Fries and Ketchup: Nepotism

The column where we try and mention anything we may have missed. It's a lot like those moments when you're out of ketchup, at a fine fast food establishment, but lack the energy to go and get more; so you scrape away at the dregs on your hamburger wrapper, until all you can see is silver aluminum foil. It's classy, yet unrefined.

Music: I'm not going to write a full-fledged review of Hammer the Fingers' new album Black Shark; I'm just going to say that my thumb can't help scrolling for it on my iPod as I drive to work everyday and that pretty much every song sounds like something an adolescent musician growing up in the '90s would have dreamed of writing. Anyone who was in possession of a CD collection in middle school that was comprised mostly of Weezer, Foo Fighter, and Nirvana secretly wanted to grow up and be Hammer No More the Fingers.

The music on Black Shark isn't revolutionary, but it is infectious, even endearingly so, or maybe I'm just growing nostalgic as my twenties dissolve. Plus, Aisander (aka Iceman AD) went to high school with the guys in the band, so the album keeps with the theme of this post.

You can listen to it here.

Poetry: The other night I went to a poetry reading at Vienna, Virginia's The Soundry, which is an old garage converted into an art studio and coffee shop. I went because my cousin's chapbook The Best Way to Drink Tea was debuting. I haven't read the entire book yet, but if you're into poems that deal with language and its disconnects, the influences of kung fu, and Paul Fauteux's quirky visions of our world, then pony up the whopping eight dollars and order a copy.

Paul has always had eclectic interests: he plays the violin and the guitar, has been obsessed with The Beatles and Weezer since we were kids, is a kung fu master, comes from a line of airplane pilots that grow tobacco, and is earning an MFA. In other words, his poetic influences are wide and varied, and I'm proud to see them recognized.

Links:


-Over at The Faster Times I wrote a piece called "Too Big To Fail: Shaquille O'Neal Retires." In writing this reflection on his career I came to the conclusion that whether or not he's the best player of his generation he is the player of his generation. I don't think any player captures the life and times of America over the last two decades any better, or more completely, no matter how much I obsess over Tim Duncan.

-I found this blog post about a Steve Foucalt baseball card (and 10 cent beer nights) interesting. The post is written by Josh Wilker and appears on his blog Cardboard Gods. He also has a book out by the same title that looks like a good read for the summer, it being about baseball and all.

-Oh, and if you haven't already, check out the echapbook Everything that Dunks Must Converge: Act One that Langston and I put together earlier in the Spring. New tales and acts are soon to follow in some format or another. Also, Deckfight Press has some new releases out.