is in a bad mood, but everyone knows everyone else is suffering through the same hell so there is a certain amount of civility, even though we're all packed in and closer to each other than most couples are even in their most intimate moments.

And then, three stops later, two people leave their seat and the person next to that seat does this:

Yes, I considered just running the photo as-is, but fully publicly shaming someone when you don't know their whole background (maybe she really didn't even notice she was being a jerk?) seems a bit harsh. Everyone has their bad days. Though, when everyone around you is also having a bad day you'd think one would be a little more cognizant.

What would you do? And could you ever be such an utter and complete asshole?

The helium has evaporated from this balloon.

That's how I feel right now. To quote Superdrag, "Who sucked out the feeling?!"

Well, that was a lot of fun!

Go see The Cabin In The Woods. Do not read anything beforehand. Proceed to have a blast. Discuss below ONLY if you've already seen it!

Kickstart my heart.

I've seen a lot of shows in the past few weeks. After a relatively light winter, live music-wise, it's been almost non-stop band time for this guy. Because of that I'm listening to even more music now than I have been for the last few months. I suck in a LOT of podcasts, and I admit they've bitten into my dedicated music listening time, but the tide has turned and while I tend to listen to everything that comes across my desk at least once I've found I've had more time to devote to slow reveals. It feels deliciously decadent but I am not complaining one whit. It doesn't hurt that after a slow winter quarter the albums coming out this spring are definitely kicking it up a notch in the quality department.

This summer will not be wanting in the jams department.

Get down with Dirty Ghosts.

Man, do I wish I'd brought my SLR last night!

Dirty Ghosts played last night at The Empty Bottle. I've already raved about the album, but if you get a chance see them onstage. There's way more Joan Jett in their live show and while the sexy swagger of their funkier jams is still there, the group brings a punk rawk fury to their delivery when you see them in person. Also, frontwoman Allyson Baker gets MAJOR kudos for being the sort of headliner who actually hangs out n the audience to catch the opening bands. Made me love her own band even more.

Some days you just tread water.

And other days you swim towards the shore and actually find yourself standing victoriously on a beautiful, sandy beach. Well, mentally at least.

Talkin' Lolla with Anna and Kory

I was on FOX's Good Day Chicago this morning to talk about the just-released Lollapalooza line-up. I'm always happy when they ask me to be on and the hosts and producer have always been absolutely awesome to chat with.

Also, I love the thumbnail for this.

It's been a loooooooong day.

Sometimes the longer the day, the quicker it flies by. I came into work this morning with a massive to-do list and I'm pleased to say EVERYTHING on it got done, even as more tasks were added to it throughout the day. There's a definite sense of pride and accomplishment when you see all your (and your co-workers') hard work pay off. Now I just have to try and NOT fall asleep on the train home!

Look into the past and the future looks awfully similar.

I found my copy of alt.culture, a little guidebook to what was hip and emerging in 1995. It was prescient in so many ways! It predicted the stratospheric rise of the Internet! (I'm only half kidding, it was one of the first books to treat the Internet as something other than a niche community.) It was caught up with the rise of alternative rock! Actually it was published just in the wake of Kurt Cobain's death so it still viewed alternative music and music with underground roots but also realized it was quickly being co-opted. That's one reason why this entry on Wicker Park is kind of hilarious. The other thing about that entry is that even way back then, when the neighborhood was actually kind of (but not terribly) "bad" the suburbanites were still flocking to Damen, North and Milwaukee. The only difference? Now all the suburbanites live at Damen, North and Milwaukee.

Ahhhhhhh ... I needed that.

Gym, brisket, bourbon and a brisk walk have all helped me clear my head and reenergize the ol' batteries. Hope your day's going well too!

It's Friday! Well, MY Friday!

In case you couldn't tell from my oh so brief blog post, nigh nonexistent tweeting and unfortunate absence from music writing, it's been a crazy week. But much of what I've been working so feverishly on finally saw the light of day and made me feel all the effort was well worth it. So that's awesome news! Even better news? I'm taking tomorrow off! WOO HOO!

RunRunRunRunRun...

RUN!

Today I told my boss it was Wednesday.

Can you tell what kind of a week I'm having?

Oh god, it's only Monday?

I am already ready for it to be Friday.