Archive for August 2005

Today was the day I finally came out of my shock and broke down in tears, just feeling so helpless and depressed over what’s going on down in New Orleans and that whole area.  I’m worried about the few people I know down there, selfishly glad I don’t know more and glad I got a chance to visit the place and play there a few times before its ruination.  The only concrete thing I could think of to do was to donate some money to the Red Cross, so that’s what I did.  It wasn’t a lot but I gave as much as I could, and I hope y’all will think about doing it too if you haven’t already.  I’m not saying that to get all self-righteous and moralistic on ya, it just made me feel a little better, a little less helpless, and maybe it’ll do the same for you.  Click here, or if you can’t get through to their website then call to donate at 1-800-HELP-NOW.

This is a great book on productivity, if you like that sort of thing.  Ironically, the frickin’ thing took me at least a month to read, and another month or two to blog about.  But to give myself a little credit, I did use that time well — I read the book, heard the audiobook version, and heard the audiobook of the sequel Ready For Anything.  Am I actually getting more done though?  Eh.  Maybe… I am getting a lot better at writing things down at any rate, in a quest to achieve that elusive "mind like water".  And it’s cleared away any guilt over certain fetishes I’ve had for years, like my infatuation with office supplies, and my love of BAGS of all shapes and sizes.  It’s also gotten me into various GTD-related blogs like the excellent 43 Folders and Lifehacker.  That can’t hurt.  But I’m still looking for the perfect organizational method for all my lists and notes.  Should I use a Circa system?  Stick with Palm Desktop and sync it up with my Treo, or find yet another software solution?  Or go the other direction and keep a Hipster PDA and/or a DIY Planner?  Bigass text file?  Argh.  It’s all so much fun, just pure pornography for a gal like me, a compulsive system-tweaker who’d much rather play around with paper and software than actually do anything in Real Life, y’know.  Seems like a lot of us GTD converts are prone to that.

Photos by Eric Ziegenhagen

Word on my new album finally broke on the Drag City website:

"Edith Frost had been MIA for a couple years there until last summer or so, when she broke radio silence and started playing gigs around town. Then over the winter, she even toured! There were new songs in the sets sometimes and things started to get awesome. Then this Spring, she got combative, stressing to us that a record needed to be made right away! We’ve been saying this for a few years now, but we jerked her chain for awhile, just digging the vibe she was putting out. Then we steered her to the studio with just a few friends and musician types to accompany her. The result is a sweet new album of Edith’s best new love and love-lost tunes. It’s called It’s a Game and you’ll be hearing a lot more about it before it finally comes out on November 15th."

(Drawing by Laura Park)

The band Canasta at the Beat Kitchen on Saturday night

Top of the World, a mural by Jeff Zimmerman on the corner of Damen & Lake

Thomas, an old friend from high school, just sent word about Biscuit’s passing yesterday.  There’s an article about it in the Statesman but it doesn’t give much info.  (Use BugMeNot if you can’t get in to read that.) Biscuit was absolutely one of the key leaders of the music scene I first jumped into (as a fan) as soon as I was old enough to pass for drinking age (even if I wasn’t).  In the early 80s I saw the Big Boys countless times at the Ritz, Club Foot, Liberty Lunch and God knows how many other joints in Austin.  They were probably my favorite band to see live just because they were SO MUCH FUN, and that had everything to do with Biscuit’s infectious enthusiasm for the music, the kids, the whole scene.  The motto went "Now go start your own band!" and I wouldn’t be surprised if that one phrase helped to spawn hundreds of other bands directly or indirectly.  I remember thinking at the time that it sounded a little corny, but the phrase stuck in my head from then on.  There was no denying he was right… you have to get out there and do it, there’s no other way in this world but to just do whatever it is that you love.  Biscuit, wherever you are, god bless ya for giving us that kick in the ass!  You were an inspiration to so many kids like me.  I only wish I could’ve said all this just a few days earlier. :-(

The Dictionary.com Word of the Day is "ephemeral"….

A present from Laura Park.  :-) Did I tell y’all she’s doing all the lettering and drawings for my new album?  It kicks ass, you’ll see.

Since it’s my birthday, and just to say thanks for waiting so long for new music from me, I’d like to give y’all a present!  It’s an outtake from the IT’S A GAME sessions.  I hope you like it.  :-) Believe me, the actual album sounds a whoooooooole helluva lot better than this, hoo-wee!  But it’s just too fuckin’ funny not to share.

Download

Today’s my 41st birthday!  And, not that one has anything to do with the other, but the time is finally right to talk a little bit about my new album It’s a Game.  It’s going to be released on CD and LP, on November 15th if all goes as we hope, or even if it doesn’t!  On Drag City of course, catalog # DC301.  What you’re lookin’ at up there is some proposed poster art, not the cover — I’m keeping that under wraps until we get it all finalized, but you’ll see it soon enough.  That poster photo was taken by Eric Ziegenhagen just last week at the Palmer House downtown — it got dolled up and pinkified by Dan Osborn, who’s doing the album layout like he’s done for all my rekkids.

Read the rest of this entry »

Me and the great Spot captured by Eric last night at the Hideout in Chicago.

Eric Ziegenhagen (top) and Spot (bottom) playing last night at the Hideout

Eric took this pic today (=yesterday), of me and John Cunningham from the band Canasta… I guess this is a good opportunity to plug the fact that I sang some backup vocals for a song that’ll be on their new record We Were Set Up, coming out in October.  They’re playing on the 20th at the Beat Kitchen and doing CMJ this year as well, so catch ‘em whenever you can, they’re very good.

Smog on Thursday night at the Empty Bottle