b.rox

A couple years ago, I promised myself that when my MP3 collection hit 10,000 I’d pause for reflection. But that pause never happened.
Now I’ve hit 20,000 tracks in my iTunes library, and I’m drawing a line in the sand. At least temporarily. No more! At least not today.
For me it’s become like a sickness, a [...]

Yesterday, when I was feeling like I wanted to die, someone named Israel Lopez was dealing with the real thing. Better known as Cachao, this Cuban dude basically invented the mambo and a few other Latin genres besides. I don’t really know that much about him, and I’ve never seen the film about him that [...]

PJ Christie has written a song using lyrics adapted from a poem by yours truly.
Here is the original version:

Nicotine Sonnet
When we met you smoked
Salem Lights, I think,
And your breath would stink
so bad that I choked.
Then one October night
I lit up
a Lucky Strike.
I don’t know what
Possessed me
To rip the filter off.
Now each time I cough
You bitch [...]

Our friends DJ and Daisy and Anna and Lili came over, and we spent the day moving furniture from room to room.
My office has moved in to the front room which had been serving as our “living room” (such a strange name for a room!) since our lower floor was flooded. Our bedroom has moved [...]

Music really helped me get through this year, and so I wanted to do a year-end post about my favorite songs and audio oddities of 2007. I’d imagined writing a detailed annotated list itemizing what each song meant to me. Alas, I find I don’t have the time or the wherewithal for that.
So I thought [...]

Xy and I went to see Sweeney Todd at a suburban cineplex last night. It’s a truly impressive film, masterful, the latest iteration of a story that goes back at least 160 years — and yet I had two major reservations.
For one thing, both Xy and I were somewhat squeamish with regard to the graphic [...]

Since all the cool kids are doing mashups these days, I couldn’t help but try my hand, however inept. A month or two ago when I had some spare time I threw these two together.

But It Seemed So Real

To the relief of everyone Uptown, Endymion is coming back to Mid-City in 2008. Therefore I imagine we’ll be having our annual Samedi Gras party, where you can experience a totally different side of Endymion, far from the madding crowds of Upper Mid-City. Hopefully our renovation will be complete by then. The question is, what [...]

Noah K called me the other day to promote an upcoming event called Hip-Hop for Hope. Now I love me some hip-hop, but I don’t care for what much of mainstream commercial hip-hop has become. My tastes run to the old school and the underground. I like intelligent, socially conscious rap. That’s why it’s good [...]

We’ve just had E.M.A.N.S. boxes installed all across the campus, including here in our office. The acronym stands for “Emergency Mass Alert Notification System,” and it’s designed to let people note about emergency situations, like if there was madman roaming around with a gun. It’s a fairly discrete system, designed to avoid mass panics. It’s [...]

So, I was listening to Kenny G’s Intelligent Design show on WFMU yesterday, and he starts playing a piece by Steve McLaughlin called “Run for Your Life.” The piece consists of all of the Beatles albums, from Please Please Me to Let It Be, played at eight times normal speed. The whole thing is just [...]

These lyrics keep going through my head.

I’m on the creep, with no sleep
I ain’t trynna rest till the enemy six feet
It’s game time, and I’m ready to play
Gimme my remote and my remote is my K
I spray with it, I’m from uptown
I gotta stay wit it
When we murder, we know how to get away wit [...]

Everybody knows that X is the coolest letter in the alphabet, yet there was only one X movie on my list: X: The Unheard Music (1985). It’s a documentary about the band, X. The band is great, but the movie is merely good with some great moments (and of course great music). I think the [...]

Dr. Paul Gailiunas has been my hero ever since I met him — what, five years ago? It seems like I’ve known him forever.
He’s the only punk rock anarchist vegan doctor I’ve ever known.
But he is a hero for how he’s lived his life, dedicating himself to helping the poor, the hungry, the uninsured. He [...]

Yesterday, as I was cooking dinner, I heard the beat of drums outside our house. I recognized that sound immediately and knew what it meant: Warren Easton marches again!
It’s probably the coolest thing about living on my block. The high school marching band comes down our street almost every school day. Or rahter, they did, [...]

I’ve heard of the 9th Ward hipster scene, but I never checked it out until this past Saturday night, when Mr. Quintron and Miss Pussycat re-opened the Spellcaster Lodge. I’d never been there before, but I’ve been a fan of Quintron ever since I heard his Satanic croaking organ cover of Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t [...]

Today’s musical accompaniment (mp3) provided by Admiral Stereo.
My psychic powers kicked in early this morning, as I was puttering around the house, getting ready to go to work. Some inner voice told me I should check on my bike. I went into the living room and peered out the window onto the front porch.
Gone.
Looking through [...]

Today is the fourteenth anniversary of the premiere of the very first episode of ROX.
In honor of this august yet shameful occasion, I’m posting a song by Scott Evans, fortuitously titled “Fourteen Years” (mp3, 1.5 MB) — although to be honest the title is a sheer coincidence. This was recorded live at the Neutral Ground [...]

Now more than ever, it’s time to remember that the Fourth of July is International Flag-Burning Day. To celebrate, I’m posting this fantastic anthem (mp3) by New Orleans’ own Troublemakers. It is truly one of my favorite songs ever.
A lot of Americans get whipped up about the notion of anyone “desecrating” the American flag. [...]

It’s that time of year again.
I’ve been trying to muster up some enthusiasm for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. I’ve been trying for years. But somehow I never seem to work myself up into the appropriate fervor. And if I am lacking in enthusiasm, Xy is downright negative.
When I admit that we are [...]