Friday, March 11, 2011

I feel like I haven't seen you all in a while...

And I feel like a little kid with a bunch of new toys and I want to show you everything! Including this video I made from our trip in 2009...



Incidentally, I noticed that at the beginning of 2010, I said it was the year it would all happen... I don't think it did. Maybe 2011...

Rock and Roll Spring Break

So, looking back at my New Year's Resolutions, I'm not doing a very good job with them. I mean I'm accomplishing some of them, but 1 and 4 are lacking right now.

I did get into purging lately, though. Not the awesome kind that involves puking all over the place, though. I'm talking about the slightly less awesome kind that involves taking tons of things that I don't want, need or care about and sending them to the trash/recycle bin/Salvation Army. When you have less, you care about what you have more, and when you have too much, it's hard to care about any of it, even the importance stuff.


Hipstamatic Fun - Oysters and Roller Girls

Oysters


Roller Girls


In just a few days, we'll be headed to Austin for rock and roll spring break SXSW. As always, I am very excited! Among the many we'll be seeing will bo one of our favories and a dear friend from Dublin, The Mighty Stef.

Stef passed through Detroit on Monday, and we got him a show at the Lager House and put the band up at our house. It was great to see them play, and even more fun to hang out until 3 in the morning talking. He's on tour now, making his way to Austin, where we'll see him again next week.

Here's one of Stef's songs (one of my favorites)...



Honestly, I had no idea that my comment moderation had been flipped on, so I assumed nobody care about the political plights of Kit Burns... but the truth is, like 5 of you do! So, thanks for caring.

And I assumed nobody read this thing anymore...

HA! I just realized that the site has been holding comments for moderation for months without telling me!

Sorry folks, let's get back to blogging, shall we?

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

New Year's Resolutions

A few minutes ago, I noticed an FB post from Ange, that she was blogging again, and it made me realize that I too have a blog. A personal blog that is, I also have the music/work thing, which I post on almost daily, but I have been neglecting this one for something like 8 months now, relying on the FB to find out what my friends are up to, as well as to find out what the children of people I went to high school with are up to, which is ridiculous because I didn't like most of those people when I was in high school in the first place.

It's probably about time to "Stalin" my FB friend list again, as one of the people I actually care about refers to it as. I mean, if I wasn't friends with you at one time, and you're not interesting now, why do I care? Answer? I don't. I just clicked "Accept," because it was easy.

Anyway, Ange had pointed out that she was back, and I thought I was missing this thing a bit, too, so let's bring it all back, yes?

Let's start with New Year's Resolutions. A couple anyway. Some are for me to know and for you to mind your own business.

1. Post here more, but not to apologize for not posting. Too many posts here and everywhere seem to start out with an apology for taking time off. It's my time to take where I want, and it's too short to waste on apologizing for things I'm not genuinely sorry about.

2. Put yet more time and effort into my physical well-being. In addition to the ever present biking involved in my life, I've added running and weights into the mix, and added a few goals. We'll be at the Corktown 5K this year, and have signed up for the Warrior Dash as well. Ange is also in, and this is going to be a party of moderately epic proportions along with an asskick of a race.

3. Devote more time to mastering the Hipstamatic. I love this thing.

Shane in the Snow

Circle jerks

4. Devote time to one project for me each month. More on that soon, once I wrap my head around the full ramifications of it...

5. Become yet more and more awesome. That one's self-explanatory.

That is all for now. Odds on, I'm going to post prolifically for weeks now, before fading away right when the weather gets nice. It's what I do, and I won't apologize for it (see #1).

Friday, April 30, 2010

The Book Is Out Today!

So yeah, I don't post here so often anymore, because I am always at my other home on the Internets, but I just wanted to let you all know that the book came out today!

Punk Rock Saved My Ass features a chapter by yours truly, and the cover and interior photos from TFN! Plus, it's for charity. $1 from every copy sold goes to Gilman Street.



I also discovered that Amazon has some copies of the last book I was in for sale, even though it was only released in the UK.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Words to sweat by...

"In my 30s I used to go to the gym even though I hated it. The purpose of ­going to the gym was to postpone the day when I would stop going. That's what writing is to me: a way of ­postponing the day when I won't do it any more, the day when I will sink into a depression so profound it will be indistinguishable from perfect bliss." - Geoff Dyer


So I joined a gym, and have been going quite often. A half hour on a treadmill followed by 15 minutes on an elliptical, or spinning class once a week.

I like the way the gym makes me feel, and not just physically. Mentally, too. I sleep better, and I wake up more energized between the ears. I am regaining a creative energy that is normally absent once it's too cold to be on a bike. I like it.

But it has made me realize that I'm not writing enough right now.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Free Heidelberg Project Tours


Heidelberg Project
Originally uploaded by alpharat

It will be while we're at SXSW, so we can't make it, but I just saw that if any of you locals will be around and interested, they're going to be doing free tours of the Heidelberg Project Tours on March 20.

RSVP here, as apparently there are limited number of spots available.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Here come the Repo Men... again...

I just stumbled across this site.

It's a really well-designed site that's a viral piece for an upcoming film called Repo Men, which stars Jude Law and Forest Whitaker.

The real site for the film is here.

The concept is a good one. In the (near) future, organ transplant science will have reached a point where the science is good, and while people will need them in order to avert terminal disease or fatal injuries, they won't be able to afford them.

This is where the big corporations come in.

With a financing plan, you'll be able to set up a payment plan in order to finance your new organs and new life.

But what happens if you fall behind on your payments?

They send the Repo Men out to collect the company's property.



It sounds like a novel concept, no?

No.

They totally lifted the plot from an excellent independent film from 2008 called Repo: The Genetic Opera, which is a dark, surreal rock opera that features (among others) Paris Hilton (who is actually good), Ogre (from Skinny Puppy), Sarah Brightman and a surprise cameo by one of the most badass women in rock and roll.



I know it's nothing new, but it rankles my limpets badly enough when Hollywood simply remakes a classic film out of greed and a lack of willingness to take a chance with a fresh idea, and it's even worse when they simply choose to rip off the indies who did it first and (probably) better.

See it if you must, but see the opera first.