@noeleaser I like these things- toys, dive bars, candy and jukeboxes. All wrapped in one? I want to go.
Back in the day, I used to have a massive collection of those little plastic frogs with the tab on the back that you push down to make them hop, I scored them all at Tattooed Mom. They also used to give out those cellophane fortune telling fish that curl up to tell you your fortune.. I just checked out the reviews and it looks like they’re still around and still doing the same thing..
Buta Miclas, and you're goin' to Philly But ya know it don't matter anyway You can get by in an old man's pocket You can get by in an old man's pocket
Tony, I am breaking a rule I have about not going to see bands with two drummers to see them. I have a pretty strong feeling that 87% of the time, two drummers, if not a bad idea, is certainly a pointless, indulgent one... especially if they are just playing unison lines, for the most part. Just fuckin' get one great drummer who hits hard, if Walloping Drum Power is what you're trying to get across (see: John fuckin' Stanier). I had to leave a Kamasi Washington show last year because two drummers. It doesn't matter how good each drummer is... I've passed the last three or four times King goddamn Crimson came around because of this rule of mine. (My friends think I'm an outright lunatic for that one, in particular... maybe they're right.) But yeah, for whatever reason I'm breaking it to see Oh Sees. I watched a bunch of live clips from last year, and was convinced. Both guys are good drummers, and it never devolves into sneakers-in-a-dryer times (see: Dirtbombs). Plus I love most all the material they've put out since this formation has been going (even if there's little likelihood of hearing some of the older Brigid-era cuts I love, like from Help).
'Twas a GREAT weekend! (That went by far too quickly! ) Firstly, was great to just hang with my sis and her wife... don't get much quality family time with them these days, and miss them very much. I'm fairly terrible at taking pics when I'm on vacay... the few interspersed below will hafta do ya. First stop was the couch, where I took a 25-minute nap. (By the time I got to my sis' place at about 12:30PM, I had been traveling for 9 hours... for whatever facacta reason, my flights to and from Philly from VT were routed through Detroit.) After a shower that made me feel slightly less bleary, next was this place, a converted industrial space on a pier that is now housing several rotating artists studios. One of the studios was occupied by a custom figure maker, Acori Honzo... cool guy, makes some great head sculpts... we got to chat and geek out a bit about toys and working in miniature. Here's a sweet, sweet houseboat that was docked off the pier: Then onto an AWESOME belated birthday dinner at Zahav: Each of us got the tasting menu, so between the three of us we tried all but two items from the menu. ALL delicious, and to boot they just kept bringing us free non-menu dishes, because birthday. Got SOOOOO stuffed. Walked around South St. Saw a lot of fun stuff. Went to Philly AIDS Thrift, which has great stuff and a great spirit and reminds me very much of many places I used to go in NYC in the 80s and 90s ('cept with less attitude). They had a few art book gems in their book areas, but I held back. Went to the drugstore and got lozenges and decongestant because OF COURSE I got the cold right before I took off for the trip. Saturday, farmer's market and a flea market in Clark Park. Thought we would go walk along the Schuylkill, but got sidetracked in Fat Jack's Comicrypt and a nearby antique/thrift shop. In the former, I picked up a replacement of my long-lost copy of the 1991 Paul Mavrides sketchbook collection Skull Farmer (for cover price! And they had two more copies!) and a small Tony Millionaire hardcover, Little & Large, for my daughter. At the latter, got a supercute Japanese orange ceramic elephant salt shaker for my wife. (I know... I should have a pic of that... sorry!) Saturday night (after chowing on plentiful Zahav leftovers), met up with @BrickBat/Chris and a buddy of his for beers before heading to Union Transfer for Oh Sees show. Union Transfer is a beautiful venue with great sound and the Oh Sees live exceeded my expectations. KILLER show. It's not many bands that, 20 years in, you can say that they're in their prime (Ween might be closest example, if you consider (as I do) 2002-2003 to be their Golden Age, live), but I really feel that Dwyer has reached the maximum expression of his thing, with this line-up. Firing on all cylinders in terms of dynamics, concision, improv power and potency. Super-tight, 110% committed, face-meltingly hard-rocking but always grooving and melodic. As Chris pointed out that night, there is very much a Can/Krautrock vibe to this incarnation of the band, that you might not pick up on so deeply until seeing them live. That brings me to the drumming… it may be the only two-drummer formulation that I’ll see live and truly love, and it’s because it’s exactly this: Starks & Stubblefield by way of Jaki Liebezeit, in a hard-rocking application. It sounded amazing and was terrific to watch… those guys are so dialed in, and the sheer athleticism of what they’re doing is insane (esp when you look at their touring sched… there have not been many days off). They also have a great organ and keys player on this tour, who's adding a lot of goodness. Sunday, we took that Schuylkill walk. Was nice and enjoyable, but damn chilly. We went into the Waterworks building just to use the bathrooms and warm up, but ended up touring the place and watching the 15-minute film on its history. Fascinating. Later, for dinner, the girls took me to an Ethiopian restaurant called Abysinnia. We walked in and ascended a winding staircase to an unmarked white door. This opened to a bedroom-sized, ramshackle "secret" bar called Fiume which (somehow) stocks over 150 beers (they also have two taps and a large menu of cocktails). We were the first ones in that night, just after 6:00, but the place quickly filled up. You can order food from the restaurant to be brought up to the bar, which we did. Again, delicious, and again, STUFFED. Monday, my sis and sis-in-law had to go to work, so we said our goodbyes, and I took off to spend the day at the Barnes Foundation. Pricey cost of entry ($30! On a Monday!), but well-worth it: mind-blowing private art collection of Albert C. Barnes, who was a great seer of art and one of the most forward-thinking, democratically-minded rich art collectors our country has ever known. All of the pieces are on display as he had arranged them at the original foundation site in Lower Merion, PA, and lemme tell you... the guy knew how to display his pieces together so that they spoke to each other. Anyone here who takes meticulous care/pleasure in arranging and rearranging their collection will appreciate. He also collected all manner of wrought iron hooks, hasps, hinges, escutcheons, etc, and arrayed these on the walls around the paintings in such a way that their shapes subtly underscore/play with the visuals and themes of the images. You spend a certain amount of time in each small room looking up close, agog at the array of masterworks, then you sit back on the bench on the opposite wall and take in Barnes' fantastic arrangements. I loved it. (The story of how the collection finally ended up in downtown Philly (very much against the wishes of Barnes, as expressed in his will) is quite a tale, too... chronicled in this doc.) Anyway... thanks for reading my novella, and thanks again all for the recommendations! I still have much to check out next time! Detroit arrival: This tree: This guy, in City Hall: This guy again:
Thank you so much for that write-up, the pics, and just generally sharing it all with us. I've never been to Philadelphia, but one of those places I'd always like to go. I feel like I got to experience some it through you, so thank you for that Mike. Sounds like you had a great time, and well-deserved celebrations. Wishing you a belated very Happy Birthday! Oozesome October FTW! PS - Couldn't agree more on that Barnes doc. Highly recommend, everyone needs to check that out. Thanks Mitch, and to all the family members who made the experience possible.
If the way the city loopholed Barnes' awesome will ever bums you out, just know that there are still stashes all over the place that essentially no one knows about. I got to go to one a few years ago to help retrieve a set of andirons, and we had to move one priceless item after another to even get to them. One crate was quasi open, so I took a look. Massive stained glass windows from Tiffany & Co. Can't even imagine what else was in that building.
Incredible what the city was able to do... chiselers! Cool that there are still chunks of the collections squirreled away... amazing that you got to see/interact with some of it, Phil!
@ungawa222 had a blast hanging out with you and your sister! She's awesome! Great show too, glad you finally got to see them. Next time you are in town you can come to the house and check out the collection!
Likewise, Chris! So glad we got together! And YES, we'll do it again next time I'm down... really looking forward to seeing the collection!!
