Mann's World

Omar's new CD, and Triangle bloggers

I'm going to give up on sleep. And that's probably a good thing. I finally got up at 3:15 a.m. to find an e-mail from one of my most devoted Mars Volta buds with a link to download Omar's new CD, which, as far as I know, is so far only available via import or at the shows in Europe. I'm still hoping to get a copy from my Italian pal David, but for right now, I'm enjoying listening to what I can get.

Download it from a post on this Web site.


A note about the Gene Loves Jezebel show from Badger (it's in the comments in the previous post):

"By the way, Raleigh Underground is the name for the goth nights held at Legends. The concert is still being held in the same place. I know several people who've been confused by the name change."

I'll try to spread the word.

Finally, the real reason I finally got up at this awful hour was to write a short recap about the Triangle Bloggers Bash, which took place at the American Tobacco Historic District last night in Durham. Anton Zuiker, one of the prime organizers, wrote his own recap here.

Tonight was great because I finally got to put a couple of faces with names, including Tony from Half-life and Times, and Martin Johnson, who writes music articles for The N&O, but also maintains a blog for the Program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life at UNC. He filled me in on the fact that Local 506 is doing a podcast, which I will have to check out. He and Anne Bramley of eatfeed.com talked to me a bit about podcasting, which I've wanted to start doing for a while now. When I figure out a way to eliminate sleep entirely, maybe I'll get around to doing that.

I also got to meet David Warner, who does a podcast, which, in his words, showcases "the best chillout, trip hop and downtemp music on the Internet." I also met the folks from lulu.com, and upon browsing their site, found out that one of my favorite interviewees ever, Jim Space (a.k.a. Jim S. Pace, a.k.a. E.T. Rock) has a book out called "My Grandmoter was from Wales." Does anyone know if Jim is still doing E.T. Rock on public access? I just don't even watch TV at all anymore unless I'm at work (where I actually have to watch TV).

lulu.com is apparently starting something called the Blooker prize, which is supposedly a prize where lulu will publish the best book based on a blog. I tried to engage one of the judges, Paul Jones, in a dialog about my idea, which would, of course, be my Rock 'n' Roll Dreamland blog. A couple of problems there: Since I'm apparently in the minority of having weird rock dreams, there's not a whole lot of content there. And I just checked it and realized I made a post there about the Soul Food Potluck, which was intended for this blog. I need to pay better attention to that thing. I wanted to call it Nocturnal Transmission and expand to weird dreams of all types, but that name is taken, so I guess I'm out of luck. Paul, being a judge, didn't want to hear about it, so I guess I've got an opportunity to polish it up and really do something.

OK, I've been listening to this Omar CD while writing this post, and I have to say it's really, really damn good. Better than Scabdates (full review to follow at a later date), which is simultaneously brilliant and completely crappy. Download it.