Tell Santa Claus To Bring Me A Rock'N'Roll Guitar

Okay, I'm posting this both for my family's convenience and for your perusal. I'm too lazy to actually put together a separate Christmas list, so enjoy.

Movies:

• The Gods Must Be Crazy

Music:

• Wrecking Ball - Bruce Springsteen*
• Clockwork Angels - Rush*
• Dandelion Gum - Black Moth Super Rainbow
• Chulahoma: The Songs Of Junior Kimbrough - The Black Keys*
• Parrot Flies - Algernon Cadwallader
• Give You The Ghost - Polica*
• Up From Below - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes*
• Psychedelic Pill - Neil Young
• Port Of Morrow - The Shins*

*Vinyl release strongly preferred.

Lego Trains:

• 7938 Passenger Train
• 3677 Red Cargo Train

Shirts:

• Mount Rockmore Size: 2XL
• Demidog Size: XL
• Marten's TEH Shirt Size: XL
• Burnout Size: XL
• Stand Back I'm Going To Try Science Size: XL
• Pixel Skull Ringer Size: 2XL

Books:

Softcover is ok with me.

• Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand's Ideas Can End Big Government - Yaron Brook & Don Watkins
• Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy - Thomas Sowell* 
• Why Government Is the Problem (Essays in Public Policy) - Milton Friedman* 
• Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration - John Locke 
• Stuff Hipsters Hate: A Field Guide to the Passionate Opinions of the Indifferent - Brenna Ehrlich & Andrea Bartz 
• The Hipster Handbook - Robert Lanham

*Other titles by this author are acceptable.

Does The Wind In The Dark Sound Like Music To You?

A South Side photo interlude. 

Wait, what?

Light Up The Stove And The Coffee Cup Is Hot

I drink coffee again.

I miss going for coffee and a bagel at the Chat's Coffee kiosk in the Penn State student union building. It was a great way to start the day, and if I could find a way to do that again, I would. But 125 miles is a long way to walk for coffee.

So I've started looking for places to get a good cup.

The Oakmont Bakery in Oakmont serves a good cup. Plus, being a bakery, they can get you any kind of bagel you want. I'm partial to their sourdough bagels in particular. Also of note is the Nowalk Daily Grind, in Holiday Park. Another good cup, especially when you need to be awake to shop at the thrift store down the road. Haven't tried their bagels yet, but I do like that they're open 24 hours a day and have (or at least had) a small arcade.

McDonalds doesn't brew as good a cup as it did when I worked there. Perhaps management has changed (it's still the same guys, but it sounds like THEY changed since I left). Easytrip? Leave it. How long had that mud been sitting there? Gross. Sheetz has made a good cup in the past, but I'll only get that if we're leaving early on a railfan trip.

Still waiting for a chance to try the Beehive on the South Side, and the Coco Coffeehouse in Leechburg (yes, a serious coffeeshop in middle-of-nowhere Leechburg).

This Won't Be Played On Your Radio

A recent playlist, not that I own all of this stuff.

Beat On The Brat With A Baseball Bat

Sunday night (of all nights) I went to Altoona (of all places) to see a Ramones tribute band (of all things).

This wasn't just any Ramones tribute band, however. They're called Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg, and with very good reason - Marky himself is the drummer. It's an all-star lineup, with Michale Graves (Misfits) on vocals, Rome Ramirez (Sublime) on bass, and I don't know who was on guitar. Judging by what I've read online, the bass and guitar positions seem to have been pretty fluid in the past, and still may be. If anyone can confirm who was playing that night I would be grateful to know.

Marky was brilliant. The man can still rock, and if he was half as good in his heyday, it it would still have sounded awesome. He looks good, even after the turbulent years with the Ramones. To be honest, I'm still not totally sold on Graves as replacement for Joey; maybe I'm too used to Joey's deeper voice and warmer presence. But Graves shows why he's a good choice for a frontman; he's got the energy and the intensity someone like that needs and his voice is good too, which never hurts. I see why he brought back the Misifts, as well. The Show was loud, hard and fast. Isn't that what punk is all about? Anything else is just polish.

Plus, I should mention the three opening acts as well. First up was The Whatleys, a State College, PA-based band that I know I've heard of before and I can't remember where. Following them was Xs For Eyes, and last was the Railroad City Murder Machine, easily the loudest of the three. Rock on, guys.

All this took place at this tiny, tiny bar called Aldo's Place on North 4th avenue, not far from the turntable at the Norfolk Southern Juniata Shops. Neat little place. They had Duquesne - and on tap, too! Service seemed to be good from what I saw, even with the show crowd (I was driving so I couldn't have too much). And the crowd seemed to be a mix of post-college and older people.

The Hole I Dig Is Bottomless

Seriously, Wikimedia?

This is one of the pictures in the Wikipedia article for Guided By Voices. The caption, and I quote, is 'Bob Pollard performing with Guided By Voices'. As I understand, Pollard had a drinking problem well-known enough that it was referenced in a Questionable Content strip.

Not cool, Wikipedia. Not cool.