And... Go.

So, Smile is finally being released . (If you'd like a brief explanation of what this means in a cultural context, go here .) I got a copy two days ago... And trying to figure out how to listen to it for the first time, I settled on putting it on my discman and going for a walk. The sun was just setting. And I just wandered around, listening. Taking pictures. Moving roughly northwest thru Manhattan. And it's incredible. I can quite honestly say that I've been waiting my entire life to hear this record... And somehow it's as good as I imagined. Brian Wilson got it exactly right. First day of a new job. First day of a new season. And a sense of just... Disbelief that this music finally exists in a complete form, and an overwhelming happiness that it's everything I hoped it could be. I'm going to enjoy this Fall. -PAR

So, it's the last day of summer. And it feels like it. Been really cold the last few days. Need blankets on the bed. Whiskey suits better than gin and tonics. And then today, it's warm and lovely... And that somehow makes sense. It's been a hell of a season. One long series of off-balance hops and sucker-punch recoveries. Lots of plans out the window, and spur-of-the-moment improv in their place. As of today I'm employed again, after starting off May with two jobs, having none by mid-August... After a month of selling off records to make ends meet, pounding the city streets to hand in resumes and interview for different places, and having to battle my not-inconsiderable pride and learn to gracefully accept friends offering to help me out. Nothing much has gone as expected, and it's taken me a lot of time to accept my lack of control, remember how to stop trying so goddamn hard, and just trust. So now, the heat lifts and things start falling into p...

I think benjones ' sign said it all. -PAR

Nothing invokes excitement like getting home at midnight to find your street blocked off by three hook-and-ladders, and your bulding full of dudes in helmets and oxygen masks wielding pickaxes and looking for the boiler room. Thankfully, it was a false alarm. -PAR

It's a quiet Thursday with nothing to do... So benjones and I pull out the phones, call lots of people, and invite them over to Jigsaw to hang out and drink bourbon. -PAR

A folding table in a concrete playground, a stack of speakers, 2 turntables, a crate of records, and about thirty people... Serious straight-up old-school, right down to the little kid in a Spider-Man tee-shirt riding a big-wheel around in circles. DJs taking turns spinning, rotating MCs on the lone microphone. Drinking from bottles in paper bags. And then the generator died, and everything went quiet for a second... Until they start it up again, and the familiar honk of "900 #" pumps thru the speakers. -PAR