There's this corner market in Santa Rosa that I drive by every Wednesday. There's a million liquor stores in Sonoma County, but this one looks different from the rest. I don't know how to explain it, but it's exactly what I imagine corner stores on the East Coast to look like. Everytime I look up at that hand painted sign, I can pretend for a moment that I'm in Philadelphia, thankful that the snow has all melted. It's just got that kind of feel to it.

Then yesterday on the short drive over to my friend's barbecue, I heard it on the radio...AGAIN twice in a row, like the DJ was doing us a favor. Halfway through the first time it aired, I got tired of it. The second time it came on I decided that I never wanted to hear that song again. In less than 48 hours I went from "Hmmm. Pretty good" to "oh my god turn off the radio."

Guess what? Yeah, they just played it twice in a row again. Talk about a marketing ploy, holy Jesus. I'm taking it out of that mini-mix when I get home to ensure that my chances of hearing it again are slim.

I *really* want my minidisc player back, the airwaves are driving me insane.

Quick notes:

• The Oakland Raiders make the super bowl, and meatheads prove they're meatheads by rioting in the streets. We actually went downtown last night and commented on how dead everything seemed, little did we know the action was on the other side of town.
• Want more music? There's yet another mini-mix up over at Bastard Genres. Get that Mogwai song, it's pretty hot.
• Amscray are playing their first show in a long while on Thursday. Head down to the Bottom Of The Hill. We play second.
• Speaking of Amscray, the new record is 95% done, and I do have to say the mixes sound great. Keep your eyes on the website for new MP3s.
• Have you heard that new Zwan song? I thought they were supposed to be like, a new rock/metal band, but this sounds exactly like, you guessed it, the Smashing Pumpkins.

I've spent all of Sunday morning/early afternoon recuperating from Saturday night/early morning. Really, I think that the reason the weekend is two days long is to allow me sufficient time to work off the grogginess associated with standing out in the freezing cold drinking waaaaay too much Pabst Blue Ribbon and mystery beer from the mystery keg at the mystery party.

Last night we headed down by the BART tracks in North Oakland to find a party we only knew from rumor, and the first thing we saw upon exiting the taxi was a heavily tattooed English punk being support by two extremely skinny hipster girls as he fell onto some parked cars. He was so drunk that he didn't know which way to walk down the street, so they had to lead him in the direction of the party. He walked right in front all of the oncoming traffic and then flipped off all the cars who honked at him as he clutched his bottle of Budweiser and staggered across the street, spilling half its contents in the middle of the roadway.

But yeah, it was a pretty good party. I still can't really feel my toes though, it was frigid cold out there.

I've heard a lot of good songs lately, and been re-infatuated with some old ones, so here's a mini-mix to go along with the MP3 of the week. There's also a great new minimix up over at thrown-askew that you should check out. If that's not enough music for your week, and you're a Soulseek user, go download the bitchin' Best Of Wilco mix I made the other day. I even mastered all the tracks to get the levels pretty much equal. My username is, of course, blackyellowblack. Viva la musica!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

• 01 :: The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - Sister Surround
• 02 :: Wilco - Monday
• 03 :: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Murder Incorporated (live)
• 04 :: Robbie Williams - Something Beautiful
• 05 :: Pulp - Babies
• 06 :: Martha & The Muffins - Echo Beach