DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> Attack Cat: September 2005

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

General Update (not a character from the Star Wars films)

Okay, so I haven't been writing, but then again there aren't that many people reading. I could probably just call the couple of people who tune in regularly, apologize and then let them know that I'll be writing something soon, but instead I'll write this kind of bogus post to make it seem like I'm writing.

I haven't been at home a lot, thus the lack of posts. It also means I've been out doing a bunch of things that I will eventually write about. Here's a smattering of what you might be looking forward to...

   - Rocky Horror Picture Show 30th Anniversary Screening at the Hollywood Bowl
   - USC demolishing Arkansas, 70-17
   - Bloc Party at the Hollywood Palladium, which I'm going to tonight
   - Tenacious D & Friends Benefit for Katrina Relief, which I'm going to Thursday
   - Working on a photo shoot
   - Report from a Buddist funeral service

Okay, I'm not saying I'm writing about all that stuff, but I'll write about some of it at least.

Consider your appetites duly whetted.
 
 
 

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Mix Tape: 38 is the new 28


So, I make these birthday mix tapes (yes, I still call them mix tapes even though they're CDs, just to put on the affect of a cranky old man who will not change his ways regardless what you crazy kids are calling them these days!) each year. I've been doing it for a few years now and usually I hand them out for a while after my birthday, until I don't feel like doing it anymore. I add an insert with the track list and some sort of cover art, just to make it kinda snazzy, but that's usually all people ever know about it.

The crazy thing is the ridiculous amount of time and thought that I put into putting these things together. Really it's just my stupid brain making it hard for me to decide A) which songs I'm going to use and B) the order they're going to appear. It should be a lot simpler than I make it, but that's just the process I've come up with up to now. The final part of the whole thing is that even with a year between each CD, I'm always up late the night before my birthday burning discs and printing inserts.

The criteria for choosing songs are relatively loose, but besides it being a song that I like, they are often songs that are new in the last year, are bands that I've seen live in the last year, have something to do with me (at least in my head I think they're about me), September, summer, Los Angeles and/or California.

So, here's this year's track list with a little bit of commentary:


01 - Har Mar Superstar - Transit
Saw Har Mar Superstar open for Ben Lee at the Troubador earlier this year. It'd be easy to dismiss this guy as a joke or novelty act, but the fact is he can sing and his songs are good. You really have to see him live to get it.

02 - Dogs Die In Hot Cars - Lounger
Heard this band either on KCRW or Indie 103 in the last year. Saw them play at Avalon with Phoenix. Picked "Lounger" because much of last year was spent living the life described in the song.

03 - Kaiser Chiefs - Born To Be A Dancer
Heard the Kaiser Chiefs first on Indie 103. They played "I Predict a Riot" and I was instantly hooked. That song is so super catchy. The whole album's good. Picked "Born to be a Dancer" because it reminded me of Adam Goldberg's line in Dazed & Confused and because I enjoy dancing and used to go out dancing relatively frequently, but haven't of late. The idea of me saying that I was born to be a dancer kinda made me laugh. Yeah... that's pretty much all it takes for me to pick a song.

04 - Tsar - Conqueror Worm
First heard of Tsar back when my desk was next to Tony Pierce's. Saw them once at El Cid and once at Spaceland, the latter being part of their record release tour. I could have picked one of many songs from this album. This one just jumped out.

05 - Bloc Party - Banquet
Can't recall when or where I first heard Bloc Party. Chad was nice enough to take me to see them at the El Rey. Sadly, they couldn't find us on the list, so we didn’t actually get in to see the band, but we did go to the El Rey with the full intention of seeing them. He's making it up by getting us into the Hollywood Palladium show later this month. This song's only slightly less catchy than "I Predict a Riot."

06 - The Donnas - Fall Behind Me
Saw The Donnas play an in-store record release show at the Virgin Megastore in San Francisco in October or November of last year. Them girls has growed up real good. Their music has growed up good too. The whole album's great. Choosing one song from it was hard.

07 - Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers
Caught the Sleater-Kinney show at the Fonda Theatre a few months ago. A very good show. A very good album. Again, hard to choose just one of the songs from this album. Like the song that follows, I just really enjoy the vocals in this song.

08 - Garbage - Bleed Like Me
Saw Garbage at the Wiltern right before their new album was released. (Side note: Had never heard of The Dead 60s before seeing them open for Garbage at this show and was immediately hooked, even if they don't show up on this mix.) You really have to see Garbage live at least once, then you can say that you've seen the sexiest front person, bar none, in rock & roll. Shirley Manson takes the stage and you know who's going to be in charge for the next 90 minutes. No disrespect to Butch, Steve and Duke; Shirley surely does not stand alone in this band, but her presence is so overpowering that it's hard not to go on and on about her.

09 - Billy Corgan - The Cameraeye
Saw Billy Corgan at the Fonda Theatre this year. I'm a big Pumpkins fan, but wasn't big on the solo album until seeing the live show. It really turned me around. It's no "Mellon Collie" or Zwan, but it's still awfully good and so much better than most of the dreck out there.

10 - VHS or Beta - No Cabaret
Again, another KCRW or Indie 103 discovery. These guys have a sound like the bastard child of Duran Duran and The Cure but a little more grindy and a little more rockin'. Saw them play the El Rey and they were really good live.

11 - Röyksopp Vs. Erlend Øye - Poor Leno/There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
I find that I often like covers. Maybe that's why there are four on this mix. There are quite a few good Smiths covers out there. Heard this one during one of the KCRW pledge drives and enjoyed it, so here it is.

12 - Butterfly Boucher & David Bowie - Changes
Another KCRW find. Another cover, which also features the original artist as well... some kid named "Bowie"? He's pretty good. He may have a future.

13 - Petra Haden - Tattoo
The third cover in a row. Check out my post about Petra's performance of "The Who Sell Out" at the John Anson Ford Theatre.

"I Can See for Miles" seemed too obvious...and I have a tattoo.

14 - The Lascivious Biddies - Head Over Heels
Heard these ladies through the miracle of podcasting. Adam Curry talked them up enough that I subscribed to their podcast and purchased a bunch of songs from iTunes. Oh yeah, it's another cover. Love the Go-Go's... love the Biddies.

15 - John Doe - Hwy. 5
It's John Doe... from X... what else do I have to say? Well, I guess I could also say that Hwy. 5 cuts through California and the rest of the West Coast from north to south and back again.

16 - Beck - Earthquake Weather
A great show at the Gibson (formerly Universal) Amphitheatre a little while back. Not your typical Beck song... as if there was one. Some people think that when it gets hot that it's more likely for an earthquake to hit. Thus earthquake weather.

17 - Chet Baker - Summertime
It's Chet Baker. It's "Summertime." I like to include something classy and what's more classy than a jazzman/junkie who died in obscurity?

18 - Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends
I enjoy the melancholy tone of this track by an otherwise punky band. Plus, it's a September song.

19 - U2 - City Of Blinding Lights
Another classic show at the Staples Center. This is a great song. It's about New York, but it could be any city, like yours for example.

Buy the iMix, sans two tracks, here.
 
 
 

Friday, September 09, 2005

"Time Is Running Out for Stranded Pets," Los Angeles Times



Excerpt from the Los Angeles Times, 09/08/05:


Time Is Running Out for Stranded Pets

"We were on the ground Tuesday, the day after the hurricane hit, but we were excluded from going in by state and federal authorities for the first several days," [Wayne] Pacelle (Pres., U.S. Humane Society) said. "We've received 2,000 e-mails and phone calls from people who evacuated from New Orleans, who left animals in their homes and are pleading with us to rescue them. That's just in New Orleans. It doesn't count surrounding areas."

Pacelle said there may be 50,000 pets trapped in New Orleans homes. "The clock is really ticking. It's tearing us up knowing that so many animals are in need and [we] can't get to every one on our own."

Earlier during the crisis, rescuers had been ordered to save people but leave their pets. But "that works against the larger imperatives for disaster relief because people will not leave without their pets, and many people will go back in to get their pets," Pacelle said.

Animal rescue workers slog through the water and muck carrying crowbars to pry open or smash their way into houses where pets are believed to be. "I've been bitten, scratched, had [my] head cracked open," said Jane Garrison, a volunteer rescuer from South Carolina. But it's worth it, she said, because after a long Wednesday, Garrison and her four-person team had 18 animals — dogs, cats, chinchillas and rabbits — in crates in their truck.



Many animals, cats especially, won't come when called, so Garrison and others spend hours peering into unfamiliar nooks and crannies, cooing and soothing and finally grabbing. If they can't find the escaped animal, they'll put out a bowl of food and water and make note of the location. They've crawled into houses surrounded by fire, and pulled dogs off rooftops that are sagging and about to collapse.

"The suffering is overwhelming," Garrison said. "Sometimes they have food left, but all their water is gone. Every second is critical."

The good news is that so far, most of the animals left indoors seem to be alive.



Link to article - requires subscription


Other resources sited in the article:

KatrinaPetfinder.com

ASPCA Hurrican Relief Resources

This site seems to have lots of good information as well:

KatrinaFoundPets.com
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Pet Sounds

It's not a race thing.


It's not a class thing.


It's a heart thing.


We all bring them into our homes.


We can't abandon them now.


We teach them to beg, so let's pay up with more than a pat on the head.


Give something to help our furry and scaly and feathery friends.


If you've already given to another group, give a little bit more. Think of this donation as the doggy bag of that other big donation that you made earlier.





Arf!







Woof!





Puuuurrrrrr...











Give.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Hey! Look Over Here!

Ahhh... nothing like a devastating, natural disaster coupled with a holiday weekend to distract the American public:

Bush nominates Roberts as chief justice

This story appears "below the fold" on most news sites today.
 
 
 

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Attack Cat's Wacky Conspiracy Theory of the Day

Why is the Bush Administration against stem cell research?

Because said research may result in cures for heretofore incurable diseases such as cancer.

Why wouldn't they want a cure to cancer?

I have no idea.

Rhenquist Dies: Chief Justice Succumbs to Thyroid Cancer at 80
 
 
 

Thursday, September 01, 2005

After the Flood

It's hard to get a handle on the big picture of what's going on in Louisiana and Mississippi just because it's so big.

Take a look at Rabbit+Crow where my friend Neal writes of his family's search for his brother Sean in New Orleans.

Sometimes seeing the micro helps you understand the macro.



Decide how you can help.