Completely Conspicuous 333: The Long and Winding Road

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss working, childhood homes and corporal punishment. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Brian: Writing for a prepper show called America Unplugged
- Getting your news from Pat Robertson
- Visiting your childhood home
- Jay: Toronto suburb I once lived in tripled in size within a few years
- Brian hasn't been back to Buffalo since '93
- Corporal punishment was once acceptable
- Brian: Worst punishment was kneeling
- Don't eat your vegetables, kids
- Louis CK is doing his own thing
- Brian saw Eels (without Steve Perry)
- Unconventional frontmen
- Jay: Never had to see the Wiggles
- Dan Zanes' children's music is pretty listenable
- Brian liked Raffi
- The Creationism Museum looks fun
- Preparing for the End Times
- Great ideas come in unlikely places
- Dream journals
- Brian has similar dreams over and over
- We worked out some issues

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

Music:
The Afghan Whigs - Matamoros
Lubec - Almost Vince
Dum Dum Girls - Under These Hands

The Afghan Whigs song is on the album Do to the Beast on Sub Pop. Download the song for free from Soundcloud.
The Lubec song is on the forthcoming album The Thrall. Download the song for free from Bandcamp.

The Dum Dum Girls song is on the album Too True on Sub Pop. Download the song for free from Soundcloud.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 332: It's a Living

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss writing for reality TV, early jobs and freelancing. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Brian's doing freelance work for The Sportsman's Channel
- "Inhumane interest stories"
- Worked on a Sarah Palin-hosted show
- Writing ads for a new Penn Gillette show
- Jay: Never seen It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Tales of Brother Dave, who once had a following
- Supermarket jobs
- Working on the night crew
- Brian's brush with a suicidal/homicidal security guard
- Bill Murray's showing up in random places
- When you're younger, you tend to bond more closely with co-workers
- Brian's getting along with himself these days
- Working from home
- Brian took a break from comedy but is now writing jokes again
- Back up your online work
- To be continued


Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

Music:
The Vaselines - One Lost Year
Jawbreaker Reunion - E.M.O.
Kittyhawk - The Daily Dodger

The Vaselines song is on the album V for Vaselines on Rosary Music. Download the song for free from Soundcloud.
The Jawbreaker Reunion song is on the album Lutheran Sisterhood Gun Club. Download the song for free from Bandcamp.
The Kittyhawk song is on the Droughts/Framework/Kittyhawk/Prawn split. Download the song for free from Bandcamp.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 311: Walk Away

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss his latest bold career move. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded at BGL HQ
- Sometimes you like the people more than the job
- BL stayed home to raise his daughter for a while
- Now situation is different
- The time to restart is now
- Is this all there is?
- Pressure's on to succeed now
- Trying to get disciplined
- The Secret is good for finding parking spaces
- Finding that elusive "dream job"
- Acting is an interesting but difficult pursuit
- Job misery can cause physical pain
- Working overnights
- The future is unwritten
- BL: It's not exactly what I thought it would be

Music:
She Sir - Condensedindents
Protomartyr - Scum, Rise!

Red Fang - Behind the Light

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The She Sir song is on the album Go Guitars on Shelflife Records. Download the song for free at Largehearted Boy.

The Protomartyr song is on the forthcoming album Under Color of Official Right on Hardly Art. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Red Fang song is on the album Whales and Leeches on Relapse Records. Download the song for free at Amazon MP3.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 310: Had Enough

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss his latest bold career move. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded at BGL HQ
- Momentous life decision
- BL was working as a web guy at a Boston hospital
- Commuted four hours each day
- Didn't get promotion and decided to quit
- BL: I just hated what I did
- Haven't felt urgency to find something new
- JK: Got a job right out of college and never stopped working
- Taking chances
- BL: Played it safe early on and missed out on working on MTV's The Real World
- Getting encouragement from friends not many kindred spirits
- Layoffs are a different thing entirely
- Going back to a job you left
- The very brief heyday of CMGI
- The ever-changing world of venue names
- BL: Need to figure out next move by February
- Commute is a huge factor
- Cramming into crowded trains gets old fast
- BL's been doing standup part-time the last few years
- Hosting a standup show that's growing slowly
- Not easy to get paid to do what you love
- People selling stuff at home parties: Hats, jewelry, food
- Get-rich schemes are the American Way
- Scratch tickets as a strategy
- BL: Take a lower-paying gig to support the real goal?
- Trying to separate money from career
- To be continued

Music:
School of Seven Bells - Lafaye
Sadie Dupuis - X Actually

Dead Stars - Fractured

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The School of Seven Bells song is on the album Ghostory on Vagrant Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.

The Sadie Dupuis song is a solo recording available for free at Stereogum.
The Dead Stars song is on the EP High Gain. Download the song for free at Bandcamp.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 282: Lost Causes

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss our status as outsider sports fans in the Boston area. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded on a sweaty night in Beverly, Mass.
- Boston went from Loserville to Titletown
- The legend of Wayne Gretzky started when he was a kid
- Jay: Rooted for the Patriots when they were horrible
- Supporting our teams has been a mostly futile endeavor
- Jay: Reliving the Leafs' horrible choke against Boston
- Big sporting events somehow lead to idiots rioting
- NFL games are much more fun when you watch at home
- Jay: Still go to college hockey games
- Brian wept when his team won college lacrosse championship
- Jay: I want to see the Leafs win the Stanley Cup before I die
- Brian roots for New England Revolution
- Jay: Watching the Leafs in the playoffs is a tense, miserable experience
- Brian: Still hoping Sabres and Bills will win it all
- More "pink hat" fans in Boston
- Jay: I watch every Leafs game no matter how much they suck
- Find Brian's comedy dates and fun stuff at his website
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
David Byrne and St. Vincent - Cissus
Overseas - Old Love
John Vanderslice - Raw Wood
Stephen Malkmus - The Hook

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The David Byrne and St. Vincent song is on the EP Brass Tactics. Download the song from Stereogum.
The Overseas song is on the band's self-titled album on Undertow Music Collective. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.
The John Vanderslice song is on the album Dagger Beach on Secretly Canadian. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.
The Stephen Malkmus song is on his self-titled album on Matador Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
 
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 281: The Outsiders

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss our status as outsider sports fans in the Boston area. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:
- Recorded on a sweaty night in Beverly, Mass.
- Brian changed his standup name to Brian Gerard
- Experimented with different names
- We both grew up elsewhere and moved to New England
- Rooting for non-Boston teams
- Brian grew up in Buffalo, is a big Sabres and Bills fan
- We're used to our teams losing
- Buffalo also had an NBA team in the '70s
- Brian moved to Kentucky as a kid
- Jay moved to southeastern Washington state
- Nobody there knew what hockey was at the time
- Jay: Right after we moved away, a junior hockey team moved to the area
- Jay: Never a fan of the Montreal Canadiens
- The magic of Don Cherry
- Cherry was played by Jared Keeso in a couple of Canadian miniseries
- Brian roots for the Atlanta Braves because he lived there for a while
- Jay: Rooted for Red Sox to win World Series in '04
- Brian's not a fan of the Blue Jays' stadium
- Jay: Grew up going to Blue Jays games when they were a new expansion team
- Jays' farm team is now in Buffalo
- Remembering the Hartford Whalers
- Sabres lost in Stanley Cup finals to Philadelphia in 1975
- Jay: One of my favorite players was Buffalo star Gilbert Perreault
- Big heartbreak for Sabres fans was in '99
- Brett Hull scored Cup-winning goal for Dallas with his skate in the goal crease
- Against the rules but officials didn't overturn it
- Atlanta's attendance problem
- The Bills had four straight Super Bowl losses
- Lamenting lost Super Bowl bets
- Jay: Still stinging from Leafs' game 7 loss to Bruins last month
- Leafs' loss to LA in 1993 also a painful memory
- Blue Jays had some horrible chokes in '85 and '87
- Jay: Joe Carter's World Series-winning homer in '93 was probably my last great sports moment
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Fidlar - Cheap Beer
Eddie Spaghetti - The Value of Nothing
TV on the Radio - Will Do
Archers of Loaf - What Did You Expect?

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Fidlar song is on the band's self-titled album on Mom & Pop Music. Download the song from Chromewaves.
The Eddie Spaghetti song is the track track of his new album The Value of Nothing on Bloodshot Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The TV on the Radio song is on the album Nine Types of Light on Interscope. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Archers of Loaf song is a bonus track on the reissue of Icky Mettle on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
 
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 261: Waiting for the Punchline

This week, I'm joined by guest Brian Lewandowski as he discusses navigating the Boston standup comedy scene. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Brian's back doing standup for the last few months
- First did comedy in the early '90s
- Started working townie bars
- Just stopped and began doing humor writing
- Did an early humor blog that he turned into a self-published book
- Recently decided to get back into comedy
- In college, ran the radio station with Ronnie James Dio's son
- Early heroes were Buddy Hackett, Woody Allen, Steve Martin
- Most comedians are loners
- Took comedy class; one week, Janeane Garofalo was guest instructor
- Hosts comedy nights now
- Dealing with cats in the audience
- Storytelling with embellishments
- Brian interviewed Marc Maron for his blog in the '90s
- The genius of SCTV
- Passing on your sense of humor to your kids
- Brian worked at AMC and Bravo in their early days
- "The Spiteful Salad"
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Iceage - Coalition
Chelsea Light Moving - Empires of Time
Pere Ubu - Free White
The Figgs - Brain Be Gone

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Iceage song is on the album You're Nothing on Matador Records. Download it for free at Pitchfork.
The Chelsea Light Moving song is on the band's self-titled album on Matador Records. Download the song for free at MatadorRecords.com.
The Pere Ubu song is on the album Lady from Shanghai on Fire Records. Download the song for free from Soundcloud.
The Figgs song is on the album The Day Gravity Stopped. Download the song (in exchange for your email address) for free at Noisetrade.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.