Completely Conspicuous 255: The Future is Unwritten

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Dave Brigham about our society's neglect for history. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at the BrigHAAAAM Estates
- Dave's doing a reading of one of his short stories on Dec. 11 in Arlington, MA
- Check out Dave's photo blog, The Backside of America
- Kids don't get our references anymore
- Brigham: "Too damn much of everything"
- Reality TV is ubiquitous
- Pop culture ignorance
- Brigham: Even a Luddite like me buys digital music
- Knowledge of older bands is limited now
- Talking to kids about history and current events
- Don't let our kids watch TV newscasts
- We shelter our kids these days
- Playground education
- The ads during televised sporting events are all about "cars, boners and beer"
- Parents may filter too much
- Can we fix our lack of historical knowledge?
- We can try to encourage kids to take an interest
- Collecting baseball cards was a fun hobby
- Too much focus on present and future to look at the past
- American populace is fairly passive about major problems
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
The Hush Now - I'm Always Broke in December
Low - Waiting (live)
Varsity Drag - Animal
The Linus Pauling Quartet - Crom

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

The Hush Now song is available for free download at Bandcamp.
The Low song is on the live EP Plays Nice Places. Download it for free (in exchange for your email address) at Sub Pop.
The Varsity Drag song is on the album Night Owls and is available for free download at Bandcamp.
The Linus Pauling Quartet song is on the album Bag of Hammers on Musebox Records. Download it for free from Spinner.

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 254: History Repeating

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Dave Brigham about our society's neglect for history. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at the BrigHAAAAM Estates
- Dave's doing a reading of one of his short stories on Dec. 11 in Arlington, MA
- Brigham: Working as a volunteer archivist uncovers interesting finds
- Check out Dave's photo blog, The Backside of America
- You can find lots of hidden historical discoveries when you pay attention
- Kumar: Our culture is so focused inward that we forget about history
- Brigham: Finding old collection of dad's military stuff sparked interest in history
- The 2010s are much more of a "Me Decade" than the 1970s
- Dave's got a dumb phone
- American Girl dolls focus on historical settings
- History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man
- "Kids these days..."
- The Petraeus scandal: How is it possible to send 30,000 pages of emails?
- Any technological advance tends to get folks distracted: TV, radio, the car- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Interpol - Roland (demo)
Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold
The Bohannons - Goodbye Bill
Titus Andronicus - Ecce Homo

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

The Interpol song is on the Tenth Anniversary Edition reissue of Turn on the Bright Lights on Matador Records. Download the song for free from MatadorRecords.com.
The Parquet Courts song is on the album Light Up Gold on Dull Tools Records. Download it for free at Stereogum.
The Bohannons song is on the album Unaka Rising on This is American Music. Download it for free from Soundcloud.
The Titus Andronicus song is on the album Local Business on XL Recordings. Download it for free from 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 154: Word Up!

Special guest Dave Brigham joins me again on the podcast for part 2 of our discussion about his new book, "(C)rock Stories: Million-Dollar Tales of Music, Mayhem and Immaturity." Listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Or you can listen to it here:



The show notes...

Topics:

- One story grew out of trips to see the Butthole Surfers

- Turned into a tale of violence and road-trippin'

- Dave saw the Surfers at the Channel in 1987

- Created (C)rock-related t-shirts for sale

- Slogan is "Rock + Fiction = (C)rock"

- More than 100 bands mentioned in the book

- National Novel Writing Month

- Dave was working on a UFO concept album that started turning into a book

- Gratuitous Humpmuscle Pete reference

- Dave ponders new marketing strategies

- Jay's mom needs to talk to "the Gmail people"

- Look for the book soon: Makes a good Christmas/New Year's/MLK Day present (via Booklocker)

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

The Dears - Blood

The Drive-By Truckers - Used to be a Cop

J. Mascis - Not Enough

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

The show is sponsored by Budget, the country's premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.

The Dears song is on the forthcoming album Degeneration Street on DangerBird Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Drive-By Truckers song is from the band's forthcoming album Go-Go Boots on ATO Records. Find out more and download the song for free from the band's website.

The J. Mascis song is on his forthcoming album Several Shades of Why on Sub Pop, where you can download the song for free.

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 blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 153: Everyday I Write the Book

I'm joined on the podcast by special guest Dave Brigham for part 1 of our discussion about the making of his new book, "(C)rock Stories: Million-Dollar Tales of Music, Mayhem and Immaturity." Listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Or you can listen to it here:



The show notes...

Topics:

- Book to be published by print-on-demand house Booklocker

- Brick-and-mortar bookstores can order copies

- Ten years in the making

- Dave learns about SEO

- Started with Dave remembering all the bands he'd seen

- Wrote stories based on concert experiences

- Later combined truth and fiction

- Dave hates lame memoirists like James Frey

- Wrote 18 stories initially

- Book should be available for order before Christmas

- Booklocker reviewed book before agreeing to publish it

- Dave's doppelganger: Actor Anthony Edwards

- First stories revolve around Rick Derringer, Foghat

- Narrator reconciles punk rock with love of classic rock

- Book's really about friendships

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Weekend - Coma Summer

Scarce - The Hurricane

The Sheila Divine - We are an Island

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

The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.

The Weekend song is on the album Sports on Slumberland Records. Download the song for free at IODA Promonet:

Weekend
"Coma Summer" (mp3)
from "Sports"
(Slumberland Records)

More On This Album



The Scarce song is a free download released through the band's Reverb Nation page.

The Sheila Divine song is on a free download available from the band's Bandcamp page.

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 blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 140: OK Computer

I'm joined on the podcast by special guests Dave Brigham and Jay Breitling as I continue my look back at the rise and fall of the dotcom era. Listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- Brigham joined Webnoize full time in May 1997

- He quit a paying gig as a proofreader

- Eventually, Webnoize started paying him

- We were given stock options

- At the time, seemed like a good opportunity

- Kumar was hired in October 1999, but had done work for site for a few years

- Dave bought guitar with first check

- First office was in Stoneham, Mass., home of Nancy Kerrigan; later moved to Cambridge

- At first, only four people in office

- Webnoize received funding from "angel investors"

- Meanwhile, other dotcoms pulled in huge sums for barely an idea

- It was all about buzzwords

- Saw pattern of companies with no entertainment or tech background getting into online entertainment space

- These included an oil and gas exploration company, Arthur Treacher's fish and chip restaurant

- Webnoize had good ideas but no business savvy

- MusicPhone.com offered voicemails from celebs like Whoopi Goldberg; t-shirt lasted longer than the company

- The big entertainment companies were just as clueless about the Web

- We got early versions of MP3 players: Diamond Rio, Nomad Jukebox

- Lessons learned: Need to know your limitations

- We went from Macs to a Sun Solaris computer system

- Breitling joined Webnoize after getting master's degree in journalism

- Started as intern in December 1999

- Eventually, he went back to his old job as paralegal

- Post-Webnoize, he worked for Listen.com and AOL Digital Cities

- AOL's now pumping money into local journalism sites called Patch

- The futility of journalism school

- Breitling: Dotcom era ended with many losers, few winners

- The "celestial jukebox" idea still hasn't happened

- Licensing is still a major obstacle

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Jesse Malin and the St. Marks Social - Burning the Bowery (live)

No Age - Glitter

The Delta Spirit - White Table

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

The show is sponsored by Budget, the country's premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.

The Jesse Malin and the St. Marks Social song is on the band's Daytrotter session recorded in May. Download the session for free at Daytrotter.

The No Age song is on the album Everything In Between on Sub Pop Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Delta Spirit song is on the album History From Below on Rounder Records. Download the song for free at Music Induced Euphoria.

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 blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 114: Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind

Another episode of the podcast is up. Special guest Dave Brigham joins me to discuss society's fascination with UFOs. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- Interest in UFOs stoked by book "Chariots of the Gods"

- Dave's interest is mixed with mockery

- Close Encounters of the Third Kind was huge

- The UFO subculture is as interesting as UFOs themselves

- If actual alien was captured, nobody would believe it

- Bigfoot sightings are still popular

- The X-Files kept all the conspiracy stuff alive

- In NM, Dave was too drunk to visit Roswell

- Dave vs. the armless panhandler

- UFOs have contributed much to pop culture

- Dave talks about his UFO concept album and novel

- UFO-related songs: Jay's favorite is Gary Numan's "Down in the Park"

- Dave says Flaming Lips' movie "Christmas on Mars" is bad

- Dave gives shout out to the Ass Ponys

- Jay hates the Stone Temple Pilots

- Dave: Split TV seasons are annoying

- Dave reflects on his childhood, UFOs

- 2012 doomsday scenarios loom

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

- Japandroids - Art Czars

- Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

- We Were Promised Jetpacks - Ships With Holes Will Sink

- Los Campesinos! - The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future

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

The Japandroids song is the first of a five-part singles series. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Yeasayer song is on the album Odd Blood on Secretly Canadian Records. Download the track for free here.

The We Were Promised Jetpacks song is on the album These Four Walls on Fat Cat Records. The Los Campesinos! song is on the album Romance is Boring on Arts and Crafts Records. Both songs are courtesy of IODA Promonet:

We Were Promised Jetpacks
"Ships With Holes Will Sink" (mp3)
from "These Four Walls"
(Fat Cat Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic Delivery
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album



Los Campesinos!
"The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future" (mp3)
from "Romance Is Boring"
(Arts & Crafts)
Buy at Napster
More On This Album

The show is sponsored by Budget, the country's premier car rental service with 900 locations. Visit Budget and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.

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 blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 113: Get in the Van

The podcast's back with special guest Dave Brigham as we discuss the fine art of the road trip. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- Dave used to do "big house tours"

- Dave and buddies bought a boogie van for big road trip

- Van broke down before they even left

- No destination in mind

- Diet of hot dogs, carrots and beer

- Got to Santa Fe, NM, but altitude was tough

- Went to Albuquerque, rented house and found jobs

- Stayed three months

- "Eat, drink, work"

- Jay did a road trip to Montreal that same spring

- Six years ago, Jay did another Montreal trip

- Jay was ill, decorated the breakdown lane all the way back

- Dave did long trip right after college graduation

- Saw Skinny Puppy play in Montreal, looked for Letterman's house in CT

- Dave and Beth drove to Toronto, then Madison, WI, then Chicago

- Jerry Springer sighting; then watched OJ Simpson chase on TV

- Jay and family drove to Disney few years ago; 22-hour drive

- Dave remembers family train trip gone awry

- Jay remembers family vacations to Florida in '70s

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

- The Drive-By Truckers - Birthday Boy

- Spoon - Written in Reverse

- Future of the Left - The Hope That House Built

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

The Drive-By Truckers song is on the album The Big To-Do on ATO Records. Find out more and download the song for free here.

The Spoon song is on the album Transference on Merge Records. The song is courtesy of IODA Promonet:

Spoon
"Written In Reverse" (mp3)
from "Transference"
(Arts & Crafts Mexico)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album



The Future of the Left song is on the album Travels With Myself and Another on 4AD Records. Download the track for free at Beggars Group USA.

The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Use these codes and save some cash: AFCOMP15 will get you 15% off any order at Eastbay.com; AFCOMP20 will get you 20% off any order of $75 or more at Eastbay.com; AFCOMPFL will get you 15% off any order at Footlocker.com.

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 blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.