Search results for: “mekons”
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The Mekons are the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world. They started in the 70s as a punk band from Leeds but by the mid-1980s had picked up fiddles and mandolins to go with their loud guitars, and learned to love Hank Williams and Gram Parsons as much as they’ve sadly learned to hate the…
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It’s been a year since the last entry here. So I could blog about the end of Planck, the first observation of gravitational waves, fatherhood, or the horror (comedy?) of the US Presidential election. Instead, it’s going to be rock ’n’ roll, though I don’t know if that’s because it’s too important, or not important…
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I’ve spent the last few days in the northern half of Great Britain. Wednesday, I was an external examiner for a (successful!) PhD exam at the Durham University. Thursday, I was at the University of Glasgow in service to the other end of the PhD experience in the UK, giving a one-hour lecture on the…
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As I’ve said repeatedly, the Mekons are my favorite rock ’n’ roll band. Their music has sustained me since about 1990, after I first saw them at Chicago’s Cabaret Metro, already more than a decade into their careers. By then, they had already gone beyond their punk roots, invented alt.country avant la lettre, and skewered…
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On my flight out to Cleveland via Chicago, I sat next to a lovely, hip-looking couple watching The Sopranos on DVD, wedged into the cattle-class middle seats. They turned out to be Brett and Rennie Sparks — husband-and-wife band The Handsome Family. They actually started out in Chicago in the early 1990s back when I…
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When I’m not hanging out with astronomers or rock stars who want to be astronomers, I’ve been out to see rock stars (or at least rock ‘n’ roll journeymen and women) in their usual habitats. The Mekons have long been a favorite (obsession?) of mine: formed in Leeds during the UK punk explosion, they celebrated…
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Today’s internet meme has been passed to me by Gia, so, yep, more bloggy rubbish for you, and more about me than you wanted to know. Four jobs I’ve had: University Lecturer and Astrophysicist Bookstore clerk Book, comic and music reviewer for New City News Atmospheric chemistry researcher at GISS, whose director has an excellent…
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I’ve been a bit quiet the past week, so here’s a very random top ten from my just-completed trip to North America (New Jersey/New York and Toronto). In no particular order, except for number one: My sister’s wedding — Congratulations and Mazel Tov to Allison and Chris! The skeleton of the new Daniel Libeskind extension…