Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

selfy-stuff

by

No one ever agrees with me, but i think people are at their most radiant when they first wake up in the morning. During the night your skelton sorta resets itself, and so does your face. When i look myself in the mirror in the AM i notice the corners of my mouth are higher than usual, and that the little laugh lines i’ve accumulated have smoothed themselves out. Of course, during the day i’ll pick all of that back up, and then some, but it’s nice to be a clean slate for a few minutes before life sets in.

Isn’t it frightening that i already have identifiable laugh lines on my face? I suppose they’re ultimately the sign of a happy life, but i’m not sure that i’m ready for wrinkles before the age of twenty. The alarm clock just went off really blaringly loud, which made me laugh for all of two seconds before the noise got to me and i turned the damn thing off. Matt and i are never here, and i can’t imagine when the alarm was set or for which of us, unless Matt was here yesterday and i totally missed him (which would be pretty funny). I’ve probably spent less time here than Matt in the last week, which is rather disturbing in and of itself. I swear… at this point we’re paying rent just to keep stuff in here.

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/01/2007214/

by

So, um, kids, the nominating period for the Bloggie Awards is almost up, and i’m feeling a little insecure. Are you sure you all nominated Trio for best non-blog content, or me for “best unknown blog” or “best new blog.” Don’t you love me? Well… i guess we’ll find out on Friday when the final nominees are announced. In the meantime, go read some more of SBlog2, because they’re talking about measuring their genitalia in pixels, which is pretty low-brow. Always pandering to the lowest common denominator… just like Fox :p

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/01/1985414/

by

This is the worst day ever. Ever. For example, when turning on my computer to simply print out my resume for a job interview i found i was out of black ink. You’d think replacing the black cartridge would make a difference in this situation, but no, that would be too easy. You see, every single cartridge i installed printed in the same spotty fashion – full, empty, or inbetween. Then, all of my dress socks mysteriously disappeared, meaning i’m in my full interview attire with grey cotton socks. And, apparently i’m not supposed to be wearing so much black because it’s intimidating. Well, you know what i have to say to that? I hope i intimidate the hell out of them! Grawr! This is the only job that i really want out of the ones i submitted requests for, and of course it comes on a day that i am obviously dying! Argh…

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/01/1947529/

by

A quick check of Patti’s website reveals that two decent songs were indeed booted from the record to make room for some of the newer material. I pray that i’m just having a terrible day, and that this record will rock my socks off tomorrow, but i doubt it (seeing as i even managed to listen to my demo cd today, which usually bugs the hell out of me). Indicator of the problem at hand? Producer: Freddie Katz. Front Cover Photo: Freddie Katz. I’m not sure why Patti would want someone else so involved in her music after making such a stunning solo debut, unless she’s fucking the guy. The woman’s a genius and she played every damn guitar on her first album, leave her alone!

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/01/1936804/

by

In a continuation of the trend of women from the Alanis Era just now releasing some dubious second efforts, today i opened my mailbox to find a padded envelope from Patti Rothberg‘s management containing a copy of her new Candelabra Cadabra. Patti was (by far) my favourite of her ilk (also including Joan Osborne & Tracy Bonham), and i’ve held out hope for a spectacular second effort for years now. My first disappointment came when Patti was dropped from her label a few years back though she had recorded a “promising” disc tentatively titled My Name is Angus. Apparently this project got flushed as Patti dropped off the radar for another couple of years before resurfacing with her own domain name and acoustic shows throughout the Northeast Corridor. I attended one and was encouraged… Patti played a crop of wry new songs intermingled with her classics and was in good humour. The only down point was the presence of her overbearing and totally awful new sideman, Freddie Katz. Freddie played his guitar too hard, sang badly, and generally detracted from Patti’s overall presentation. He looked like a pirate with his hoopy earring and his black jeans. I think he might have been drunk (whereas Patti just managed to douse her guitar with Corona when she tried to get the lime to sink).

A sleek vinyl single was released at the same time as her new shows and it was terrific. It showed great sonic evolution while retaining the biting wit that makes Patti’s songs so unique. However, well over a year later her long-awaited second disc is nothing but disappointment. Gone are the fluttering acoustic guitars and clear but throaty lyrics, replacing with wanna-be indy-gal posturing and overly loud electric guitar played by good ol’ Freddie. A cover of the Bowie classic “Moonage Daydream,” boppy “Dish It Out,” and the charmingly cynical character in “Wry It Girl” are nearly the sole high points on this dismal effort which doesn’t once manage to display words or noises that hearken back to the genius i was expecting. And, lest you think that my comparative criticism is unfair, you should know that i would have never touched this album if i didn’t already like Patti … everything from the campy gothic lettering to the murky red photo on the back of the booklet screams “bargain bin” and the music doesn’t do much otherwise.

I hope beyond all hopes that the album grows on me, because it sincerely hurts me to not like it. Some of these songs were fresh and new in concert, but these arrangements and production values have a stranglehold on their livelihood. I hope that Patti and her album find the right audience and i wish her continued success, but i’m not sure i’ll be shelling out $16 to be a part of it next time…

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/01/1936715/