Song Mix Sundays #11: It Starts With An Earthquake…
August 27th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
First an earthquake, now a hurricane. The East coast can’t catch a break this week.
I’m weathering the storm in my Philly apartment that dates back to the 1850s with windows that haven’t been replaced since c. 1902. I don’t know what tonight has in store for me, my electricity or my historical relic front windows.
So this week’s Song Mix Sunday is going up a day early so the rest of my East coast readers can party down before the electricity goes out. Or before we float away. Or both.
The theme this week? Natural disasters. 11 tracks covering tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and even a zombie apocalypse. Because you can never be too prepared. In your face, Irene!
1. T. O. R. N. A. D. O / The Go! Team / Rolling Blackouts
“It’s the T. O. R. N. A. D. O! It’s the T. O. R. N. A. D. O! It’s the prototype, it’s the double-strike from the ge-ge-ge-ge-ge-ge-get go!”
2. Earthquake Weather / Beck / Guero
“Something’s coming, sky is purple, dogs are howling to themselves / Days are changing with the weather / Like a rip tide could rip us away”
3. Hurricane / Eastern Conference Champions / Speak-Ahh
“I hear it coming, I hear it coming, sounds like a hurricane!”
4. California’s Burning / Augustana / All The Stars and Boulevards
“California’s burning, burning, burning to the ground…”
5. Calamity Song / The Decemberists / The Kind Is Dead
“Had a dream / You and me and the war of the end times / And I believe California succumbed to the fault line…”
6. Mt. St. Helens / Mirah / Advisory Committee
“There had been a great disaster / The hot winds came just after / A tremendous shock was filmed / Survivors often tell…”
7. A Record Year for Rainfall / The Decemberists / Always the Bridesmaid: Vol. 3
“I read in the paper today it’s been a record year for rainfall…”
8. Hurricane and Fire Survival Guide / Cloud Cult / Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
“I’ll laugh my whole way through the hurricanes and fires…”
9. Sparrows / matt pond PA / The Dark Leaves
“And when that white dust fails and smoke pours from the sun / I know I must know better…” I’m pretty sure this song is actually about a bad break-up, but it’s apocalyptic references make it fit right in here.
10. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh! / Sufjan Stevens / Come On Feel The Illinoise
Because zombie disasters are just as impending as natural disasters.
11. Natural Disaster / Andrew Bird / Noble Beast
The Great Philadelphia Earthquake of 2011
August 23rd, 2011 § 2 Comments
via A.V. Club
Shortly after 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, I felt a truck rumble past my office building in Northeast Philadelphia. A truck that started towing the very foundation while some morbidly obese maintenance workers fixed the roof.
Around the time the floor turned into a trampoline, my brain got wise to what was really going on: a 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia. (Facebook and Twitter helped too.)
Ok, so it wasn’t really that traumatic, and Philadelphia hardly got the brunt of it.
But for this afternoon’s brave survivors cleaning up the aftermath (Straightening pictures. Setting vases right again. The rebuilding never ends.), here’s a playlist in our honor. A little bit of soul, a little bit of funk, a little bit of indie punk and a whole lotta shakin’ going on.
1. An Earthquake’s Comin’ / Black Velvet / Fallin’ off the Reel Volume 2
2. I’m Shakin’ / Rooney / Rooney
3. Emergency On Planet Earth / Jamiroquai / Emergency On Planet Earth
4. I Feel The Earth Move / Carole King / Tapestry
5. Shake! Shake! / The Subways / All or Nothing
6. Let Your Earth Quake, Baby / The Thermals / Fuckin A
7. Before and After the Quake / Oppenheimer / Take The Whole Mid-Range And Boost It
8. Earthquake Weather / Beck / Guero
9. After the Earthquake / Eels / Tomorrow Morning
10. You Only Live Once / The Strokes / First Impressions of Earth
You cool kids on Spotify can also subscribe to the playlist here.
Press Release and Photo Essay: High Elven Special Ops Face-Off Against Rag-Tag Bretonnians in Fairmount Apartment
August 22nd, 2011 § Leave a Comment
PHILADELPHIA, PA – A skirmish unleashed on Kitchen Table Plains in Philadelphia’s Fairmount district a few weekends ago when a company of High Elves clashed with a band of Bretonnians over a centuries-long dispute.
The Bretonnians’ land holds many ancient secrets. Allegedly among them lays hidden the crown of the great Phoenix King. After centuries of tension with their dwarven foes, High Elven officials received a tip from an anonymous source that the pilfered treasure might be buried somewhere in Bretonnia.
Military officials sent a small special ops unit to investigate, but they collided with a small band of Bretonnian peasants armed with pitchforks. Special ops easily overpowered the peasant forces, but made no further progress in locating the cultural relic.
The special ops general could not be reached for comment and it remains uncertain whether the Bretonnians will comply peacefully or not.
