For The King, For The Dread, Animated, Freed And Fed

Karen Carpenter?

K. C. and The Sunshine Band?

Electric Light Orchestra?

The Who?

The Ramones?

I Am A Lost Soul, I Shoot Myself With Rock'N'Roll

Number six, from sometime in 2008. This one isn't so notable, aside from its overall quality. The Pixies, Guided By Voices, John Doe, Raconteurs, Spoon, The Strokes, Silversun Pickups, all very good groups.

1. Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast – Airbourne
2. Golden State – John Doe
3. Funplex – The B-52’s
4. This Ol Wheel – Shooter Jennings
5. Wave Of Mutilation – The Pixies
6. Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) – Robert Plant & Allison Kraus
7. I Am A Scientist – Guided By Voices
8. Orange Crush – R.E.M.
9. Ojos Asi – Shakira
10. Crushcrushcrush – Paramore
11. Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden
12. Balls To The Wall – Accept
13. Broken Boy Soldier – The Raconteurs
14. Of Montreal – The Stills
15. Rusted Wheel – Silversun Pickups
16. I Turn My Camera On – Spoon
17. Comb Your Beard At Night – Toothpaste For Dinner
18. Reptilia – The Strokes
19. Outside – Tribe
20. Ride On Shooting Star – The Pillows

I Will Choose Freewill

Forever 21 Is Now Selling a Shirt With an Ayn Rand Quote On It Ok, as much as the libertarian in me is totes stoked about this, why did Time run the article with a title that sounds like it was written by a scandalized fifth-grader? Better yet, why does the tag line read 'But do the chain's customers even know what objectivism means?'

Amazon: The Pop-Up Book Of Phobias Not to mention The Pop-Up Book Of Nightmares, and The Pop-Up Book Of Sex. I'll stick with the Rev. Awdry for now, thanks.

The Hipsterfication Of America Any true hipster would implode after reading this. Since I'm still here, I must not be one. Hooray, maybe? Also, shouldn't that be hipsterification?

You Thought We Wouldn't Notice...  but somebody did. Documenting artistic and graphical ripoffs of the most thoughtless kind.

Train Of Love's A-Leavin', Leavin' My Heart Grievin'

As an addendum to the previous post on the animesque anthropomorphic personifications of the iron horse...

I'm especially intrigued by the incorporation of the headlight as the 'cleavage window' on her shirt, and the marker light mounts with painted stripe as the epaulets of the jacket. Her belt also appears to be patterned after the pilot truck. 

Japan is weird. 

We Shield Our Eyes From The Police Lights

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I'm pretty sure it's a better way to spend the evening listening to a Donnie Iris album (in your preferred format), as opposed to watching Real Policewomen Of Dallas or Beyond Scared Straight. When did other peoples' failures, dysfunctions, abuses and displays of outright lunacy become entertainment? What is happening to the concept of our own business? Are our problems really everyone else's problem too? I really don't think so.

This is a large part of why I don't watch television anymore. I look to entertainment and media to inspire, to educate, to relax, to get lost in. I don't want to endure the fuckwits I deal with in real life any longer than I have to - why would I then go home and feel even the slightest desire to see them on the boob tube?

Of His Honor And His Glory The People Did Sing

So I still have to post some photos from yesterday's raifan venture down to Sand Patch Grade, and I haven't yet gotten around to posting my Portersville photos of tractors, boy howdy.

Instead I'm posting tonight's venture: the folks and I went to see the duck. Florentijn Hofman is a wizard.

First sighting from the North Shore river walk. Incidentally, it's a pretty nice piece of urban, public riverfront park in front of the stadiums. There was even a boat moored there, which you can totally do. I don't know whether there are mooring meters, however. (Does the meter reader come along in scuba gear? If you're tied up too long, do they hook a huge anchor to your vessel instead of 'the boot'?)

If you had any doubts about the size of the sculpture, cast them away. The girls that I accidentally caught posing for someone else's camera appear to be average height.

He's surprisingly relaxing to stare at. And the crowd was bigger than this photo conveys; the park remained busy until we left after sunset.

Duck and the Fort Duquesne Bridge.

Some actual ducks for comparison. The geese were not invited.

Also good to see: the Point Park Fountain, operational and fountaining once again, with the Fort Pitt Bridge in the background. The landmark had been shut down between 2009 and 2013 for an extensive restoration.

I see you lurking in the mists...

The Gateway Clipper Fleet and Station Square, framed by the Fort Pitt Bridge.

A very nice skyline shot of dahntahn captured in the setting sun. I'm personally impressed with this shot in particular.

I still see you lurking in the beautifully-lit mists... Duck and fountain at night.

And a dusk version of duck and Duquesne.

Also, the entrance to the park beneath the 376/279 connector between the Fort Pitt and Fort Duquesne Bridges is very nicely done. I didn't really take a close look during the afternoon, but the lighting struck me as very elegant as we left the park in the evening. 

Found My Way Downstairs And Drank A Cup

Finally got vitamins today. Guess what I decided to take one with?

An energy drink.

Healthiest thing I ever did.

Looks like it may be a few days before getting to go down to the city and check out the duck, among other things. Was hoping for a record store day with Matt and Jeremy, but Jeremy had plans and all of a sudden Matt and I may as well. Johnathan called us to ask if we might be free for a railfan trip. Considering that it's been a while since the last one, this might be the better option.

Deciding on switching to smoking a pipe. I used to enjoy cigarettes, but you might say that all the pleasure has somehow been sucked right out of them (as it were). Besides, pipe tobacco seems more interesting and the government hasn't yet arbitrarily banned flavored pipe tobaccos or cigars.

Trying to listen through my backlog of vinyl. I've decided to listen to an album a night until I can say I'm reasonably caught up. Just listened to the first two sides of Django Django and side two of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It's a night for self-titling, I guess.

And now I'd better get something that resembles rest.

EDIT: By the way, I just found out, when I went to post the requisite link to the new post on Facebook, that Sleigh Bells has a new album out. It's titled, appropriately, Bitter Rivals. Must investigate.

I Want A New Duck, A Mallard I Think

Giant rubber ducky quacking tonight in Pittsburgh

It's the wrong end of the year for April Fool's, so it must be true. This is actually pretty cool, in my opinion. I'd like to go down to see it, and it's here until October 20. Anyone up for a road trip?

Best line of the article: Lt. Cmdr. John Dittmar, the executive officer for the U.S. Coast Guard in Pittsburgh, said his office had issued safety advisories to commercial and pleasure craft on the area's rivers to essentially "keep their eyes out for a big rubber duck." 

That shouldn't be difficult. "It's not something you see every day," he deadpanned.

Pirouette Down Palsied Paths, With Pennies For The Vendor

I think it was Thursday that I had two dreams in the morning. The first I'm not going to relate here; as it was too bizarre for me to be comfortable sharing it. When you're both the protagonist and the audience at the same time, it gets a little disconcerting.

The second is still very strange, but better by the telling, and I watched this one like a movie trailer. Way easier to describe. Apparently evil wizards and evil hackers teamed up to take over the world, and as a result good wizards and Interpol, or Scotland Yard, or la Sûreté had to take them down. It was all incomprehensibly Harry Potter-meets-Harry Callahan and then shit goes BANG action.

I'm still not sure why there was a 90's-body Dodge Ram being driven through the facade of Waterloo Station. Do they even sell the Ram in the U.K.?