A couple of disappointments: 1) it appears that the Stooges play to taped augmentation. This was revealed when the bass line for “Skull Ring” kept pumping while bassist Mike Watt was working amp problems with his sound tech. It’s OK to use the canned help, but never let the audience know.

On the same post, Stooges saxophonist Steve Mackay responded, "I guess I should be flattered to have been mistaken for a taped augmentation but I was right there on the stage playing the riff on my tenor sax, just like always!"

A less-than-two-inch rain storm was enough to wash untold amounts of construction pollution off AMD and the Galleria's construction sites. AMD's site is on Southwest Parkway and Rialto Blvd. and the Galleria is in the Village of Bee Cave. We are going to file complaints against these polluters with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. These mall developers were caught polluting Little Barton Creek during construction of their "Shops at the Galleria" strip mall in 2005 and fined by TCEQ (a nominal few thousand dollars).

In related news, the coalition will be meeting this Saturday, March 31, from 9-11 a.m. to pick up trash in the recharge zone (as part of Keep Austin Beautiful's Clean Sweep).

Update: Clean up has been postponed due to rain.

• Favorite educational programming: Charlie Rose, Frontline, Bill Moyers, The Muppet Show
• Favorite snack: Mini-Wheats with peanut butter (ew)
• Favorite drink: Ginger Orangita
• Favorite color: Navy or teal
• Favorite flavor of Teenie: wha?
• Favorite gum: Orbitz Peppermint
• Favorite Jolly Rancher: I don't partake
• Favorite Easter candy: Reese's peanut butter eggs
• Favorite words that begin with a, q and z: Antiquated, Queef and Zed
• Favorite carnival ride: Dodge Ems
• Favorite pizza topping: Romano cheese or hot pepper flakes
• Favorite fancy coffee drink: Cappucino or Black Eye
• Favorite shade of blue: Navy
• Favorite chocolate shape: Bunny! (or 8-sided die)

I'm sure you might think these are obvious points. But this is a blog, OK? And I had too many things to Twitter it. No, wait. I'm totally Twittering that catty fatty thing.

• Greg Beets posted a photo of this sign he saw.
• Among other Cheeto finds, Nick Hennies mentioned a penis-shaped cheeto for sale on eBay.
• These unintentionally dirty comics made me guffaw (yeah, I guffawed all over the joint).
• A little boidy Twittered (or Tweeted) that "Someone is printing a document called 'it's all about the trannies' on the color printer at work."

So yeah, it must be dirty week. Get dirty with your bad selves, y'all!! Channel Christina Aguilera or something and have some hawt NSFW action this weekend (trannies not required—unless they're really hot. Heh.).

I skipped the morning panels on Sunday (yet another of those dreary Austin days we've been having lately) because I knew it would be my only chance to catch the world premiere of "Silver Jew," Michael Tully and Matthew Robison's documentary about David Berman's tour of Jerusalem.

I wasn't sure what to expect. Actually, I was not expecting it to be much more than a travelogue intermixed with musical interludes. While that's what this movie was on the surface, I was underestimating the understated humility and charm of Berman. Sure, I've heard his poetry and read his writings, but watching this movie was like hanging out with DCB. There was no rock star posturing or macho shit-talking. Quite the opposite. Berman exudes a fragility in this movie that I wasn't expecting.

Here's a guy who toiled away in relative obscurity for over a decade partly because of his conviction not to tour or face his audience. He has a innate talent for turning out unexpected, but immediately captivating, observations. But he also possessed an insecure streak and dwelled in a comfort zone cocoon for many years while his best friends experienced success.

How many of us have gone through the same trials and tests? How many of us have been running away from our natural gifts due to some irrationality or insecurity we possess inside? As Berman says (I'm paraphrasing obviously), "We all have something inside that we have to let out, and if we don't let it out, it will kill us." What we suppress will kill us. To pay attention to our internal wants or to ignore them. That is the $500 question.

Helping him along on his journey out of desparation and into the light is the beautiful Cassie (Marrett) Berman. You can tell in a shot where he clutches her hand while walking through the streets that she is the rock–the mooring.

By the end of the movie, you realize that Berman has achieved both a spiritual and professional epiphany. He realizes that he was loved all along and that he's lucky for his lot in life. He doesn't have to run away anymore. The music, which started as a tossed-off side-project recorded on a boombox, has become his medium. Though he originally longed for the artistic respectability and literary sheen of poetry, he's learned that he can affect far more people through his music than will ever read his books.

(This is what suffices for a post nowadays.)

October 29, 2006, Setlist

1. Start Me Up
2. Shattered
3. She Was Hot
4. All Down The Line
5. Loving Cup with Jack White
6. As Tears Go By
7. I'm Free (last played in Dec 21, 1969)
8. Undercover
9. Just My Imagination
10. SHINE A LIGHT
11. Champagne and Reefer with Buddy Guy
12. Tumbling Dice
13. You Got The Silver
14. T & A
15. Sympathy For The Devil
16. Live With Me with Christina Aguilera
17. Paint It Black
18. Jumping Jack Flash
19. Satisfaction

November 1, 2006, Setlist

1. Jumping Jack Flash
2. Shattered
3. She Was Hot
4. All Down The Line
5. Loving Cup
6. As Tears Go By
7. I'm Free
8. Some Girls
9. (Just My) Imagination
10. Far Away Eyes
11. Champagne & Reefer
12. Tumbling Dice
13. You Got The Silver (Keith)
14. Connection (Keith)
15. Sympathy For The Devil
16. Live With Me (with Christina Aguilera)
17. Honky Tonk Women
18. Start Me Up
19. Brown Sugar (encore)
20. Satisfaction (encore)

I am sooo buying the (Martin Scorsese directed) DVD (tentatively titled "Shine a Light")! It's also interesting to hear "I'm Free" being used in a bank commercial.

In other news:

• Check the anti-Bush vid set to George Michael
• Beep beep ribby ribby!

I think about Kevyn. Here's a guy who should be unhappy. And yet, he's perpetually happy. Smiling. People tease and abuse him. He doesn't care. No problem. He just moves past the noise and listens to something inside that keeps him smiling.

Matthew Modine, Full Metal Jacket Diary