dealership

wednesday, march 28 (01)   [link]

chrisw:  Song championing: it happens in every band...and the practice determines what you get to hear on albums and in concert. How it has played out in Dealership is kind of interesting.


"What," you ask, "are you talking about, Chris?" Well, in bands with a collaborative writing process (like ours is now), certain songs may prove difficult to develop, requiring one or more of the band members to actively campaign for its completion.


At various times, any one of us has had to either shepherd a song or become its chief "architect." To my recollection, Toujours Ta Fille was only completed thanks to Jane's advocacy. We all attempted to do something with this old CASIO of mine - we had a basic pulse, bassline, and one snippet of a keyboard part - but Chris and I hit a wall early. For weeks, Jane wrestled with the thing, creating part after part on the keyboard, rehearsal after rehearsal. Her sweat paid off, she constructed lyrics, a melody, and this beautiful cross-handed accompaniment and we had a song.


Chris G. has championed many of our songs. What stands out in my mind is California. We had a little repeated figure that sounded pleasant, and Chris would often play it at the beginning of rehearsals. It wasn't so much that he was insisting, I think he just had this interesting problem which he wanted to solve. It seemed like, for a few weeks anyway, we'd start every rehearsal with it and vamp on it for twenty minutes or so. It was kind of grueling, at the time Jane and I had these skeletal parts and Chris had to carry both the harmonic and rhythmic motion. He hammered away until actual distinctive sections were formed and this great melody appeared.


I did obsessively champion Green, nearly to death. Me:"Hey let's play that Loud Is Loud [first title] song again! I've got another section maybe that we can add to it." I was shooting, structurally, for the feeling of accelerated shifting ground ("let's have five or six different sections!"), that I thought would be akin to the shifting perceptions of your peers that you felt during puberty, the abrupt re-classification of some of them: from playmates to sexual partners. And in addition to carrying that burden, I wanted it to be fun and kinda punk-y. Jeesh, what a dorcus. Nowadays, I aim a little lower: I just concentrate on creating a part I can play without dropping a stick. And I almost have that down, I'd like you to know.


This all comes to mind, because there's a song we're working on which I can't get off of my mind, which I'm considering championing. We're calling it "Bridgeless," though all of our titles are 'working titles' until they actually appear on a record or CD jacket. And even then, one of us may insist on calling the song something different :-)

monday, march 19 (01)   [link]

jane:  show diary:


as tired as i am, it feels *so* good not to be going in to work today!


well, they said it was crazy but we survived... our mini road trip. we left on saturday morning - at least, we had *planned* to leave in the morning, but i was still hurriedly throwing clothes into my travel bag at 11:00. for some reason, i picked clothing that was shades of green (perhaps subconsciously i realized it was St. Patrick's Day). not only that, but cw and i ended up wearing shirts of the *exact* same color. whoa.


anyway, by the time we'd gotten our gear together and made it to cg's house in San Francisco, it was near noon. cg was nowhere to be found as he had run out to get coffee and was still looking for parking when we we arrived. he was forgiven because he got coffee for all of us.


on the road: our soundtrack consisted of eighties tapes from cg's "new wave Nagel" birthday party, Abba Gold, Air Supply's Greatest Hits (much to cw's dismay), Ladytron, and selections from 69 Love Songs. as is our time-honored ritual we stopped for a late lunch at Coalinga, the mecca of civilization in the wasteland that is the Interstate 5 - at the Red Robin. they advertised "bottomless steak fries"; however, we (wisely, i think) chose not to exercise that option.


we finally rolled into costa mesa around 8 that evening. our friend lauren was putting us up at her posh pad which included such amenities as a swimming pool, a picturesque lagoon, a tennis court, and a jacuzzi. of course, she had neglected to *tell* us all this, so we didn't bring our tennis whites! maybe next time.


after settling in and having a beer with our charming and wonderful hostess, we got some food at Jerry's famous Deli. i had the corned beef and cabbage because it was, after all, St. Patrick's Day (although lauren told me an old Irish guy told her that it's not an authentic Irish dish at all). then it was time to head over to the famous Kona Bowl for some karaoke, OC style!


it's hard to really describe the karaoke lounge at the Kona Bowl, but perhaps i can begin to do so by mentioning that it was in a strip mall bowling alley. the mc was a wild-eyed man with long, curly locks worthy of the greatest hair metal bands in history, who had plugged his guitar into the PA and would play along with the guitar solos (and i assure you, many of the available songs featured guitar solos.) cg made a friend - a woman who could have been the love child of Janis Joplin and Ozzi Osborne - whose name was either Alice or Mouse. honestly, we don't know. we dealerkids hung back for awhile (which is, frankly, uncharacteristic behavior of the chrises in karaoke bars) but right around 1:30 am inspiration hit and cg and i wrapped up the festivities with a messy but stirring rendition of that new wave anthem, kim wilde's "kids in america".


the next morning didn't actualy get started until around noon. we dropped by a local coffee shop to fuel up (it's kind of amazing how every retail space in Orange County is nestled cozily in a strip mall) and then went to the famous Mimi's Cafe for brunch (also located in a strip mall). cg and i had the exact same meal. he often copies my orders in restaurants. perhaps he sees me as a role model. anyway, we ate and drank until we were beyond the point of being full (we would realize later that this whole day would be about eating and/or drinking).


sated, we wandered off to Fashion Island for some quality shopping, although the only thing we actually bought were sunglasses. we weren't really in the mood to try on clothes, feeling rather full from the huge meal we'd just consumed. not too full, however, that we didn't refrain from getting delicious sorbets - yummy blood orange flavor (and cg copied my order AGAIN.)


then we drove in lauren's brand-new and appropriately huge black truck (because everyone in OC/LA seems to buy outrageously enormous personal transportation vehicles) down to laguna beach, searching for a spot on the beach where we could - yes - eat and drink some more. we rejected a couple of spots for being way too crowded (apparently everyone had the same idea we had) and finally found a nice little table where i could settle in for a bloody mary (which, of course, cg ordered as well. sheesh. sometimes i think he is mocking me.)


it was almost time for the show. we piled back into the minivan and put on Black Celebration - to get us in the mood -and headed down to Koo's. singing Depeche Mode songs cheerfully at the top of our lungs, we pulled up to an unassuming little house on Main Street with a small sign above the porch that read "Koo's Cafe".


as we were loading in, Kiss Kill You were setting up. they played a short but electric set which involved 2 guitars, bass, breakneck drums, and the occasional keyboard/maracas/trumpet. believe me, it all worked beautifully. amazing to find out that this was their third show ever! they kindly loaned us their keyboard stand (which we had stupidly forgotten to pack - there's always something!) and then we set up and played. as usual, it seemed to be over in a flash... i don't know how that happens. anyway, there were a lot of our die-hard fans there - jason m., who hand-delivered to me those delicious samoas i had been craving; justin r., whose band had just played a couple nights before; a kid with the coolest mohawk who requested "twins" (what?!?); as well as several of cg's oldest and dearest friends, including his mom nancy. they all seemed to enjoy the show. i hope so.


our set list:
all the kids
forest
endless affair
anarchy in the uk
database corrupted
for sale
two turns
nerdy girl
green


by the time we were into our last song, it was quite crowded and getting hot and sweaty - after all, this was a balmy night in SoCal, and we were packed into a tiny room, and the excitement over Trackstar's upcoming set was mounting. they had a new drummer with them and they sounded great, as dynamically dramatic as ever and with Wyatt's vocals tumbling between tender whispers and impassioned screams. we had planned to leave before then (since we were driving straight home - the chrises unwisely didn't take time off Monday - silly boys!) but somehow we were unable to tear ourselves away from the sights and sounds...


after their set, we traded photo ops with Wyatt (we got a really good portrait, we'll put it up) and then took pictures outside of the club with cg's friends and family.


about a quarter to midnight, sadly bidding adieu to all - and to the bands we weren't able to see, most unfortunately - we all piled into the trusty minivan again.


the soundtrack: more Stephen Merrit (with us loudly singing along); the abominable John Tesh Project (we could only listen to a few songs off this remarkable album before we chucked it); Madonna's latest; and maybe some other stuff as i drifted off to sleep dreaming of nick drake. it was a perfect nick drake night, the road was quiet and still, the stars were out - in fact we saw a shooting star - and as we rolled into San Francisco the sky turned that beautiful just-before-dawn blue set off by the pale lights of the office buildings downtown... you know, sometimes it's fun to be driving home at 5:30 in the morning. it's so peaceful and dreamy, and reminds me of the rave days when we used to drive home right around dawn wearing sunglasses and coming down gently...


road trips should be more like this!


thanks again to everyone who came and supported us; to koo's for putting on a truly kick-ass show; and to lauren most of all for putting us up (and putting up with us). cheers, see you all next time!

friday, march 16 (01)   [link]

chrisw:  "They" sleep at night...somehow - perhaps it is easier for "Them", their beds warmed with the intense effort it must require to keep up their rationalizations.


"They" are the RIAA. And it's safe to say that they have engaged in a remarkable legal hyprocrisy for the last year or so. In the same legal breath, they argue that:


1. Napster and other internet services should pay them for downloads of MP3s but...
2. When "They" offer MP3s, they shouldn't have to pay whomever wrote the song!


(In more detail: they specifically don't want to pay publishers. Publishers pay the authors of the songs. That is how they get paid!) I..I...I can't say anything. If Wired announces tomorrow that the RIAA have been in contact with Neo-Nazi organizations who are harvesting artists' organs, selling them on the black market, and then suing the artists' for any defects in the organs - it's barely going to register - I'm going to assume they've been doing that for years.


I'm going to fix the message board this weekend. I assumed - uh- and this is really funny, I assumed no one would post more than 5 messages to a single thread. I thought it would be a year or so before I would have to worry about that(!) Sorry, about that. I fix now! Before we leave Saturday for Santa Ana!

thursday, march 15 (01)   [link]

chrisg:  mmm, i watched julia and jacques make beef burgundy the other day. it looked so tasty! then they told me it took them 5 hours to make. i went down the street and got a burrito instead.


in other news, i was watching something about the school shooting down in san diego, and it struck me that killers and sociopaths often are known by three names. Charles Andrews Williams is now joining the leagues of John Wayne Gacy, Keith Hunter Jesperson, Dayton Leroy Rogers, Albert De Salvo, Jack The Ripper, Son Of Sam... Okay, so maybe those last ones are stretching it, but I think if I were ever to really research it I might verify my hypothesis.


and of course, there's a litany of other people we know by three names, but they just happen not to have bludgeoned anyone (yet). like charles nelson reilly, george w. bush, and john wayne bobbitt.


the only time i ever really heard my middle name growing up was when my mom was mad at me. i guess, if you're a sociopath, your mom's mad at you all the time, right? and so she's always saying your middle name. maybe eventually it just sticks.

thursday, march 15 (01)   [link]

jane:  i miss the good old days.


the days when there used to be something decent to watch on saturday mornings.


don't get me wrong, i adore julia and jacques; but network cartoons right now are SO BAD that it makes me very, very sad.

tuesday, march 13 (01)   [link]

chrisw:  Even knowing that it's the most over-reported-about game *ever*, I still have to say chime in: Final Fantasy IX for the Playstation is beautiful... I've looked at Jane's PS2 once or twice and gotten to watch the between-action cinemas. (Tip: Do not try and touch the controller, console, TV, or remote control of same when Jane is playing. You were warned.)


When the photorealistic CG movie of the same name premieres (only related to the game in look and sensibility), will you see it? Here's a review by some people who've seen a 17 minute-or-so preview.


And those of you who love the Sandman series as I do, probably already know that Neil Gaiman has a weblog. But in case you didn't...

monday, march 12 (01)   [link]

jane:  my goodness, is it really spring? in my heart i know it to be true...


i was walking to work this morning in a cotton sweater and i began to feel warm. women around me were wearing skirts and cute little shoes that showed off their manicured toes. yep, it's gotta be spring. and you know what that means? yes, i too need new shoes that show off my toes. and a new wardrobe. but most importantly, it means we need a new spring website!


i don't know why we dealerkids started with this whole seasonal versioning thing. maybe it's the influence of fashion (chris g and i follow it avidly; chris w works in the retail industry, tangentially). and maybe it's just that, as seasons change, so do our moods, and the desire to see new things in our little web world.


so in other words, you can expect a new version of the site soon - I hope by the end of march. It will have a lot of the old functionality and categories, plus some new ones. And if you have any requests, now is the time to speak up, so we can write them into the designs.


well, I'm off to dream of going to the beach. failing that, since i'm not actually allowed to just walk out of here to go to the beach, i'm going to picture myself racing MarioKarts on Koopa Troopa beach. the music is so soothing yet fun at the same time...

thursday, march 8 (01)   [link]

jane:  Girl Scout cookie season - and i forgot to get my favorite, the coconut ones! (i forget what they are called - i always want to call them "Samoans" but that can't be right...).


i was able to pick up some do-si-dos (peanut butter - yum! almost as good as the kind chris g makes when he's bored) and some trefoils ("old-fashioned shortbread" is the subtitle on the box - hmmm. we'll just see about that.) anyways, they make a perfect little mid-morning snack that breaks up that tiresome hiatus between breakfast (which these days is just coffee) and lunch (which is often scavenged from stuff lying around the office).


game update: just got Ogre Battle 64 (for N64, duh) and Oni (PS2). man, talk about two of the most complicated console games ever. OB64 is a real-time strategy with pretty inferior graphics (which doesn't matter really as long as the gameplay is interesting) and it's a bitch to figure out all the different commands. and the so-called tutorial didn't really help at all. however, from experience i know that once i've actually figured it out, a game like this can be richly rewarding. it's so satisfying sometimes to kick ass on a grand scale.


speaking of ass-kicking, the character you get to play in Oni rocks. she is an anime-inspired super-babe with acrobatic moves and a powerful plasma rifle. what's tough is learning to control her many, many moves and fight combos AND remember to switch over to the rifle when you need to, without dropping it by accident. this tutorial is much better than the one for OG64, as it actually allows you to practice your moves (rather than throwing masses of information at you like a manual and not allowing you any control.) so far i've only played the tutorial and the first level, and i am quite disappointed by the unimaginative, completely uninspired level designs but the complexity itself seems interesting, and i like the intriguing combination of fighter/3rd person shooter. the plot promises some twists and turns as well.


side note: i can't wait till Onimusha comes out!!!!

thursday, march 1 (01)   [link]

jane:  What happened? I was getting all ready for spring and then today the weather just turned on me.


Speaking of getting ready for spring, we at dealerkids.com are getting ready to launch many new things. New website - with much the design and functionality of this current design, but with a pretty new look. New album - I SWEAR! And new something else... a secret for now... don't worry, we'll let you all in soon!


And maybe some new sections for the site. More stuff to read. Maybe some games to play. Maybe some Flash for those who want it (or can see it.) More, more, more!


And maybe some new shoes for me. It's about time. I've been thinking about this forever. And a haircut. God, my hair is so long.


And some new games. I'm sick of Summoner. (I've been re-playing it). Haven't gotten into FFIX yet. Today I did a little browsing on Amazon and on Daily Radar to look for more games that are kinda my style...I've heard so much about SSX, maybe it's time to play it. That's why we need to start a video games review section, so I can get this shit for FREE! Yeah!


Anyways, spring is the time for growing things and growing collections of shoes and games and away I go with a smile...