Resistance is futile - John Oates & Daryl Hall
Normally, when I get off work at Amoeba Music on Friday evenings, I rush home, remove most clothing, scold my cat for not accomplishing anything while I was gone, fix myself a salad and watch some DVD (right now it’s the original “Twilight Zone”, season 3) before attending to any writing projects I have, after which I cuddle up with my iPod and listen to David Sedaris until I either fall asleep, or the Grays abduct me for a night of cavity-probing and “Small Wonder” re-runs (they love that show).
"May I please have some Oreos and a cool glass of your DNA sample?"
However, last Friday night I was abducted in a different way.
Logan had called me earlier and asked me what I was “doing” that night and I, like a fool, said I had no plans. (My boyfriend was in Canada at the Toronto Film Festival.)
“Well,” she said, sounding particularly devious, “You’re coming with me and Karen and some other Amoebites to see Hall & Oates at the Hollywood Bowl.”
She paused then, and I think she was waiting for me to squeal with delight. Instead, I quietly waited for a punchline to what was obviously a whimsical joke. When no punchline came and I realized she was telling the truth, I started to choke.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I think you gave me throat cancer,” I answered.
What had started as a moment of fantasy between a few co-workers had organically morphed into a large-scale field trip to the Hollywood Bowl. Karen had managed to secure a bevy of tickets and transportation. (I think she has mafia ties.)
Have you noticed how many cool in-stores Amoeba has been having lately? Well add tonight (Friday Sept.ember 14th) to that list when the wonderful Kinski play for free at 6PM at Amoeba Music San Francisco in support of their recently released SubPop album "Down Below It's Chaos." For more information on tonight's show and the new album (which was recorded in their hometown of Seattle, WA) 
Unfortunately the scheduled White Stripes NorCal show at the Greek Theater in Berkeley on Sept 21st has been canceled, along with several other Stripes' tour dates including San Diego and Inglewood, because drummer Meg White is reportedly suffering from acute anxiety and consequently unable to travel. "We hate to let people down and are very sorry," Meg is quoted in a statement on the White Stripes 
process involved testing every track, as the new album recording session progressed, by taping it onto cassette and then bumping the tape at full volume in his ride. "Cos this is how most fans will listen to it...in their cars," he explained at the time. Traditionally many studio engineers would do a similar playback-test by listening back to tracks on a small tinny speaker (akin to an AM radio) with the assumption that this would be how many folks would listen back to the songs being recorded. But these days recording engineers/producers/mixers are gearing their music for iPods (or MP3s vs CDs) and as such are radically changing how the music sounds. On Wednesday the Wall Street Journal (of all places) ran a wonderful piece on this new trend (the compression of music files onto MP3 format) that most audiophiles find most disturbing. The article is well worth reading and can be found 
other more technologically inclined folks in my life, I've tried getting CDs to play in there with the whole tape-to-CD Walkman contraption, to no avail. I resigned myself to listening to tapes and the radio, and had given up hope on anything else. When it was suggested to me to try an I Pod, I scoffed in said suggestor's face. I didn't even want to give it a go. But I was eventually convinced and to my amazement, the suggestor's I Pod WORKED....I realized I could listen to ANYTHING I WANTED IN MY CAR! But I STILL didn't want to cave and get an I Pod. Technology, you see. It scares me. Like I said, I just am not a fan. Too complicated.
Also, I am kind of old skool in general. I like to play records. I consider records a superior way to "take" my music. It sounds the best. I know that sounds maybe snobby, but I truly believe it. I like to see artwork. I like to see liner notes. I like to feel and smell and see all of it together....I guess what I am saying is that at its best music is a sensual experience for me. The idea of this little computer holding all of that seems kind of cold and most definitely uninviting.