11/4/02
Yesterday was the final day of the WFMU Record Fair, and as usual I had a table at it. As less usual, I wasn't selling overflow CDs; I brought some Dark Beloved Cloud stuff (which sold, cough, modestly), and also brought a camera and some Sharpies and film to do my "imaginary tattoos" project again (Lisa and I ended up doing about 40 between us; she drew the really tough requests, like Monica Lynch's request for an Adidas that said "R.I.P. Jam Master Jay."
I did, however, bring a big box of overflow records (and another of DVDs). When people asked me how much they were, I told them that the LPs and DVDs were strictly for trade: they should pick whatever they wanted, and bring me music they thought I would like in return. Some people promptly put back whatever they were looking at and walked away. Some people got it, and brought me good things--one dealer took a Madonna promo 12" and brought me a vintage Blue Note album by Kenny Dorham, which he said everyone should hear. (I noted that it's the record from which News for Lulu learned "Windmill," which is enough of an endorsement for me.) Other than those trades, I didn't actually do much shopping at this particular record fair; it's becoming easier and easier over time to remind myself that I already have way too much music as it is.
High point of record fair: seeing Kelly Jones's table, at which she was selling hand-drawn/collaged LP covers for a bunch of imaginary bands (I bought the ones labeled "The Ends" and "Jet Core"). (Close second: the guy who came up and asked me if I had a copy for sale of my Hoof & Mouth Sinfonia performance of "How I Wrote 'Elastic Man,'" which he praised at length. This may be the first time somebody who doesn't know me has told me approving things about music I've performed.) Low point: the guy who noticed me flipping through his 7"s and said "What kind of thing are you looking for? You like the race stuff, right?" "Sure," I said, thinking he meant "race records" from the early part of the century--country blues, etc. He pointed me at a box of quasi-Nazi punk LPs. Yikes.
Today was mostly spent dealing with the upcoming DBC tenth anniversary CD EP, including finishing up recording my own piece for it, a messy cover of the In Out's "My Solution." I was pretty pleased with how it came out, and hurried it off to the manufacturer's office before I could become displeased. On the way back home, I bought a new veggie cookbook, a massive thing called Passionate Vegetarian by the improbably named Crescent Dragonwagon. I test-drove it with a tempeh stir-fry with an also improbable apricot jam-Dijon mustard-white wine-soy sauce glaze. It was indeed a little weird, but not at all bad.