For those of you who don’t keep up with maturing hipster culture, here’s the first single from Laura Veirs’ new album, which features her new baby, and Neko Case’s background vocals. CD or LP purchasers get custom printed origami paper. If you fold a crane from that paper and post a picture to her Facebook* page, she’ll donate to the Brady Campaign. That in itself raises the bar over the usual LP release, but it’s like last year’s hipster mustache compared to the reel-to-reel version, which is suitable for playing as background music on your Marsellus Wallace-style tape deck while your date mistakenly snorts heroin. Vinyl is so 2011.
Here’s an open thread.
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* Should be Pinterest or Instagram, but she realizes that some of her fans are not as hip as she is.
bs23
how come “hipster music” is so depressing?
Elizabelle
Martin Luther King, Jr. on 50-year old Meet the Press in a few minutes; taped 2 days before the march.
NotMax
2 less than world-shaking items on a lazy Sunday morning:
The iron grip of Mrs. Olson.
The hucksterism of The Donald.
Wag
Very cool. Thanks for sharing.
Off for a bike ride with the twins, then to the pool to grill burgers and hot dogs with friends and kids. Might go watch the final Stage of the USA pro cycling challenge later this afternoon. 72 miles of high speed cycling action that can’t be beat.
PeakVT
Another coffee story: single-cup brewing and waste.
Wag
@NotMax:
Just because Budweiser is the best selling American beer doesn’t mean there aren’t amazing microbreweries. Same holds for coffee.
Howard Beale IV
@bs23: It’s called reality. Deal with it.
Emma
@NotMax: People really thought they were going to learn something from the Donald? That’s your problem right there.
NotMax
@Wag
You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd and you can’t underestimate the taste of the American public.
(Generic ‘you,’ not you specifically.)
Wag
@PeakVT:
Give me convenience or give me death!
MomSense
@PeakVT:
I don’t get the single cup appeal. It is so unbelievably expensive and it can’t be healthy to drink something that has been brewed through plastic. It doesn’t even taste good. The waste is just obscene.
Elizabelle
@MomSense:
Yeah, and I like the ritual of brewing coffee. Grounds you, in the morning. (Pun intended.)
the Conster
Is it possible for anyone to be more smug than Cokie Roberts? What a useless piece of shit long past her sell by date.
Mike in NC
The local wingnut rag has a front page article today on how ex-Senator Jim DeMint (Crackpot-SC) is teaming up with Senator Rafael “Ted” Cruz (Shithead-TX) to spearhead the Republican effort to “defund Obamacare” as they call it. Maybe DeMint thinks this will finally be the Kenyan’s Waterloo.
Meanwhile, looks like a lot of the Villagers and other very serious people are speculating on war with Syria.
Thlayli
@Wag:
[nitpick]
Bud Light is the best-selling American beer. Coors Light is second, regular Bud is third.
[/nitpick]
Steeplejack
I live alone and don’t drink much coffee—about three to five cups a week—so my coffee routine has gone sub-minimal. After a lot of testing and research, I found that Trader Joe’s instant coffee is actually pretty good. Good enough for my needs, anyway. I used to use a French press, but the hassle factor is too great for as little coffee as I drink.
I think I like the ritual of doing something in the morning, even if it is just heating up water in the microwave, and the smell of coffee more than the taste of coffee, although a cup of good coffee is good.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
I somehow missed this when it happened. Since we have talked about the John Scalzi-Vox Day feud here before, I thought I’d pass it on in case anyone else gafiated over the last month and also missed it.
Theodore Beale expelled from SFWA
imonlylurking
Shadowcat is missing. We checked all of the closets and under the beds, and the garage also. It’s too dangerous for a little black kitty to be out alone.
danielx
@Mike in NC:
Of course they are. Bloody Bill Kristol is probably salivating at the prospect of another of his lovely, lovely wars.
Another beautiful day and one in which I will NOT be refinishing the sidelights for my front door due to the presence of a hornet nest underneath a trim board up above the sidelight. I sprayed it three times yesterday with one of those insecticide sprays that shoot out about 25 feet and I can tell you those sumbitches just don’t give up – they are still there and boy are they pissed. Have to wait until tonight when they’re all tucked up for the evening and then spray right at the entrance to their den, which means (of course) that refinishing will have to be put off until tomorrow when the heat and humidity come back. Feh.
Amir Khalid
@imonlylurking:
Oh goodness. I hope Shadowcat’s just decided on an impromptu game of hide-and-seek, rather than going walkabout.
trollhattan
That reel machine had better be half-track, or there will be words.
Breakfast burrito, espresso and Jimi at Woodstock on the stereo machine, whilst the fam is out. Dog has commandeered the bed, as she claims is in her job description. Still looking for that document.
Do not want to mow the
lawnweedpatch, but must anyway. After the neighbors are up.IowaOldLady
Mr IOL is watching a recording of Fox’s Sunday show and they’re babbling about “defunding Obamacare.” In other places, I’ve heard people say the funding is automatic or mandatory or something like that, meaning it can’t be “defunded.” Can anyone explain what that means? Or am I hallucinating?
Suffern ACE
Bah. Folgers. I’ve always been a hills brothers user myself.
the Conster
@IowaOldLady:
It means they’re hallucinating.
NotMax
@tollhattan
Strangest reel-to-reel I ever saw (and came this close to buying it new) was a Sony 4-track machine. But it wasn’t stereo – it could record/play each of the 4 tracks, individually or combined, in mono.
Best were the ones at the college radio station. A brand practically no one has ever heard of (and which I don’t remember at the moment), each rack machine was exactingly machined and constructed of highest quality components by hand in a local guy’s garage to order.
Amir Khalid
Is Nescafe sold in America? I haven’t had any kind of coffee in ages, but that’s the last instant coffee I had.
IowaOldLady
@the Conster: I got that part!
trollhattan
@NotMax:
Wow, never heard of hand-built tape machines like that. What a twentieth century concept!
We used Revox, which seemed indestructible (although I’m certain the engineers would have disagreed). Pretty much everything had its own motor–none of that belt and jockey wheel foolishness, nosir.
GooIndy
Is it possible for anyone to be more smug than Cokie Roberts? What a useless piece of shit long past her sell by date.
WereBear
People are always astonished when I point out The Donald inherited all his money, and has been shrinking it, since. We do have upper class twits in America, people!
gbear
@imonlylurking: Yikes. I hope s/he just found a new place to hide and will soon be found and OK. My thoughts are with you.
trollhattan
@Amir Khalid:
It leaks into specialty stores, at least. The espresso instant isn’t bad, although I confess to using the S-bux Via packets at work and camping.
Nestles has a big market position in the States, with a vast array of products.
trollhattan
@WereBear:
He may have inherited his daddy’s fortune but that hair is all his invention, baby!
Steeplejack
@Amir Khalid:
Yes, it is, and it sucks. I tried it when I was test-driving various instant coffees. The only good ones I found were Trader Joe’s (mentioned above) and the one-serving packets from Starbucks. But the latter are hella expensive.
PurpleGirl
They got a Keurig machine in my former office. I tried it once and wasn’t impressed. I still preferred the coffee from the guy with the coffee/pastry cart a block away from the office. At home I have a small automatic coffee maker and I often buy from the paper/candy/coffee shop across the street. I like the commercial blend they use and the guy keeps the machine really clean so there’s no bitterness or after-taste of over brewed coffee. I don’t think I’m a coffee snob but I like it to taste good.
gbear
@trollhattan: I’ve still got my Sony quarter track R to R but the brakes have worn out and I can’t find anyone to fix it. I’ve got tons of R to R tapes of my old bands and I’d found a box of prerecorded tapes at work in the late 70’s that I’m still pack-ratting. R to R titles in the collection include Beach Boys Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, 20/20, Friends and Close Up. Favorite of the bunch is The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark, which really is a fantastic album. Other titles by Jack Bruce, The Move, Moby Grape, Free, The Faces, Procol Harum and a bunch more. If R to R decks become a hot hipster accessory, maybe I’ll be able to find a shop in Minneapolis that can repair my deck.
imonlylurking
@Amir Khalid: She’s back! Completely covered in burrs and looking very pleased with herself. She must have been down by the greenway.
PurpleGirl
@WereBear: I’ve talked to people on the bus about Trump and I’m usually surprised at how people believe he’s so great and rich, etc. I like to mention how he had problems in Chicago real estate and in Florida, too. It took him time to learn those markets. He’s a huckster of the highest order.
imonlylurking
@gbear: Apparently she is developing some new habits. We don’t usually have to worry about her being out all night-this could become a problem. She has that black cat ability to vanish in plain sight.
WereBear
The appeal of the pod coffee is how it works so well for office environments. There’s no pouting over the pot when someone from the other side of the flavored vs. no flavored debate got there first. There’s no yucky coffee sitting there overcooked when you want to grab a quick cup and don’t have time to brew fresh. And the tea people are finally treated equally.
But I’m now Coffee Spoiled. I have my own french press, order my stuff roasted and ground for the press, and so most other coffee tastes like swill. I have my giant cup of a morning and that’s all.
The pod coffee tastes like plastic.
WereBear
@imonlylurking: Yay!
We’ve been debating leash training the three year old, but we’re both too chicken to let him know he can go outside without a carrier. Too many chances in our location; the highway in front of the place, and the wild animals in the back.
WereBear
Also, our office gets around the waste issue by getting pods that are simply coffee sealed in filter paper.
Biodegradable! Compostable! Wave of the future.
And FYI, if you have coffee grounds and a garden, just dump those sweet grains at the base of your plants. They don’t attract bugs or animals like other rotting items, and plants lurve them!
HinTN
We have a cappuccino machine. Two cups in the morning. Grind the beans, furzle the milk, brew with crema on top, slurp. Spoiled :)
gbear
@imonlylurking: Did Schlemizel send you his email address? Anne Laurie was asking someone to send her pictures from our meet-up.
gogol's wife
@imonlylurking:
Yay!
Suzanne
@MomSense: Both Mr. Suzanne and I have the Keurig at our workplaces. It is convenient there because each cup brews so fast and everybody can have a different stupid flavor. But I hate it. We refuse to have one at home. Gross.
gogol's wife
@NotMax:
TCM was tiling badly last night right up until Henry Fonda got the photograph incriminating Barbara Stanwyck. So I switched to the HD TCM station, and it was fine! So I’m hoping I can stop calling Comcast. As long as there’s some TCM station I can get without tiling, I’m happy.
I was once again blown away by the brilliance of that movie. Stanwyck’s monologue while doing surveillance on Fonda in her mirror, the slapstick at the dinner party, everything William Demarest does, etc., etc., etc. What a masterpiece! I even love her fake British accent. She’s so clearly goofing on the whole thing. What a magnificent actress. Can anyone match her in both drama and comedy?
Dead Ernest
@the Conster:
Odd, I can’t quite figure why but I feel like shouting “Hallelujah Conster! You are so right!”
Unlike the ‘Driveway Moments’ NPR *used* to provide, there are now more ‘moments’ that cause me to turn the radio off. Cokie’s voice has nearly caused me shoulder injury for the speed of the reflex to keep the fingernails-on-chalkboard she’s become from fouling up my aural area.
WereBear
Very, very few, certainly. Though I’m also fond of Jennifer Jason Leigh, who is also versatile that way.
Steeplejack
@gogol’s wife:
Glad you found at least a partial solution to your problem. Yours seemed particularly maddening, because it isn’t “general” enough for the cable drones to figure it out. Problems on only one channel—too many possible causes, at both your end and theirs.
You should be fine watching TCM HD all the time, as long as your TV is not set to automatically “wide-screen” all HD channels. I usually switch between them for the DVR, because non-HD recordings take up much less space. TCM HD for wide-screen movies, TCM regular for old-format 4:3 movies.
Some good Clark Gable movies on today. Tomorrow’s star seems to be Jeanne Crain. WTF?
fuckwit
I once had a copy of the Beatles Revolver that was shipped on reel to reel. Had gotten it out of a garage sale; never had seen a commercial reel-to-reel release before. It was 7.25ips 1/4″ 1/4 track IIRC.
The quirky merchandizing today is driven by Kickstarter. It sets up this situation where if you donate more you get a different “level” of gift. So bands have to come up with creative offers to give donors at different level: donate X and get the CD, donate Y and get a signed CD, donate Z and get vynil, donate more and get the origami, reel-to-reel, backstage passes, lunch with the band, a car wash by the band, etc etc etc.
Since digital music downloads are basically free for anyone who knows how to copy MP3 file or use a YouTube downloader, Kickstarter has helped bands find ways to monetize fandom and given it a bunch of creative upsells.
BD of MN
@gogol’s wife: We had similar problems with our HD channels from Comcast until a knowledgeable repair guy came to the house. Turns out our signal was weak, so repair guy put new shielded ends on all the cables in the house and a new amp/splitter where the cable came into the house. Everything has been fine since then…
gogol's wife
@Steeplejack:
Maybe I’ll finally watch Pinky.
Robert Osborne has an inexplicable fondness for Crain. In my childhood I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen (in Letter to Three Wives). Acting, not so much.
gogol's wife
@WereBear:
I’ll tell my husband, who’s a Vic Morrow fan (because of Combat).
Jamey
Bleagh! The song–and the fucking twee marketing conceit–are why I cannot fully throw my weight behind anti-piracy efforts…
I pay for music. Lots. Recorded and live performances. But when artistes go out of their way to be annoying (like Ms Veirs–or her record label), I take comfort in the fact that Napster long ago set the price floor at “zero,” and let that serve as its own form of market correction.
I won’t d/l the song, but I may look for images of the origami paper to post on Insty and elsewheres.
gogol's wife
@BD of MN:
Well, this is kind of the opposite, because the HD version works but the other one doesn’t. I have had armies of guys through here — it’s ridiculous!
WereBear
@gogol’s wife: Some suggested steps which have worked me for me in the past:
*Ask for a specialist. They have them!
*How old is the box? Swapping it is usually the first step.
*Every inch of the connections needs to be gone over; we were driven crazy by a chunk of wiring that dated back to the 1970’s… and no one ever realized it until we insisted on this procedure.
Ted & Hellen
Obama’s weak sauce on fracking.
This corporatist mofo has a spine of gelatinous mucous, spiked with oil of course.
Ted & Hellen
Yeah, I don’t get this kind of music or the precious vibe surrounding it in this video as IRL, but I guess some people do and enjoy it, which is fine..
TWEE, as stated above, is an excellent word for it.
Mnemosyne
Work switched us over to K-Cup brewers a few years ago — before that, we had a coffee machine that could do cappuccinos, hot chocolate, etc. Having the single-serving cups definitely keeps office arguments down since everyone can make what they want.
For coffee snobs who want single servings of coffee, a ceramic dripper and a pack of #2 filters is the way to go.
Mike E
@gogol’s wife: The Lady Eve was great until it went Godwin…you know the part. Typical Hollywood elites.
gogol's wife
@Mike E:
HaHaHa. Love me some William Demarest.
gogol's wife
@WereBear:
They switched the box first thing.
I have the numbers of a couple of guys who are actually in the same state with me, so that’s something. But I am exhausted from working on this project all summer, so I may let it ride for now, as long as I can watch old movies without disruption on at least one channel. But thanks for the advice — I’ll save it and use it if I decide to take up this crusade again. Apparently everyone on my end of the street is having trouble, so you would think that would inspire them.
Ted & Hellen
THIS
Mnemosyne
@Jamey:
I found out recently that the Giant Evil (Media) Corporation where I work has changed the name of the “Anti-Piracy” department to “Piracy Management.” Basically, they’ve admitted they can’t stop all piracy and are concentrating on the big guys who are doing it for a profit rather than trying to go after the end users who are downloading a song or two.
Full Metal Wingnut
@Mike in NC: Oy vey I hope there’s no war with Syria or Iran. There’s literally no reason for it.