The Sea and Cake have been around for a long time. Since I was in high school, I think, which is exactly what I meant by the last sentence. They were one of those bands that people always told me about but I never got around to actually seeing live. This is largely due to spending a healthy majority of my life in Miami, a black hole of a music scene and a bit of a stretch for any bands not headlining arenas. Every now and then I’d get lucky, but most of the smaller bands or artists that I liked never made it south of Atlanta or Gainesville. I understand that many Americans live in rural areas where no bands ever go, which I’m sure is difficult for music-loving youngsters, but Miami is different because it is a big city with a sma... read more >
The CMJ festival is officially over, which means bands can get back to playing more than 5 songs at a time, fans can stop looking at maps and schedules and worrying about guest lists, and those of us involved behind the scenes can either pat ourselves on the back and start looking forward to next year, or we can curse ourselves and vow to do a better job next time. We at SnowGhost will be patting ourselves heavily and getting our video and audio offerings ready for public consumption, but while we’re waiting for the entertainment to arrive (as CMJers are no doubt used to doing by now), we can enjoy the FIRST ANNUAL SnowGhost CMJ Pro and Con Fest!
Pro #1: New York City is a really fun place. Every time I go there, I... read more >
Have you ever wondered about the expression ‘tooting your own horn,’ as in, “not to toot my own horn, but I play a mean saxophone”? While blowing smoke up someone’s skirt makes far less sense as a means of complimentary admiration, tooting your own horn seems like a perfectly fine thing to do, especially if you play a mean saxophone. If you’ve got a nice horn, you should probably be tooting it. What, are we supposed to let other people toot our horns for us? Or maybe this expression refers to the bugles or trumpets used to announce arrivals or decrees, like in the days of olde or those tiny horns that clowns use to get your attention and abuse it. Maybe it refers to car horns, like when a station wagon full of girls drives by me ... read more >
I have friends who have trained for and completed marathons. I am very proud of them, and in most cases, I am even a bit impressed. Running without stopping for 26.3 miles is certainly not something someone does on a whim, much less without a bit of training and a really nice pair of shoes. But at the same time, I could totally do it. If I was being chased by a gang of deadly chainsaw-toting toddlers that never surpassed the pace of a nine-minute mile, or perhaps a swarm of deadly bees that insisted on chasing me at safe speeds at or around 6 miles per hour, I could probably go at least 30 miles before I’d give up. I’d probably even have time for an emergency roadside poop. Regardless, there is no chance that I’ll ever willingly... read more >
After spending a few weeks in my problem solving lab in my very best problem solving labcoat, which also doubles as my problem solving raincoat as a result of previous problem solving, I have figured out how to save the music industry from another slow Holiday season. As is always the case when I am on the case in the PS lab, I first had to identify the problem. It seemed rather obvious to me almost immediately that the reason people do not flock to Target just to buy CDs for their loved ones is not due to the glaring lack of holiday-themed American Idol contestant releases. The obvious reason is that Americans have abandoned the CD as a gift because it does not fit well into a standard stocking.
While a series of self-co... read more >
