held a knife to my throat and told me to choose

Much to say, much to say, but not a lot of time to say it. So here's the Reader's Digest version, Mac:

1) Look It, everybody's favorite Caulfield Sisters/Home/Mercury Rev/Company spinoff band, is playing a second, "secret" show this coming Friday (i.e., August 26) headlined by The Comas at an NYC club called Otto's Shrunken Head. (Is it just me, or is it sometimes a bit too difficult to tell the names of the clubs from the names of the bands?) As someone in the know said lately, "a tremendous buzz" is springing up around this show, so make your plans now.

Sadly, I may have to miss this one, even though I will be a mere two hours away in Philadelphia -- or, as The New York Times recently all but annointed it, Brooklyn-On-The-Delaware. Sorry to burst your bubbles, Timeseans, but Philadelphians are not in the habit of referring to our city as "the Sixth Borough" -- Philly may be crime-ridden, trash-strewn and on a depopulating demographic spiral, but we've never regarded it as an appendage of New York. On the other hand, we'd be happy to take all the cool NYC bands you care to throw at us. So if the Sisters ever felt like playing here, they'll be most welcome.

(Actually, the Times article was pretty cool -- much better than it would have been back in the days when Howell Raines was sending Jayson Blair around the country to make up shit.)

2) I'm really digging Kristin's other band a lot these days, and hope to post more about them soon when I can gather my thoughts properly. Also been turning my ears toward the Mendoza Line (some of whose songs fall into that "holy shit, I can't believe I never heard this before" category), and the Purrs, who are getting heavy airplay on KEXP these days. (This latter band may ultimately prove to fall into the "more competent than inspired" category, but their song "Taste of Monday" has wormed its way into my brain quite nicely.)

3) Have any plans for 3 to 5 p.m. on Sundays? Cancel them! Instead, your soul needs you to be listening to "After the Polka", that brilliantly revived free-form radio show by Cindy's ex-bandmate Jenny Juristo Morrison. You may have lost hope that broadcasting greatness still lives; you may have come to doubt that oddball segues and not quite carefully controlled sound levels and a restless musical longing, together with a sympathetic ear for the unkempt and off-kilter, can indeed rewarp one's time-space continuum (and for the better, I might add, minus all of Stephen Hawking's annoying indecision about black holes). But you'd be wrong. Plus, you get to hear Jenny's kids playing and yowling adorably in the background.

If you happen to miss a Jenny-cast, you can download a podcast of the shows afterward at the same link. But listening live is more fun, ain't it?

The "T" of time falls through the trapdoor of history, throws its hands in the air, and becomes the letter "Y." Hmmm ... where's that from?

photographs of people i don't know

With another month left in the postpartum Sisters drought, those of us looking for a Caulfields fix will have to settle for other means. Fortunately, some new photos have surfaced from last November's show at Sin-e -- and this time the shooter is a guy named Brian, not Jasper.

Whatever happened to Mr. Coolidge, anyway? He takes some amazing concert photos, and he deserves credit for spreading the word about the Sisters back in those dark, pre-Laundromat days. But he seems to have moved on to other pastures -- so go Brian.

In other news: If you're anywhere near Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., later tonight, ya might wanna swing on down to Bard College, where Kristin's other, other, other band Gloria Deluxe is doing its operetta-about-amnesia Accidental Nostalgia. Quoth the Bard: "The group transforms itself effortlessly from a torchy house band in a Berlin lounge to the last act in a Nashville bar and back again." And who can resist that?