Cough, St Helens, Shatner, Smile
:: Cough is 99% gone, today is the first day I’ve not coughed throughout the day since late August. I’m off to Winnipeg on Wednesday for my cousin Barbara’s wedding on Sat, Oct 7, and will make the round while there, visiting friends and family.
:: Check out the Mt St Helens web cam. I went to Mt St Helens in July 1981, a year after it blew its stack in May, 1980. I was at a conference in Portland OR, and my boss and I rented a car and drove to the mountain, or as close as we could. Much of the devestation was still visible.
I was in Vancouver on May 18, 1980, when St Helens erupted the first time. Later that week, I collected some ash from that eruption into a small container – the ash was on the car of a friend of mine who lived in Pullman WA, on the border with Idaho, and had driven to Vancouver a few days later. I still have it somewhere in my house, and it is the finest powder I’ve ever seen or felt.
:: So William Shatner releases a new album, and the buzz is positive. The album was produced by Ben Folds, and features collaborations with Henry Rollins, novelist Nick Hornby and Joe Jackson. He collaborates on Pulp’s song, “Common People“, with Jackson. I really don’t know what to make of this. Is Shatner’s new album kitsch supreme? I hope I have as much energy as he does now when I’m 73 years old.
:: Brian Wilson has finally released Smile – not the legendary album that never was, but a rerecorded version, just released. Legendary rock journalist Robert Christgau gives it five stars. More reviews and news available here, including the Village Voice.
:: Addendum: I forgot the Krispy Kreme update. A newspaper article in the Edmonton Journal on 30 Sept 04 reported that KK will open up a store at South Edmonton Common in the first half of 2005.
October 4th, 2004 at 22:08
NOOOO!!!!
Randy posted that William Shatner has a new album out, produced by Ben Folds. Is Ben Folds, of 1997’s brilliant “Whatever and Ever, Amen,” so desperate for work?
OMG, I actually like “Common People.” The world is coming to an end.