NO JOKE

Hey there. My February On the Beat column is up on Eight Million Stories. In it I discuss the instrument that separates the men from the boys. Go to it!

AMERICAN IDOL

I voted for Noop Dog. Got through on the first try.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

GRAMMYS

I really wish I was live blogging last night during the grammys because I had so many snarky comments running through my head such as "Is a Jonass Brother really playing conga drums?" and no outlet for them. But live blogging seemed a little aggressive for such a half assed blog.

The Grammys were characteristically long and lame. There were a few cool moments in there, though. Serial marrier Paul McCartney's performance was great and he got to play the role that usually falls into Jack Nicholson's lap at movie award shows: the cool guy in the audience who everyone refers to and jokes around with when they are presenting or giving acceptance speeches. Coldplay even apologized to him for ripping off Sgt. Pepper with the costumes they were wearing.



Radiohead didn't win enough awards in my opinion but they did do a cool performance of "15 Steps" with the USC Marching Band.

There was no double exposure moment like last year but M.I.A. did perform pregnant as hell. She wasn't hiding it either. The night of the Grammys was her due date. Wow.

BEL AIR

In case you forgot, this is the blog for the band Bel Air! We are working on our sophomore release (ha!) and also a single which will come out first - like a teaser of sorts. Our upcoming full-length is a "Lost" concept album which features songs such as "Jack vs Sawyer" sung from Kate's point of view, John Locke's proud anthem "This Island is My Home", and a cover of "You All Everybody".

OMG. You wish.

PET PEEVE!

The Fashion Police nabbed these two arch-nemeses for the same crime:





Where are their feet? Creepy!

NOTHING HAS CHANGED

When I was little - I'm talking seventh grade here - I used to sit inside my closet with a flashlight, a notepad and pen, and my walkman. I would listen to the tape in my walkman and write down the lyrics, word for word, of my favorite songs. I would listen to a phrase, pause it, write down as much as I could remember and then rewind and start the process again. Back then I would rename certain appropriate songs after boys that I had crushes on. I distinctly remember renaming Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" to "David". I really wanted "David" to know that if the sun refused to shine that I would still be loving him.

I found myself doing this a couple nights ago when I had the urge to sing a Richard Buckner song - the lyrics for which could not be found anywhere on the internuts. So, there I was pausing and rewinding my mp3 player and writing down the lyrics.

SHARP AS POSSIBLE

Here's some important advice for life and music and your life in music. The first comes from Thelonius Monk:



He wrote that for saxophonist Steve Lacy but I think we can all learn something.


The next comes from Kurt Vonnegut:



Truer words were never spoken. I saw this on Barou is the New Bklyn which is a very funny blog by ex-New Yorker, current Baton Rouge resident Colleen Kane. She happens to be the fiance of a friend of mine which pretty much makes me almost famous.