Suggestaholic!

 Following is our recent trip to London, boiled down to the important part only: the beer. Quantities have been omitted, to protect the guilty, and because I can’t really remember the details. But it should give you a general idea of our travels, and our major accomplishments, within (and without) the UK…
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Samuel Adams Boston Ale (at Samuel Adams Brew House restaurant, Newark Airport)
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Carlsberg (while flying, “free” on British Airways)
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Bass Ale (in the hotel room, purchased at a small grocery store around the corner)
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Boddington’s (with dinner at the hotel restaurant)
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Stella Artois (in the hotel room, purchased at a large grocery store around another corner)
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John Smith’s Bitter (at Oddfellows Arms pub, Stratford-upon-Avon)
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Boddington’s (at the hotel bar, before turning in for the evening)
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Fuller’s London Pride (at Red Lion pub, near Westminster)
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Timothy Taylor Landlord (at The Courtfield pub, outside Earls Court tube station)
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John Smith’s Bitter (in the hotel room, purchased at the large grocery store)
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Adnams the Bitter (at The Duke of Marlborough pub, Woodstock)
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Greene King IPA (at The Phoenix pub, Burford)
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Bass Ale (in the hotel room, purchased at the small grocery store)
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Boddington’s (at the hotel bar again)
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Young’s Bitter (at The Lamb and Flag pub, near Covent Garden, London)
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Fuller’s London Pride (at The George pub, near Fleet Street, London)
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Smiles Best (also at The George)
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Timothy Taylor Landlord (at The Courtfield again)
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Yuengling Lager (in our family room, upon returning home from the airport)
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And that’s our trip to England, told only in beer.
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The ones that really stand out? Stella Artois, because it wasn’t any good. Carlsberg, because it was skunky and kinda yuck. Timothy Taylor Landlord, because it was my favorite beer of the trip. And Fuller’s London Pride, because it was especially tasty, as well.
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The rest run together in my mind. That’s not to say they were bad, because they weren’t. In fact, they were all really good. They just comprise the big mushy middle we beer-drinkers know a thing or two about.
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Read the full travelogue.

 I was doing Google searches a few days ago, trying to find a place where I could download a well-known Replacements bootleg, called “Shit, Shower, and Shave.”  I never got there, but during my travels I stumbled upon a great little website that caused my inner-music geek to become fully engorged.
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It’s called That Truncheon Thing, and was maintained by two true believers in Atlanta.  Apparently the site isn’t being updated anymore, but the remaining entries are very good indeed. These guys clearly love music, and know their stuff. The writing is solid, and the enthusiasm is obvious. It’s a shame they pulled the plug on the project…
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But there’s more than just excellent articles and postings to be found there, lots more. Mixed into the updates is a recurring feature called Classic Bootleg Series, complete with links that allow you to download the recordings in their entirety. Usually the artwork is available as well.
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And they ain’t lying when they say classic. They’ve got legendary bootlegs of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, the Replacements, Led Zeppelin, REM, Elvis Costello, the Clash, and on and on. It’s a freakin’ treasure trove of incredible.
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So get over there and start downloading, before the site disappears. I’ve got everything I was interested in (which is all of ‘em, except two – care to guess the two?), and now it’s your turn.
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And just so you know (not that anyone asked): I was never a huge fan of bootlegs. I had a couple of bad experiences early on, and became gun shy.
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I remember throwing caution to the wind and buying a Bruce Springsteen double-album boot (at a store in Lexington, KY), for some enormous amount of money. And the thing sounded like it was recorded on a Sony Walkman. You could actually hear two guys in the audience carrying on a conversation, and the music was happening way off in the muffling distance.
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I’d paid so much for that piece of crap, it made me sick and ashamed whenever I flipped past it in my record stacks.
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But if I’d started with stuff as high-quality as what’s being featured at That Truncheon Thing, I would’ve undoubtedly been hooked forever. So, maybe it’s a good thing the sickness didn’t take hold until the internet era?
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Now, do any of you have “Shit, Shower, and Shave?” I need that thing.     

 There was a balance remaining on an old Amazon gift certificate I received a while back, and it was burning a hole in my account. So last night I used it up.
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I ordered the latest CD by Jim White, a guy who’s great but difficult to describe. Imagine wedging Harry Crews, Morcheeba, Daniel Lanois, and Tom Waits into a Cuisinart, then mashing the CHOP button. He’s something along those lines.
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I also pulled the trigger on the new album by Marah, a semi-obscure band originally from Philadelphia, now Brooklyn-based. Their previous CD was a stone-cold masterpiece, and I’ve had the new one on my various want-lists since it was released. The reviews don’t seem to be as positive as they usually are with these guys, but I’ll just make up my own mind (thank you very much).
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And finally, I ordered a used copy of Beck’s Sea Change. It’s somehow gotten past me all these years, so this one can probably be viewed as a maintenance purchase. However, I understand it’s really good, and I’m looking forward to confirming it.
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And those are my latest purchases. As you can see, I’m still addicted to physical CDs, as opposed to downloads. That’s right, I’m gonna buy ‘em as long as they make ‘em. What of it?
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This is the Suggestaholic, reporting.
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Back to you, Monica.

 During a previous lifetime I worked at a record store, within the state of North Carolina. One day we received a promotional copy of a new album by a band called The Woodentops, titled, for some reason, Wooden Foot Cops on the Highway. It looked interesting, so somebody slapped it on the turntable.
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And we were blown away. I mean, every song sounded like a mini-masterpiece. The thing was inventive, catchy, and fun as all hell. How could it be? How could it be so good?! Was it the greatest album of all time? Well, that might be taking things a bit far, but it was almost certainly in the top ten.
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We played it constantly, loving every minute of it. The thing was amazing. Wide-eyed customers would come up to the counter and ask what album we had on, and would then eagerly purchase it without ever having heard of the band. Everyone who came in contact with them, it seemed, was jazzed about the Woodentops.
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Then one day the album lost its magic. Just like that. It was like somebody threw a suck-switch, and what was once fun and catchy was now really fucking annoying. It got to the point where fellow employees would nearly revolt if someone dared play the record. One night it “accidentally” got tossed into the dumpster out back.
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And during this period I began to realize albums that sound great on the first listen, often are not. The ones with staying power take a little effort. Even today, almost twenty years later, I warn myself about the Woodentops Factor; always heed the Woodentops Factor. And it’s something that’s served me well.
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The new CD by R.E.M. sounded great on the first listen, and that concerns me. I’ve been playing it for a week now, and loving it. But will WF eventually kick in? I’m braced for the possibility.
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It happened most recently with the latest Bruce Springsteen CD. I was singing its praises for about two weeks, then WHAM! I didn’t like it anymore. It started sounding hollow, and false.
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We’ll just have to see how it goes. The Woodentops Factor isn’t absolute, so there’s hope. But it makes me nervous that the new R.E.M. sounded freakin’ FANTASTIC on the very first play.
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Stay tuned.
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Buy the sumbitch at Amazon
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Update: The Official Verdict