mad things

When I first heard In the Aeroplane Over the Sea I fell completely in love with Neutral Milk Hotel. I brought the cd to work and folks at first scoffed but soon a majority of them were singing along. When NMH was to play at the 9:30 Club, we all went. Alas, the band had van trouble, showed up late and played a pretty crappy show. However, we were all so much in love with their music that we forgave them. Then nothing…

Now Jeff Mangum is doing a tour of solo shows. I tried to get tickets when he played in Manhattan but no luck. When the shows at BAM were announced, I anxiously awaited, clicking refresh over and over on my computer. I managed to get tickets for one show. And then another one was announced so I got a ticket for that show as well. There is also a third show but I only bought tickets for two shows – I didn’t want to be too greedy, I figured other folks should have the chance to see him.

The first show was last night. And wow, from the first notes played I actually had tears in my eyes. I sang along with all the songs (trying not to be too loud so as to not annoy my seatmates). It was hard to stay in my seat, I really wish this was a standing show. In addition to the tracks from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and On Avery Island, he did the song Little Birds which I absolutely adore. Give it a listen and get hooked.

You can still find tickets (at cost!) for tonight and tomorrow on Craigslist – I highly recommend this show!

Why do the heating oil companies deliver their product at 3:30am, waking me up? I can hear their distinctive, noisy trucks criss-crossing the neighborhood, thus guaranteeing me to not fall back asleep. Well, that and the millions of thoughts running through my brain. Stupid, troubling thoughts.

Guess I’ll just stay up and watch the latest episode of Poker After Dark.

Green-wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

This Thursday my friend LJ has a new show opening at Root Hill Cafe in Park Slope.

Needless to say, I think her paintings are quite wonderful so stop by to check them out.

One week later the pumpkins are starting to show decay.

I was wrong about the jack o’ lantern display in my neighborhood. They actually put the pumpkins out on Halloween and leave them up throughout November.

Check out the Kane Street Pumpkins for yourself.

Did you know that originally, Jack o’ lanterns were were made from turnips and potatoes in Ireland? History.com has a fun section on the history of Jack o’ lanterns and Halloween.

In my neighborhood, every October someone would carve out a ton of baby pumpkins and impale them on their cast iron fence. As the month went on, the grinning or grimacing pumpkins would decay into shrunken heads. I went by there this evening to take some new photos but alas, no pumpkins. However, my friend Steve took a bunch of great photos last year. Here’s some old photos of the pumpkins during the middle of their decomposition:

Some jack o’ lanterns found on the web:

Gourds in Hell

Got the munchies

Crazy intricate Death Star

Some fun jack o’ lantern galleries:

Jack o’ Lanterns
Geeky Jack o’ Lanterns

Tips to carve your own:

Pumpkin-carving.com
Walt’s Pumpkin Carving Secrets
Pumpkin Masters

This weekend hundreds of Brooklyn artists open their studios to general public. Be sure to visit our friend LJ’s studio this weekend at A.G.A.S.T. I love her work and wish I had lots of money and wall space because I would buy her entire Lock Series.