« December 2006 | Main | February 2007 »

January 31, 2007

New Coke

I was on a conference call this afternoon when I observed CNN in the corner of my eye. Suspicious packages found all over Boston. My heart sank. That's my town. What dastardly fiend was responsible for this?

Err. As in Err of the Mooninites.

Well, I think publicity was generated. In the most brilliant ad campaign since Crystal Pepsi, someone thought it'd be a brilliant idea to place little boxes with electronics around Boston. While I appreciate the humor, and I am laughing about all this - I have to ask, "What the hell were you thinking?"

Yes this gets press, but ultimately it's embarassing. Will it drive more people to see the Aqua Teens movie? No! Everyone who was going to see it was already going to see it! I'm still going to see it (because it's one of the funniest shows on television) but come on!

Err photo courtesy Flickr user xjohnpaulx

Posted by MikeSager at 8:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 30, 2007

Selling the Wind

I buy this wind, to avenge my children and their ghosts...

A friend of mine e-mailed yesterday morning with a Pitchfork link telling me that Pretty Girls Make Graves are breaking up. This news is kind of heartbreaking for me - they recently reached most favored band status, a difficult mantle for most bands to claim (they share my internal stage with Autolux and Denali). They are making a May 20th stop at the Black Cat. You'd better believe I'm going to be there.

This band was so unique - they shifted from emoish drones to punk rock diatribes with shoegazing guitars, and silky vocals. It saddens me that I'll never get to be their lighting director or second guitar player.

This is our emergency...

Posted by MikeSager at 2:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 26, 2007

Caliente!

'Cause Pabst Blue Ribbon is the beer that keeps on givin'... For such a modest price, you get a beer that you taste twice...

Whenever you move to a new city, you immediately begin identifying your new spots. Where do I get groceries? Where's the nearest bookstore/library? Target? Gas Station?

But there's the second most important question - Where is the nearest bar? Immediately following is the most important question - Ok, that place kind of sucked. Where is the nearest good bar. Caliente, a bar about half a block from my apartment, is officially my new watering hole.

There are different types of bars in any city - the frat bar, the yuppie bar, the old bar, ye olde Irish bar, the college bar, the political bar, the depressingly lit haven alcoholic bar, etc. Caliente is what I would refer to as a "Server Bar" - it's where the waitstaff from the other bars go after work to blow off steam. I think over half of the regulars there, all on a first name basis with the Futurama-quoting bartender Callie, work in restaurants around the area. Caliente has a phenomenal beer selection for a local watering hole - varieties of Bells & Fullers on tap. Good beer? Check. Sassy/Friendly Staff? Check. Stumbling Distance to My Apartment? Check. Waterhole review successful - approved!

Now I do feel a bit out of place at times because my line of work is so widely disparate from everyone else at the bar. But that's assuaged by the complete lack of pretense - though I didn't go to the bars on Capitol Hill that often while in DC, whenever I did I would always know in the back of my head that someone who I may have to deal with professionally at some point in the very near future may be sitting in the booth next to me. Not that I can ever truly let my guard down, but I don't have to at Caliente because the atmosphere is fairly apolitical - a welcome break.

This is not to disparage other bars in the area - I am already quite fond of the Capital Ale House. It's something of a cross between the Brickskeller and the Hawk & Dove. It's also apparently the preferred bar of the writers of West of Shockoe, whom I met last night through some other friends of mine. And there are a couple of other fine establishments a stone's throw from my apartment, many of which I am sure I will patronize at some point in the near future.

And thus, the adjustments continue.

Posted by MikeSager at 3:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 22, 2007

Crisis!!!

Comcast Richmond does not carry Sci-Fi. COMCAST RICHMOND DOES NOT CARRY SCI-FI!!!!!!! Commander Adama was about to launch nukes at the algae planet despite the fact that Apollo, Tyrol, and others are there! Plus Starbuck's ship was about to go down!!!

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Quick...think.

iTunes! YES! iTunes will have my Battlestar fix tomorrow!

But I have people coming over. No wonder they wanted to come over - they don't get SciFi either.

Oh cruel fate! Er....

OH CRUEL COMCAST! Why must you deny me both Battlestar AND MASN!!!!

Dammit.

Posted by MikeSager at 12:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 21, 2007

The Museum District

I've started to adjust to the reality that my commute will feature statues of Confederate Generals unless I find another route. I've completed the move to Richmond, and have started the new job. I can't help be struck by what I would almost call a "European" feel to the part of the city in which I live. Victorian Row Houses, close up to the street. Cars parked along already narrow roads that seem to curve with indifference to sight lines or logic. Statues of figures revered by some of the locals, but completely foreign to me. I live a mere block from where my father spent the first year of his life, a mile from where my grandfather owned his own pharmacy.

I never envisioned myself living in the south again, let alone where this side of my family originates. I'd thought that I was going to make a move to Massachusetts. Or New York. Or somewhere with a subway and a professional baseball team.

My father talks about how when he grew up here, Richmond had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. But the decline of Tobacco had the same effect on this city that the departure of the Auto industry had on Detroit. You can drive through many parts of this city and see what can best be described as "ruins". Buildings that have been, for all intents and purposes, abandoned. There are parts of the city that have rebounded in the last few years - I live in one of them.

A lot has been made recently in the press, especially The Post, about the differences between "NoVA" and "RoVA" and some of it is definitely true. I'm not going to get in the middle of this debate - I have my love for Washington, and there is no secret about that. My initial reaction to Richmond was to note the similarities to Orlando - a location of previous residence. This analysis was not unfounded - lots of wideish roads with big box retail, strip malls, and a complete absence of viable public transportation. However, digging a little deeper has turned up some gems. I spent Friday eating fantastic Sushi, drinking Pabst Blue Ribbons, and hanging out with a good friend as Spinal Tap played on the TVs. Yes - I went to Sticky Rice. At the Cary Court shopping center where 50+ years ago my Grandfather had a Pharmacy, I went into Carytown Beer & Wine where I procured Fuller's London Pride. Caliente, one of the bars behind my apartment, had Bells on tap! I admittedly do judge the quality of life based upon the availability of good beer. Some might consider this a character flaw.

Richmonders don't seem to understand the concept of real traffic. I've driven in that Sunday-afternoon environment they mistake for "rush hour". I've gotten across town on both city streets & using the Downtown expressway very quickly. My only traffic snafu was the inability to turn left off of Broad Street during daylight hours - I always get upset if I can't go left. But if I hear anyone in Richmond complain about traffic, I will cordially invite them to come to the DC Metro area or Hampton Roads sometime to see real traffic.

One thing I will never adjust to is the presence of the Confederate flag. I know if I lived in Germany and I saw people flying the Swastika under the false pretense of "German Pride" I would be very angry. What the Confederate flag represents is the same thing the Nazi flag represents - oppression of a group of people. We cannot ignore our past, or pretend that just because we weren't there we don't have a responsibility to address these issues. But I don't think I'm going to see that happen anytime soon - especially when there were a group of people flying confederate flags at the base of the statue of Robert E. Lee on Friday night.

This Richmond experiment is just getting underway. Will I start eating Krispy Kremes instead of Dunkin Donuts? Grits instead of Frosted Flakes? Sweet Potatoes instead of Sour Potatoes? Pepsi instead of Coke? Or will I run back north while blasting The Standells' Dirty Water?

Posted by MikeSager at 1:00 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

January 10, 2007

Radio Silence

A lot of stuff is going on with me right now - and writing is something that has somewhat fallen by the wayside. That said, every time I write one of these "I'm not going to write for a while" things I end up being fairly prolific a week later. We'll see what happens. But anyways - don't kick me off your feeds.

Posted by MikeSager at 12:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 1, 2007

The Smell of Freedom

"It has air-conditioning. I told them I could just roll down the windows but it comes with it anyway. Consumer Reports rates it very high. It's very safe. And when you get inside, there's this . . ."
"Smell?"
"How did you know?"
"It's the smell of freedom. And the chemicals they treat the dashboard with."
-The West Wing (President Bartlett & Mrs. Landingham)

"A new car without a college sticker is naked. You don't want to drive around naked, do you?"
-VirginiaBelle commenting on how I do not yet have a GMU sticker for my back window.

Happy New Year!

Posted by MikeSager at 1:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack