radio radio and new friends

i just found out that i will be on the radio at a much better time this semester: tuesdays from 3.00-5.15 (est) in the afternoon. you can stream the show during that time by going to the wcbn website. i start this tuesday. for those in and around ann arbor, the station is wcbn 88.3 fm.

i've also got some new friends these days. here are some more photos.

the dude

curtis 2
Originally uploaded by rswells.

brother curtis made the first ever bowling team at shawnee mission east high school a few weeks ago; the young man promptly rolled an impressive 239 yesterday at the first day of practice.

bargain blaze

ok, since so many of my ann arbor counterparts and colleagues are now busily blogging away, here's a little something from me, as 2006 is now nigh.

records purchased today:
{@ the music exchange in westport - sadly, this warehouse will be going out of business in the next month and it really is kc's big-time record store. everything 35% off}
esther phillips - 'from a whisper to a scream'
love unlimited orchestra - 'music maestro please'
shirley bassey - 'is really something'
player - 's/t'
charles wright and the 103rd st rhythm band - 'express yourself'
crown heights affair - 'sure shot'
the andrea true connection - 'more, more, more' (disco single)
jan hammer group - 'oh, yeah?'
al di meola - 'land of the midnight sun'
david crosby - 'if i could only remember my name...'
captain beyond - 's/t'
{@ 1/2 price books in westport. some cost 50 cents, nothing over $5}
eddie kendricks - 's/t'
carole king - 'music'
stevie wonder - 'characters'
al green - 'green is blues'
bobby caldwell - 'cat in the hat'
wes montgomery - 'a day in the life'
grover washington, jr - 'feels so good'
michael mcdonald - 'if that's what it takes'
young mc - 'bust a move' (single, no joke)

currently reading: pnin by vladimir n.
currently bumming because: yao ming will be out 4-6 weeks with a toe injury, which completely throws off my nba fantasy squad
last movie watched: munich last night with parents and brother jay. super-intense and i think i liked it. still waiting to see syriana, though.
record of the year: broken social scene - 's/t'
movie of the year: grizzly man

late break update

pink champagne cupcakes at mom's 50th
Originally uploaded by rswells.

i had my fall break 2 weekends ago. fun times for serious. first my parents flew up here to ann arbor, and together we took in an amazing paul mccartney concert that friday night, an impressive michigan football game the next day, and numerous good meals. paul pulled out all the stops, the wolverines won on the final play of the game, and i ate a rainbow trout wrapped in prosciutto (aka fancy bacon). then we all flew back to kc on sunday to celebrate mom's 50th birthday the next tuesday. she had a "game party" with an ivitation list of 50 femmes. i also got a chance to spend a fine night in lawrence with the crew. photos of the extended weekend can be seen by clicking here.

all was going well and more or less according to plan...until the travel day from h-e-double hockey sticks on that thursday. i arrived at kci around 8.30am and was supposed to arrive at detroit at 12.45pm on northwest airlines. after one first class upgrade wasted, 2 ginger ales, a pepperoni pizza bagel that made me say "oh my gross" out loud as i consumed it, a maintenance issue with an electrical box on the first plane, which never took off, a long wait in a long line to get re-routed, a $5 calling card courtesy of nw airlines as a compensation for my troubles, a flight to minneapolis, a dinner at chili's too where i finished reading MRS. DALLOWAY, a flat tire and a missing co-pilot on my third plane, which did eventually take off for detroit, a long wait for a shuttle to the big blue deck parking facility, a gas stop to fill up my car, and a key episode of LOST missed, i arrived in ann arbor after 10.30pm.

uh-oh, ab came to town

abbey hugs trees
Originally uploaded by rswells.

although a few days removed, images and sensations from last weekend continue to linger and loiter about my mind. yes, the young doctor made a visit. unfortunately, she spent most of the weekend rather pissed - both in the american and the british sense. indeed, after a beer.5 she'd start rambling on about how much she liked this band called the fire arcade and then go on and on about the weather, footwear, her extensive "running," and disease. she referred to these things as "phernomener."

on saturday, however, things settled down, or should i say brightened up, when we went to ann arbor's arborous arboretum after walking through a protest on campus against the war. i had never been to such a place before, thus my reaction. abbey, on the other hand, maintained her dour disposition until she found a lonely tree that, much like herself, was in need of a little tlc. meanwhile, i proceeded to make a fake firearm and aim it at the dorky dorm kids that tried in vain to play ultimate frisbee and other simple, relatively unatheltic games, like catch.

later in the afternoon, we took in a funny film, THE BAXTER, done by the same people who did THE STATE and WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER. we both laughed and laughed.

sunday meant studyday, at least for a while. a-b read from a book that looked to weigh as many kilograms as she, while i finished off a novel called THE VOYEUR by a. robbe-grillet. i drank my raspbetty tea and she an amerispresso. the weekend's highlight came that night: 2nd row tickets to INTERPOL. when i screamed out "STELLA!" they went right into "stella was a diver and she was always down." whether they heard me or not, i'm still not sure - you tell me. no photos, sadly, but we both looked really good and my red umbrella matched her red hoodie.

in the end, she also listened to my heart. with her stethoscope.

(one other thing, anyone interested in downloading previous radio shows of mine - i've only done two, one more tonight - can click on this link for access. just click on either sept 16th or 23rd and then the 3, 4, or 5 am options and it will take you to a realplayer to stream the show.)

do i do

dinner
Originally uploaded by rswells.

last night, i drank a couple imports while watching a french film - i'm trying to watch all of the movies in the antoine doinel series by f. truffaut - in my "tv room," before doing some dancing and getting into some bacchanalia at the BANG!

on thursday night / friday morning, i had my first radio show of the semester on WCBN FM ANN ARBOR at the ungodly hour of 3-6am (2-5am cst). my first set went like this, starting from the top:

the velvet underground - satellite of love (demo)
bill withers - lovely day
bobbi humphrey - uno está
pavement - no tan lines
q-tip - let's ride
lowrell - mellow mellow, right on

if you want to review the rest of my playlist, you can go to the WCBN website and search for it under "playlists." i can tell you right now, though, that "remember" by air from MOON SAFARI shall serve as next week's opening theme.

i had one caller phone in, asking me what song i was playing at that moment because he thought it was cool, which made the whole thing worth it. (the song, by the way, was donny hathaway's live cover of john lennon's "jealous guy.") it was fun to be djing again, no doubt, even though only a handful of people probably heard me. it is also fun to be able to say hello to more people in this city. people that i've already met through the radio radio. in the city that already puts a foreboding faint chill into its arborous air.

one other recent development of note can be viewed in this post's photo. yes, i now am the proud owner of a grill or grille. this, of course, brings me one step closer to becoming an M-A-N.

in other news

this is what the face of venus looks like.