Nothing like a Friday night spent elbows deep in the guts of awkward HTML and stupid CSS. It’s okay, though, because I have a bottle of Domaine de la Chanteleuserie Cabernet Franc from Vine and I’m not afraid to drink it. (Nor am I afraid to admit I’ve already consumed most of it already.)

This has been a week of music. First off, did you know there is nothing you can’t find on the Internet? IT’S TRUE. For example, I found two albums by Cakekitchen that I only ever had on tape. (Side note: I remember, in Savannah, my friend Dan and me wandering around a Media Play looking for music. Him: Isn’t this the record you were looking for? Me: No, that’s Cake. I’m looking for Cakekitchen. Him: Wait, is that different from Sea and Cake? Me: I have that already. Him: Oh for Christ’s sake. Get me the fuck out of here.)(I’m sure there are real record stores in Savannah now.) Picture Henry Rollins right now being all like IS THAT A FUCKING RECORDER? FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

Second, my office mate and I both love Streets of Fire pretty much more than anyone else in the world (aside from these folks, I suppose). I mentioned once that I dressed up as Ellen Aim for Halloween one year. He one-upped me by saying that he tried, unsuccessfully, to find a pair of the rubber/garbage bag S&M-style waders that Willem Dafoe wears. (For Halloween — or so he says.) He even went into various bondage boutiques in the West Village asking for them. No one knew what he was talking about, except for this one dude who was like, “Oh, from Streets of Fire? No, we don’t have them. But that would be awesome.” (Me: How is it you didn’t switch teams right there? Him: It’s the only time I’ve ever questioned my sexuality. Me: Imagine how lonely he is. No one likes Streets of Fire.) So we downloaded the soundtrack and have fist-pumped from our desk chairs for the past few days.

Third, there’s a subsection of Metafilter devoted to music. There’s this guy named bgm who goes by chococat and he produces the most beautiful songs.** Some are covers, some are originals. Part Elliott Smith, part Stephin Merritt, part Lee Hazelwood, part Jens Lekman…and a lot of originality. I like it a lot to listen to.

Another thing: There are two security shifts in my office building. The daytime guard, Robert, is a 50-something guy who makes incredibly inappropriate jokes. On paper, it seems odd that he still has a job, but in person, he’s just not the type of person you could bring yourself to dislike. And while the jokes he tells are horrible, they’re also so outdated that they’re almost nonsequitur. (His primary source material is the Truly Tasteless series, so there are lots of jokes about women’s libbers and Ed Meese.) It’s only on rare occasion that he crosses the line. (Him: Did you work out this morning? Me: No, I had a doctor’s appointment. Him: Trouble with your lady parts?) The nighttime guard is a nondescript guy, probably approaching 50. He seems to like reading the bible and listening to a small radio. One night I came down into the lobby, though, and he was listening to Midnight Oil’s “Beds Are Burning.” I figured this is what they play on classic rock stations now. Then a few days later I came down and he was listening to “Radiation Vibe” by Fountains of Wayne (What.) which I thought was an unusual song to hear on the radio. And then the other night he was listening to the Lemonheads cover of “Mrs. Robinson.” So now I can’t tell: is there some special radio station that I don’t know about that he just happens to be accidentally listening to, or is this his jam? (Why do I care? I don’t know.)

Oh, yeah, and I downloaded Nicky Minaj’s new record. It’s not bad. I still think she’s an asshole.

The Cakekitchen, Silence of the Sirens

Streets of Fire soundtrack, Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young

*This has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that Roger Ailes is a fucking jerk.
**It doesn’t really matter where you start, but this and this are two of my favorites.