Pharmaceutical Phun, Pt. 1

My summer internship thus far involves me basically going through the websites of several thousand companies and evaluating whether they are a "target candidate" for buying our product (aka salespeople call the target companies up and pester them to buy). Having made it through over 700 pharmaceutical/biotech company websites in the past two days, here are two of my favorites:

AllerPharma: While at first glance, an innocent enough allergy research organization, clicking on the "About Us" section of their website, shows their true colors: extremist Canadian nationalism. Selfish Canucks that they are, their entire mission is to prevent Canadians from the sneezes and sniffles, while leaving the rest of the world at the mercy of its own genetiic unfitness. And for awhile I thought Canada was cool just because Michael Cera, and Ellen Page, and Broken Social Scene are from there...

AnalTech: Alright, the name sort of says it all. I cannot look at the people on this page without laughing, knowing that their lives' work is spent on the cause of anal advancement.

And because I'm all about chords and beats, here's one from the post-rock-and-rollers-turned-Paw-Tracks-poseurs, Sigur Ros. Plus, a video with naked chicks and dicks. Alright.

Memorial Day

This weekend I realized a few things: I can perpetually watch Arrested Development and not get tired of it. I can also eat lots of fried food and feel great. Mint chip ice cream is okay when it's free.

This is wacky.

Portraits of Past - A Reunion

Legendary San Francisco hardcore punk band, Portraits of Past, will be playing a reunion show in their home town this August, their first show in over 14 years. Following this will be a gig at 924 Gilman St. in Berkeley, CA with supporting acts: Comadre, Phoenix Bodies, and La Quiete. TBA dates to be held in New York and elsewhere. Shows not to miss.

Portraits of Past circa 1995

La Quiete in 2006 with Westford's own Ryan Greaves
(I was also at this show.)

First day of work tomorrow. (Wish me luck.)

Portraits of Past (San Francisco)
La Quiete (Bologna, Italy)

Sequestered in Westford

Just finished watching Juno...a pretty solid flick, hard not to fall in love with Ellen Page watching it. Movies like that always leave me not fully impressed by the end, but put me in a state for awhile afterwards. Hard to describe, but I'm kind of jazzed out right now.

Then I get back to my computer and what do I find, but a new track by the Hold Steady. And boy howdy, it's the good ol' boys at it again. There's something about the Hold Steady that always gets me, just great lyrics about getting kicks and the sadness of life mixed with heavy riffage...it's like Kerouac fronting a lunch-pail rock band. Anywho, here's the tune.

The Hold Steady-Sequestered in Memphis

Well That Was Boring

I spent five and a half hours today at the Suffolk Superior Courthouse in Government Center doing my civic duty of sitting around being really fucking bored while the State meticulously chose juries for its cases. When I finally got called along with over 100 other people to be screened for the selection of a jury of 14 for a criminal case, I liked my odds.

The case was basically about a middle-aged Latino man from Jamaica Plains (who had an interpreter...he didn't seem to speak English) who alleged raped his girlfriend's 14 year-old daughter in their house. I really didn't want to be chosen and have to sit and listen to the graphic details of such a sensitive case, especially since it was estimated to last about 4 days.

But I didn't get chosen and I'm finally settling in for the summer. Let's hope it's a good one.

Derrick Morgan-Tougher Than Tough (Rudie in Court)

Go Eagles

Went to BC to visit Colin then saw Cut Copy with Black Kids at the Paradise. Not what I expected but still a decent show. Had one of these:


(Seagram's Green Machine) Yep.

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day. I love you mom. In other news:

Don Caballero (Damon Che: drums, Jason Jouver: bass, and Gene Doyle: guitar) is set to enter the studio this week to record their new full-length album, titled Punkgasm.

Don Caballero will return to Rust Belt Studios in Michigan with producer / engineer Al Sutton to record Punkgasm. Working song titles include: “Slaughbaughs Ought Not Own Dog Data," "Aw Man, That`s Jive Skip," and "Bulkeye."

Founding member Che comments on the new material; “I know this sounds like an obligatory and potentially phony statement but, I at least, firmly believe this will be the 'best Caballero yet'. All clichés be detonated.”

Punkgasm is expected to see a late Summer ’08 release via Relapse. Further album details will be made available shortly.

Cool.

Tapping at the speed of sound.

Formed a Blog

In order to compete with the hippest and most literate minds of our generation, I have signed on to participate in this internet blogging experience. I have some pretty important things to say, so this should be a great privilege for all. While I haven't talked it over with Ben, I think the vibe we are going for on this thing is Perez Hilton meets Gorilla vs. Bear meets To Catch a Predator. All in all, this should be a very enlightening and exciting adventure in art and culture.

As the formation of this blog is only Stage One of our conquest of the scene, Stage Two will involve us rapidly ascending the charts of the Hype Machine and Elbo.ws as an mp3 blog of unparalleled eclecticism and timeliness. During Stage Three we will emerge as one of the most reliable remix/mashup duos to ever grace the realm of blog house. Stage Four will be marked by incessant touring and festival-headlining for our LPs that will redefine the way that people think of music in the context of their lives.

Until then, stay tuned.

Art Brut-Formed a Band

Turnarounds

Yesterday I went to visit Alison at Wellesley with Ali. We played a long game of catch up in the car and visited Providence on the way. Incidentally, Providence is not on the way to Wellesley.