All Hallows
- Today’s not only Halloween, but MJG’s birthday. 21 years ago, his mother was at a Halloween party with her belly painted like a pumpkin when her water broke. I think that’s a really good birth story, and I think it’s kind of embarrassing to him when I tell it in public, but whatever. It’s much more exciting than my birth story, which involved my mom walking around a lot. Not much fun.
- Bruce Springsteen recorded a Halloween song and video that he put up on his website. It’s called “A Night with the Jersey Devil,” and it’s badass. Kind of a bluesy, creepy Tom Waits turn for The Boss. Here’s the video (via Stereogum):
- Last Halloween, Vice Records put out a song called “Do they Know it’s Hallowe’en?”, a parody of “Do they Know it’s Christmas?.” I like this one a lot more, and it has pretty much every member of the indie rock royalty on it. The video is also creepy.
- Tonight Cate’s coming up and we’re going to Michael’s birthday party. Our costumes are not particularly elaborate—in fact, they’re kind of half-assed, but I like them. I got a cheap V mask (which actually looks pretty good for thin, molded plastic), and Cate’s going as Evey (V’s protégé, whose head gets shaved halfway through the book/film. Cate hasn’t shaved her head, but she’s got short hair. Good enough). I guess I’ll wear a black t-shirt or something. I used to work so hard on costumes—maybe I still would if I had time.
- This really has nothing to do with Halloween, but Wilco (my favorite—and therefore the best—band in the world) was on The Colbert Report last night. There’s a five minute interview with Jeff Tweedy (which is excellent), followed by a new song called “Wilco the Band” (which is also quite excellent). I’m glad to see Jeff smiling these days. As good as his music was a few years back, he sure did look miserable all the time. Here’s videos of both (also via Stereogum):
Addendum to #5, just to make it Halloween-related:
- Good grief, this is adorable. This is what Halloween will be like when I have kids: awkward, hilarious costumes that they don’t get but that I love.
