Days of Lore
Me again. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Salutations. Well, it’s official—I have now officially written two-thirds of the columns in the Chico News & Review. I wrote the Everybody’s Business column while filling in for Associate Editor and my favorite bad-ass nerd (believe me, that’s a term of endearment) Devanie Angel while she was on maternity leave. Now, I proudly take over for Local Bastard as he embarks on his new life journey devoid of work, which no doubt leaves him with more time to concentrate on what really matters—lengua burritos, old-fart indie rock and foot-fetish porno tapes.
Oddly enough, I’m also swapping positions with Arts Editor Jason Cassidy (wait, that sounded weird), who will take over as Calendar Editor, leaving him with more time to work on some projects of his own. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Mark Lore and I will do my damndest to follow in L.B.’s footsteps—sans the porn—in giving my sarcastic, witty, childish two cents on local happenings, the absurd and whatever else may be on my ADD-riddled mind. Now, if Tom Gascoyne lets me write Inside View I will have achieved the trifecta in CN&R column writing. Dare to dream.
Red-bassed. I guess I should follow up on this since I’m the moron who faked an audition with Red With Envy and didn’t make it. RWE’s manager Katie Perry was kind enough to respond to my inquiry last week about their new bassist Damon Lee. Turns out the guy has played everything from radio commercials to bebop jazz (including his current project Luna Quartet). He even had a brief stint in Urge Overkill. Remember them? They did a fine rendition of the Neil Diamond classic, “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon” in Pulp Fiction. Anyway, Damon’s the man—and I must say I don’t envy him one bit.
The party’s not over yet. It’s going to take some doing before Chico State can shake that party school image. Even though the school hasn’t made Playboy’s notorious top party school list since 2002, Chico State was again mentioned in a recent episode of American Dad for its party rep. The school also made its way to primetime in a 1997 episode of King of the Hill where Bobby Hill’s girlfriend Connie says, “I want to go to a party school—yeah Chico State!” Isn’t that what all the kiddies tell their parents before they enroll?
Having new music delivered to your desk is the best. Oubliette Perish vocalist and guitarist Curtis Zinn just dropped by the CN&R office and handed us a copy of the band’s new self-titled EP, chock-full of songs that make me want to reach for my abacus. I’m talking some math-y arrangements here. My personal favorite, coincidentally, is a song called “Math Man.” Check out some samples at: www.myspace.com/oublietteca. Thanks, Curtis, for dropping off the goods.
Trekkies and their units. I’m surprised it took this long, but after billions of light years Butte College is now offering a Physics of Star Trek course. That’s right. The one-unit class will allow students to watch episodes of the campy classic containing ideas in modern physics and discuss their validity. Here’s question number one on the test: When under attack by enemy Klingon ships, would the U.S.S. Enterprise actually shake as if being dangled on a string by creator Gene Roddenberry? The answer is “A,” of course.
The same old tune. I have to mention it. I went and saw the Old 97’s a week-and-a-half ago in S.F. and I don’t have to tell you how good they were. They dusted off classics like “Victoria” and “What We Talk About” and they never sounded better. OK, I promise that will be the last mention of the O’ 9’s for awhile … that is until vocalist and pretty boy Rhett Miller releases his next solo record The Believer on Feb. 28. Then I’ll probably make fun of it.
All right. One column in the bag. Next!