After 16 years (and at least five years of teasing from Robert Smith), it feels totally surreal that the new album from The Cure is suddenly here. Get thee to your favorite streaming service (to listen) and your favorite local record store (to purchase).
Music
The Vibe
This round of COVID seems to be in the rearview mirror. In just a few more days I can be unmasked around people. Thank goodness I had a super mild case. Honestly, if my second boyfriend hadn’t tested positive, I would have just thought I had allergies or a light head cold. I am super happy it wasn’t worse.
Anyhoo … Here’s the 1999 Music Flashback Vibe for the day.
Upcoming [PSB Edition]
Pretty stoked to wake up to an announcement of Nonetheless, the new album from Pet Shop Boys! It will be released via Parlophone Records on April 26th.
Track Listing:
– Loneliness
– Feel
– Why am I dancing?
– New London boy
– Dancing star
– A new bohemia
– The schlager hit parade
– The secret of happiness
– Bullet for Narcissus
– Love is the law
The 2CD and double white vinyl deluxe editions of “Nonetheless“ include the bonus four-track EP, “Furthermore”, featuring completely new recordings of “Heart”, “Being boring”, “Always on my mind” and “It’s a sin”.
Of course, I have preordered the deluxe vinyl, deluxe CD, and the “Loneliness” CD single from their UK store (the US store isn’t offering the CD single). Plus, I should get a signed art card from the boys (exclusive to the UK store). Whoot, whoot!
You can stream the new single, “Loneliness” (featuring two non-album tracks) on all music streaming services and see the official video over on YouTube.
Mood Ring [Music Edition]
This is how things feel right now.
And So …
Saltburn got me all like …
Certain Signals
The Bucket List [SP Edition]
I have been remiss in crowing about how I will get to finally see Skinny Puppy LIVE next month! I am not sure who likes me up there, but they are playing The Orange Peel in Asheville on April 15 … and, apparently, the show is SOLD OUT. Now, I just need to make sure that I am right down front so I can get splashed with some of the fake blood. Whoot!
Anthem
Things and Stuff
Life is still chugging along in its crazy, maddening, and somewhat weird way. Labor day has now come and gone and there’s definitely a hint of fall in the air. Love it!
Speaking of Labor Day …
We kicked off the holiday weekend by meeting up with the local gay group at one of our local breweries. This is a pretty new group and it’s been fun to get to know some gay men (and women!) that actually live in Waynesville.
That Saturday, we attended the last of the summer “gays only” pool parties that we have been getting invited to over in Asheville. The weather was supposed to be dodgy, but it ended up being a super nice day.
The pool before being tainted by all the homos …
We went to a “guys only” cookout the next day and that was pretty nice as well … even though we got stuck inside the whole time because the weather did end up being super dodgy that day.
So, all in all, it was a pretty gay Labor Day weekend!
In non-gay news …
I have finally started going through records that I have been given over the past several years and have been trying to salvage the ones that are not too beat up. Since I don’t have a fancy (or non-fancy) record cleaner, I will wash mine in the sink with a little soap and water. That can sometimes help tremendously if all you are dealing with is fingerprints or mold (or both) on the vinyl. And it’s always amusing the see them drying in the dish drainer.
And finally … here is Chip being cute as fuck.
SQUEE!
I couldn’t resist pre-ordering this for my vinyl collection!
Hey. Hi. Hello.
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Not much has been going on here other than my standard “work, eat, sleep, be depressed” routine. I have not had much energy about posting here (shocker!) because day in and day out seems to be the same ole, same ole.
I did actually have a vacation scheduled last month … to a gay campground in Florida! But, guess who got sick with strep the day before we were supposed to fly down. You guessed it. I ended up home sick and missed the vacation while David got to go. It’s hard not to feel like the universe has it in for you when shit like this happens.
During REI’s member discount sale, I did finally pull the trigger on a new sleeping pad for my backpacking adventure. You can see in the pictures that the new pad packs much, much smaller than the Thermarest that I have been carrying for 20+ years. Over the past three years, I have managed to replace all my old gear. The only thing I want now is a more compact camp stove (and maybe a lightweight camp chair) and I will be fully set!
And … I am stupid excited to finally have acquired a copy of Austra‘s debut album, Feel it Break, on vinyl. I have been looking for a copy of this for quite a while. Whoo!
And, yeah. Sunrise in the mountains never gets old …
In movie news … Robert Eggers’ The Northman opens next week and I can’t fucking wait!
Mid-Winter Blahs
Yeah. I am officially stuck with a case of the mid-winter blahs. The weather has been too cold to get out and do anything outdoorsy and I am tired of being stuck inside. The weekly Saturday Firepit sessions with Shortlegs and Co. are currently on hold because the weather has been too cold, rainy, or snowy for us to gather. It’s my sanity break for the week and I miss it terribly. C’mon, spring!
Speaking of snow … we ended up getting about 9″ last Sunday! It’s about time we got some of the fringe benefits of winter.
A few weeks ago, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my trusty iPhone X to a spankingly new iPhone 13 Pro. I am now in debt on the damn thing for 2-12 years! Sheesh. It’s almost like having a car payment. I initially had buyer’s remorse but eventually got over that. The camera alone was worth the upgrade. *drools*
I was reshelving some movies last week and made a fun discovery. I managed to buy TWO copies of the Criterion Collection edition of Alan J. Pakula‘s The Parallax View. I had bought a copy at the B&N Sale in November but had (apparently) forgotten that fact. When I rewatched Klute one day, I thought about how I needed a copy of The Parallax View for my collection and ordered a copy off Amazon. Talk about feeling stupid when I realized what had happened. Hopefully, this isn’t a sign that senility is setting in.
We did get out earlier this week and caught the new Scream film. I really dug it! It had chills and thrills and even made me cry at one point. Out of all the horror franchises out there, I think the Scream franchise is my favorite one. Get thee to the theater to see it!
Work has been horrifyingly slow the past few weeks. I hope in the long term it doesn’t mean that I am about to be unemployed. In the short term what it means is that the workdays feel long and the work weeks feel even longer. Ugh.
And, finally … There’s lots of good music on the way this spring with new albums from Ghost, Midlake, and Daniel Rossen (of Grizzly Bear fame) on the horizon.
Fri-YAY!
Jesus. This has been the LONGEST WEEK EVER!
Nothing terribly exciting to report from here. It’s been the same old “wake, treadmill, eat, struggle through the work day, eat, sleep” routine. I guess old fart status has really been attained since I am in bed by 9:00 every night. Sheesh. I am still struggling with my mood too. It’s in full on yo-yo mode. Yay. That also makes the days fun and probably contributes to wanting to be in bed early.
Months ago, I signed up for OnlyFans and have a page there complete with semi-anonymous name (though my scowling mug can be seen clearly). For some reason (probably the desperate need for validation), I keep circling back to the idea of posting some content there. But, would anyone want to subscribe for free, let alone pay for content (which would be the ultimate goal)? More importantly, do I have the time to self-promote and talent to make anything hot enough to get said subscribers and cash?
Ah, well.
Meanwhile, I could resist buying this film nerdy shirt. Paul Verhoeven doesn’t get enough credit for the years of awesome movies he has given us. Seriously!
Plus, it’s been pretty exciting to find out that The Fixx have released a new single and will have a new album out next year. Give the new single a listen. I command it!