Today is my birthday, so I'm going to take a free pass with this week's post--I didn't do any research other than what was already in my bookmarks. Back in 1991, the Russian avant-garde musician Sergey Kuryokhin (1954-1996) went on Russian television with his theory that Lenin was a mushroom. A phenomenal pianist with great 80s hair, Kuryokhin was the first to record for the English free jazz label Leo Records , now a powerhouse in promoting European improvised music. His Ways of Freedom (1981) and Some Combinations of Fingers and Passion (1991) [...]
Yeah, I know that the categories widget in the right side-bar says that there have already been 187 or 188 Sunday Mix Tapes, but this is number 185. I'm sure of it. Maybe the others weren't official SMTs, because maybe I didn't post them on a Sunday! Did you ever think about that, asshole? Well, think about it, then. I'm perfectly fine just sitting here and waiting for you to finish thinking. I don't have anywhere to be until tomorrow morning. Then I have to work. Ugh. I hate my life. RULES for uninitiated noobs : [...]

Record Store Day was a smashing success. We brought in, as far as I know, the 2nd largest amount of dollars in any sale in the history of the store. The only day that outperformed yesterday was Christmas '08. Who the hell says we're in an economic depression? When a tiny independent store can rake in twice my annual salary in a span of nine hours...it really makes one wonder. I'd post some pictures to prove how much pandemonium there was yesterday, but I've yet to find any circulating online. Oh well, it's your loss. That said, today [...]

• As I sit here, alone in my room, drinking a can of Coca-Cola Vanilla, I faintly recall reading a brief article that Ken sent me about how to break a soda habit. The article, which I have committed to memory (I guess it was more than a faint memory), says to keep refrigerated water available at all times (prepared daily), to drink whenever thirsty. The minute water tastes warm or stale, it could turn you back to soda. Always serve over a full glass of crushed ice, to add texture like the carbonation offered by soda. Also, keep a [...]