Got The Shins’ Chutes Too Narrow. I already love this album. Bonus – the nice poster and button I got with purchase. The good people at SubPop are doing a good job of making up for delaying the release of this record a week. Get the band to tour up here and all will be forgiven. Worth noting – the die-cut fold-over artwork for the CD is so much fun. Well, not fun like a big bucket of Lego, but still. Fun.

Stopped by the library to pick up the copy of 24 Hour Party People I had on hold. Suddenly my backlog of things to read is getting out of hand. I may need to take some time off work to get it cleared up… Kidding…

The last Uncle Tupelo reissue I didn’t have was sitting in my mailbox when I got home. No, it wasn’t put there by some altruistic stranger, I bought it off eBay. Nice bonus was that it was still wrapped in plastic – I thought I bought a used copy. Finally I get to hear their version of The Soft Boys’ “I Wanna Destroy You”. Now the question is what to do with my set of original Rockville/Sire UT albums? They must go to a worthy cause.

Also in my mailbox – my Belle & Sebastian tickets. Front row centre, in case anyone missed my gloating earlier. Though I don’t see how you possible could have, it was pretty excessive. Incidentally, the band has totally redone their website. The new one is nice – go have a poke.

24 – Good start to the season. I’m aware that there may be readers from the UK and other strange and foreign lands who won’t get to see season three for a while yet. To them, I apologize, but there’ll be spoilers a-plenty here, week after week. Some random thoughts – Kim might have a fancy suit and talk in big words, but she’s still dumb and her haircut’s crummy. Chase is a dumb name. I think Chloe is a spy. A spy for an alien invasion force bent on conquoring Los Angeles. Not the world, just LA. I’m sure that Palmer’s scar is where they implanted the cybernetic robo-arm and death ray. Jack should know better than to try and administer his flu shot himself. That’s a job for a certified doctor – maybe he can borrow Palmer’s, the President seems to think highly of her.

Is it time to talk 2004 releases already? New one from Doves on March 9.

Spike Jonze will be directing a live-action film of Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are.

There will be a memorial to Elliott Smith in Toronto this Saturday. Specifics:

Dear everyone,

The Elliott Smith memorial service in Toronto will take place on Saturday, November 1, 2003 at 5:00 PM at the gates of the Trinity-Bellwoods Park (located at Queen/Strachan-Trinity). Joel has supplied a map and directions (above) to help you arrive. As at the NYC memorial, you are welcome to arrive at any time; earlier or later, to stay for a while or to simply drop by and leave pictures, letters, candles, thoughts and any other fond farewells. Binging a guitar would be lovely. I hope to see you there. Take care and dress warmly, it’s getting cooler these days.

Normally I’d be curious to attend, though it has the potential to be overly maudlin, but I’ll be engaged in my own particular tribute to Elliott that day – a pub crawl. “Between The Bars”, so to speak.

Update: And finally… It’s a Homestar Hallowe’en! Gold. Pure gold.

np – The Shins / Chutes Too Narrow

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