The Smoking Alley: November 2010

11/30/10

speaks for itself better than i ever will for myself

failvember

FUCK! I love fail videos, here's an awesome compilation of November's best fails. There are some great ones in there especially around the six minute mark. Enjoy!

New music: J Roddy Walston and The Business

Hey fellas --

Remember how you started listening to Kings of Leon before everyone else did? Then The Hold Steady came along, and you we're early for that party, too? You should hope J Roddy Walston and The Business comes to your bar soon. You have to figure a man doesn't make the album cover a photo of himself face-down, passed-out for nothing.

J Roddy Walston and The Business - Don't Break The Needle from Vagrant Records on Vimeo.

In a sign of the times, the credit for this find goes to Andy Klatt. Which means that if you happen to hate all the fun J Roddy is having, Andy deserves blame.

Klatt

Update: Sometimes people have a few beers and flip a switch. Oops.

11/24/10

Cage Rage

11/23/10

You guys ever watch Dr. Oz ???

...it's like Oprah for pre-med's....

11/22/10

there simply NEEDS to be more sidecar crime

and it was filmed!(?)

Possibly with dynamite

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go on an overnight drunk, and in 10 days I'm going to set out to find the shark that ate my friend and destroy it. Anyone who wants to tag along is more than welcome."

11/17/10

We are getting the band back together

Exactly 1/2 fortnight from today, Zach and I will be opening our doors for an evening of pre-gramming, to be followed by the bars. Let's get all the out-of-towners under one roof and then get silly.

We made a facebook event, so I expect anywhere from 9-13 non-blog members to attend.

Looking forward to seeing everyone...

Josh- just to confirm in case you call me again at 3:30 looking for a vacant bedroom in which to fellatiace (not sure how to spell the verb form of this) a girl, we still do not have a 3rd bedroom.

It's Not a Story, It's My Life

11/16/10

I sort of thought I would be this guy by now

sherman:

...so apparently no one in Chicago -

likes beer or turkey or football or poker or friendship

done gone soft
... all of ya's

11/15/10

new girl talk available for free download starting today

server was overloaded this morning and even just now it took a long ass time to download, but this is good news for ears and hips everywhere

this one goes out to Kyle and Eddie...

11/11/10

For all you visual learners out there

This is an incredible series of lectures paired with visual diagrams that will undoubtedly captivate. I also recommend "The Empathic Civilisation" and "The Crisis of Capitalism".

11/9/10

Your Tuesday Night Plan

The Walking Dead, filling a surprisingly unmet need for a badass zombie television series.

it's called the annexation of puerto rico

Trick plays make football so much better. Can I get a second?

11/8/10

Coney's Back 2niTe

Ted Turner you magnificent bastard.

Chickens or Eggs?

Just tried to tie this into an e-mail but honestly can't remember this saying that vexxed each one of us. Don't count your chickens or don't count your eggs?

11/7/10

MYSTERY HOUR

11/6/10

does anybody else wanna actually blow one ??

Get your own valid XHTML YouTube embed code

11/5/10

If you're in the market

For years now I've wanted to find an embroidery that would complement the one that says my name.

You may remember staring at it while hanging a piss in the hallway bathroom of our Walnut house.

Honorable mentions here and (with Alex in mind) here.

11/4/10

...might as well go for the hat trick

Cliff Aspergren lovvved the Scrounge.

stff.wht.ppl less-than-three

Bangs, beanie, tight
esoterically-designed t-shirt,
ironic finger-mustache tattoo...
Looook out, Josh!

A white person getting a tattoo is a major step in their life as it presupposes that their taste at this given moment is good enough to sustain them for the rest of their lives. Needless to say, this is a near impossible task. This is why you don’t see a lot of white people with R.E.M. or Strokes tattoos.

White people can only get tattoos of the only thing that they are guaranteed to like in five years, and needless to say it’s a short list. But two things will never go out of style with white people: humor and irony.

An ironic/funny tat can come in many forms: a piece of bacon, old Nintendo characters, mustaches on the inside of their finger, or Asian Characters that say something funny and self-aware like “dim sum,”"chicken fried rice,” or “I can’t read Chinese.”

The Chinese or Japanese character is an interesting case study about the dangers of getting a tattoo with a personal meaning. You see, about fifteen years ago these were considered to be acceptable. Then the wrong kind of white people started getting sentences like “trust no one” or words like “beauty,” “truth,” or “endurance.” To make a more modern analogy, it would be like The Arcade Fire being featured on a Jock Jams CD.

White people learned their lesson.

...and of course, always worth a repost...

...and who, who could ever forget...

...some more 'awesomely bad unicorn tattoos' available for perusal (here).

http://www.holytaco.com/30-awesomely-bad-unicorn-tattoos-gallery

Beer Summit !

...at the Billy Goat.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/the-beer-summit-catches-on-in-illinois/?partner=rss&emc=rss

...and who knew Giannoulias was such a bro?!

Jeans and Hawks hat...

a regular cabbie-punching, American citizen.

11/3/10

Dag-ganit DiaRobobby

OMFG-the propeller scene

Love it or leave it

Hey guys, maybe you haven't heard cuz you're not in Real America, but some R's took the country back yesterday. But you know what? I'm not backing down. Nuh-uh. No Way. A line must be drawn here. This far--and no further!!!!

11/2/10

from the david klatt school of gournalism

and from the ongoing annals of Everything Kanye Does is Perfect, his speech after winning Stylemaker of the Year from some dingles:

The concept of commercialism in the fashion and art world is looked down upon. You know, just to think, "What amount of creativity does it take to make something that masses of people like?" And, "How does creativity apply across the board?" Why, if someone is good in one field can they not be accepted or given the slightest opportunity to express and be creative in other fields? I thank Marc Jacobs so much for giving me the opportunity to design a shoe for Louis Vuitton, but the thing that broke my heart most was when they said, "You're finished. The shoe's finished." When it was ready it was like the dream of putting together the fabric and having the energy that I knew of being a street kid, of being a boy out of Chicago, and enjoying every day and the way I can connect with this. It's like, you can't play the video game anymore. And that's what it's about. So many people in this room, they can't even go on vacation without being creative. They can't sit on the beach, they have to create constantly. And that's how I feel with this album coming out.

I feel convicted. I feel a level of honesty. I feel a level of truth. I feel like a 5-year old. I feel like I'm getting closer to the 5-year-old inside of me and I feel like I have to represent that 5-year-old, even, even at the risk of my public ... Maybe I can't find the words right now, but we know what it is. Some people hate me. But nonetheless, my biggest moments, my biggest Internet-crashing moments were the opinion of a 5-year-old. The opinion of a 5-year-old, the spirit of a 5-year-old with the responsibility of a 100-year old. Where the truth will set you free or the truth will close doors. What compromises do we have to make? How many compromises do we have to make every day in this field just to keep things going? Just to be able to sell a product?

And looking at my project now versus Graduation, and look at what's happening — what is the impact? What is the impact of last year? What did it have on me? Years from now, hundreds of years from now, what will be written in the history books? If you want to just understand how much I care, how selfless I am, how much I could give ... For this to be the fifteen-year anniversary and for me to stand up here and be the first male to be honored for an influencer award or to be even recognized, because I sit back and as I say, "Let's have a toast for the douchebags" ... Fashion breaks my heart.

You know, when they do a magazine of No. 1 New Yorkers or something like that and I'm blatantly left out, I feel like ... It hurts me. And I just appreciate the people in this room that are open-minded enough to remember when they were a 5-year-old. To remember when they could color outside the lines, to remember when they could give their opinion honestly without affecting their job, without it affecting their well-being. Or their kids having to go to the same school because they're convicted about what they really, really believe. I thought that's what true art was. I thought that's what a true artist was. And to be able to stand up here in front of you guys and be recognized after all of this means a lot to me, and it means a lot for me to say this right now. Convicted right now. Thirty-three-years-old, still creating art. It's rage, it's creativity, it's pain, it's hurt, but it's the opportunity to still have my voice get out there through music. To let my pain hit the radio and thank you for this moment of acceptance.