Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

Once a year (for only two years), I bring out the video I made in Boston right before I moved away. It’s me carving a pumpkin. My ex-boyfriend, Kristopher, is the one filming. Today, I’m heading to Katy’s house for a pumpkin-carving party. Can’t wait!

So it’s a little long (10 minutes), but if nothing else, watch the first two for the new and viral Halloween song by yours truly! As I said last year, please forgive the Ramadan silliness. The point is that it is ridiculous to make non-sacred holidays sacred, and we’re using the example of making a sacred holiday non-sacred to prove the point.

Cat Power, Cold War Kids, The Mountain Goats, Kristin Hersh, Arctic Monkeys, Ella Fitzgerald, The Magnetic Fields, Andrew Bird, Joni Mitchell, The Kills, Billy Bragg, Regina Spektor, David Gray, The Kinks, Heartless Bastards, Okkervil River, Elliott Smith, The Saw Doctors, New Model Army, Robyn Hitchcock, The Arcade Fire, Miracle Legion, Gomez, James, Echo & the Bunnymen, Shearwater, Billie Holiday, Glen Hansard, Radiohead, Wolfmother, Throwing Muses, The Flaming Lips, R.E.M., Keren Ann, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Stéphane Grappelli, The White Stripes, The Smashing Pumpkins, of Montreal, Arcade Fire, The Beautiful South, The Velvet Underground, Édith Piaf, The Raconteurs, The Old Ceremony

That sounds about right – at least for recent years. Although there are some things that are misleading. Cold War Kids shouldn’t be as high as they are. Don’t get me wrong. I love them, but most of the listens are in a one week period. Also, the only reason Flaming Lips are there is repeated listens to “Fight Test”. Similar issue with Édith Piaf. I listen to “Non, je ne regrette rien”.

lI love Last.FM. If you like what I like, listen to this to hear more.

My Old Neighborhood, Jamaica Plain (taken last week)

Been busy singing and job hunting and such, but this is a news story worth sharing…

Andy Carvin just twittered that MIT is suing the architect Frank Gehry for design flaws in the Stata Center. This is huge news, since he is so well-respected, and the building is so revered. It will be interesting to see how this goes. I had the opportunity to photograph it while living in Boston. I really love it and think it fits in perfectly on MIT’s campus. I had no idea they were having so much trouble with it.

The school asserts that the center, completed in spring 2004, has persistent leaks, drainage problems and mold growing on its brick exterior. It says accumulations of snow and ice have fallen dangerously from window boxes and other areas of its roofs, blocking emergency exits and causing damage.

I still read a lot of Boston blogs. There’s a meta-site called Universal Hub that I really enjoy. This guy Adam is one of those human aggregator types who culls what he feels are the most interesting posts from Boston blogs every day.

There was a recent post about a guy from Charlotte, NC who tried to go through Boston’s Logan Airport security with a loaded semiautomatic handgun. The Charlotte Airport didn’t catch it, and it made it on the flight in his carry-on. Boston security DID catch it.

Proof the TSA really does look at those X-ray scanners – at least in Boston

Since my blog was regularly quoted on UHub and I was a regular commenter, I decided to post the following comment:

And for the record, everyone, I’m in Raleigh, not Charlotte. I’m choosing to pretend that wouldn’t happen here.

I hear there are gun-toting Republicans here, but I have yet to meet any. Luckily, I’m hanging out in the wrong circles for that!

In other news, a woman with a STRONG Boston accent helped me at CopyMax yesterday. We got into a convo about Boston, then the guy behind us wearing a Red Sox t-shirt joined in. Both had moved down within the past year. You’re all going to realize what a smartypants I am soon!!

An innocent enough comment, I thought, but I really hit a nerve with one guy, who ended up calling me “closed-minded, intolerant, and bigoted”. Go read the comment thread. It’s pretty interesting. You can read my response to him. An invitation to go crazy? Maybe. I did respond, but I tried to take the high road. Join in the discussion if you want, but don’t bother defending me. I know myself well, and his uninformed opinion of me just sounds silly and hostile.