I don't think they ran out of I's. They're spelling "manicotti" according to the Brooklyn/Sicilian pronunciation, which is three syllables: "mah-nee-GUT."

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I'm a cat person, but I bonded right away with my friend Maria's pup Polly, who is a VERY GOOD DOG. She's an Australian cattle dog.

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nostr:npub1rkjpxkg78c7pqdzvlgx0w6uw0puccz44gwr80v6lem0kdstgn64shjufed That's what my friend (a former Bell Labs guy, btw) said. He assumed they meant "right at this moment."


A friend was recently in a trivia game where one question was "How many miles away is Jupiter?" I'm no astronomer, but one team gave the answer "1,000" and another gave "a gazillion," and I'm sure both are very wrong. NGL, it would be cool if Jupiter was as close as Chicago.


Perfect day: no work, radio show tonight, and I found a place in Bay Ridge to get the latest COVID booster without having to wait two weeks.

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What good is this technology when a human has to go in and make manual corrections whenever it screws up, which will happen more and more as people learn to game the system? "Amazon’s Alexa has been claiming the 2020 election was stolen": https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/07/amazon-alexa-news-2020-election-misinformation/


I'm aware that many people have to own cars for various reasons, but I'm glad that I don't, and I can't imagine ever owning one (though I do have a license). Who needs this? https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/10/07/business/car-ownership-costs.html


A Gentle Giant CD for sale on an installment plan. What a time to be alive.

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Proud to have a friend who still casually refers to "the IRT." #Subway

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Having a few friends over tomorrow night to play a game I just got, and I'm literally setting aside a couple hours to study the rules beforehand because these things are always so damn complicated.


Fresh news from that other site: New Emergency Group cassettes are here. CDs coming soon. https://emergencygroup.bandcamp.com/album/venal-twin

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Doing a #BandcampFriday for the first time today:

Pre-order the brand-new release by @EEmergencyGroup here: https://emergencygroup.bandcamp.com/album/venal-twin

Get Time Trout's "Stuck Like Jane Austen," which The Wire called "a masterpiece in spontaneous strangeness," here: https://otoroku.bandcamp.com/album/stuck-like-jane-austin


Discussing encounters with celebrities in NYC.

B: Lou Reed once held the door for me.

Me: He held the door for you?

B: Well, he meant to hold it for Laurie Anderson, but she was behind me.


This band, the Human Fund, was on the bill with Girls on Grass in New Haven last night. Chaotic, riotous, loveable, loud. The bassist is playing my Epiphone. Lending it to her was a bold move considering that she'd just destroyed her own bass. But she was gentle with mine.

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Autumn is the best music season. This is not debatable.


I forgot to post this yesterday. Check out the archive from Monday's radio show, which featured some music you're bound to love. Peter Ivers Band, Fille Qui Mousse, Gilli Smyth, much more: https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/132496 nostr:npub1j4jz0spltwzazdgsszpc7pc53svrjdw3fh5mxplql4ctv6wmw37sp47vxf


#NowPlaying "One Mile from Heaven," a collection of soft-edged songs from rare, privately pressed '70s LPs. Fantastic. From the Mapache label. https://mapacherecords.com/shop/one-mile-from-heaven/

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nostr:npub1gmpglm655qzf3vy9zfamh5d6ed4j50naf6mzz9ts279atmkd4clqhsxw9l Thanks! I'll look for them.


nostr:npub1gmpglm655qzf3vy9zfamh5d6ed4j50naf6mzz9ts279atmkd4clqhsxw9l I'm not sure I've ever seen her in anything else.


Gina Gershon should have won an Emmy for her portrayal of a smoking-hot Russian sabbath-observer, playing seductively with her chai necklace. https://youtu.be/IoCYRGsbKVE


Tune in to this week's edition of "It's Complicated" (an hour of prog and prog-adjacent music) at 7 p.m., and show your support for amazing independent radio by throwing some dough nostr:npub1j4jz0spltwzazdgsszpc7pc53svrjdw3fh5mxplql4ctv6wmw37sp47vxf's way during the Hellraiser, our low-key October fundraising drive. https://pledge.wfmu.org/donate/GX


The nostr:npub1j4jz0spltwzazdgsszpc7pc53svrjdw3fh5mxplql4ctv6wmw37sp47vxf Hellraiser runs through October, with loads of specials and a silent fundraiser (no on-air pitching) to help us pay the bills till the end of the year. Support the world's greatest radio station and/or my show by pledging here: https://pledge.wfmu.org/donate/GX Thank you!


Greil Marcus's take on the Jann Wenner fiasco is worth reading: https://greilmarcus.substack.com/p/ask-greil-september-29-2023


Question from someone I just met: "So is this the way you sound on the air, or do you use a radio voice?"


Girls on Grass will be playing this afternoon at Mama Tried in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, an outdoor space that's one of the best places to see live music in NYC. We seriously rock, and this will be our last local appearance for a little while.

3rd Ave. and 27th St., 4 p.m.!

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New Baltimore rest area, Hannacroix, NY.

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nostr:npub1h2ern5h6ze3j0k9egggaugsydv0ttaak2y3x5rhz3gqnn9a47djq5caagt Haha.


Clever way to get tips, and it seems to be working.

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nostr:npub1k3626ywtwd6u90dpt4uwhedzyztnmtjw7yxp7dtwmsrxsdtk50ps3w0fy6 Yow. I've had people like you stay at my place.😱


The humiliation of being forced to sleep in the "bandmembers who snore" room. (But as is so often the case we're lucky to be staying with incredibly kind and generous friends, the best thing about band road trips.) #Burlington #GirlsOnGrass

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The sparkly stage setup at Radio Bean (Burlington).

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An unexpected ferry detour on the way to Burlington.

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I talk about one of my favorite albums in this installment of "Hidden Gems" from Raven Sings the Blues, which also features a track from the upcoming Emergency Group album: http://www.ravensingstheblues.com/dave-mandl-of-emergency-group-on-east-new-york-ensemble-de-music-at-the-helm/


At some point I'm going to risk talking about how bad (low-level) managers have it. Especially in fields like tech, filled with entitled people, managers often have to put up with incredible shit, while being abused even worse by the managers above them. (I'm not a manager.)


If you're in or near Burlington, VT, tomorrow (Friday), come see Girls on Grass at Radio Bean, 8 N. Winooski Ave. Show starts early, 6:30 p.m.

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Thoughts on reading some old diary entries: 1. I wish I'd done it much more often. 2. Some things never change. 3. You've got to be specific: "Corinne this Friday." Who the heck is Corinne?


nostr:npub19sute258zn9y6cwsk3pymyswwgvjrwmcrju6p636upjqkvstl97s2zqr6f Sure, that's NBD. It's not a term paper.


nostr:npub19sute258zn9y6cwsk3pymyswwgvjrwmcrju6p636upjqkvstl97s2zqr6f Good summary.


nostr:npub1hykucplphuhelaxutcw4jw3vuu7gcg42czhqmk7jhchs8vdga4fsj73p33 Haha, clearly. They're such squares.


Please wish a very happy birthday to my esteemed nostr:npub1j4jz0spltwzazdgsszpc7pc53svrjdw3fh5mxplql4ctv6wmw37sp47vxf colleague Evan "Funk" Davies (nostr:npub1s254s89aw8s0g9h7s7a0gtnhelggelmmg49axksrhzj5njuwu79saw7mua), who in addition to his great radio show single-handedly runs the WFMU feed here on Mastodon.


This NYT op-ed by nostr:npub1hykucplphuhelaxutcw4jw3vuu7gcg42czhqmk7jhchs8vdga4fsj73p33 precisely describes the process he calls "enshittification," but apparently the paper's decorum rules mean he couldn't actually use that term: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/27/opinion/amazon-ftc-antitrust-monopoly.html #Copyediting


Like a fascist/conspiracy-creep version of the Dr. Bronner label.

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This is the album of instrumental Genesis covers (the entire "Selling England by the Pound" LP) that I played on my show last night. Beautiful stuff. https://francescogazzara.bandcamp.com/album/gazzara-plays-genesis-selling-england-by-the-pound

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...I always assumed McCallum was more involved in these LPs than Jackie Gleason was in his, but I never took the time to do the minimal research.


David McCallum note: His "Music: A Part of Me" was one of the first "huge TV actor produces an album" LPs I was aware of as a kid. If I remember correctly it sold zillions, because Illya Kuryakin was so popular. It was rediscovered in the retro celebrity-LP boom in the '90s.

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Clickable playlist from last night's radio show, featuring music from A Light Sleeper, PoiL Ueda, and Marsupilami, and a gorgeous Genesis cover: https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/132255 nostr:npub1j4jz0spltwzazdgsszpc7pc53svrjdw3fh5mxplql4ctv6wmw37sp47vxf


This week's exciting installment of "It's Complicated" (an hour of prog and prog-adjacent music) comes to you live tonight at 7 p.m. Listen at https://wfmu.org or on the free, wonderful nostr:npub1j4jz0spltwzazdgsszpc7pc53svrjdw3fh5mxplql4ctv6wmw37sp47vxf app.

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Just took my first covid test in a year, not because I think I have covid but because I want to get back into the swing of things.


nostr:npub18jtcuhpsyxlltzk2xurfc8s79kh4jpx22azymyhmqgsa2dkjpetsu9dhea 😂


nostr:npub18jtcuhpsyxlltzk2xurfc8s79kh4jpx22azymyhmqgsa2dkjpetsu9dhea Haha. This is something I think about a lot, but in fact I was reminded of it during your show today because you pronounced a foreign name well.


nostr:npub1zj7kyj894v6dn3n0a4mempkexp3xkfec9jg3z66zsuq6gyczcufqdrdzz4 I think they simply don't know how to count in. I recognize what they're doing—just looking at each other and *trying* to come in on the 1 at the same time, which is nearly impossible.


nostr:npub19udpjw6hdemsrvuyeqnngahsp3fp83zhcnwnev95ghvcgcpvhdssgdvem8 It's one of the worst-designed apps I've ever used. It's almost impossible for me to use.


nostr:npub1cm8y2sg9ulf84wl506lq27r2wvkzc60mrgp6vg2fj2wmdhyn6wvqfmkypu The problem for me definitely stems from having many conversations in the sidebar, some individuals and some groups. Finding the one I want is really painful, and this is something I have to do all day.


Pronouncing foreign names can be tough for radio DJs. It's painful to hear a DJ stumble through a tricky name, syllable by syllable. One way to get around this is to "ingest" the whole name internally in your mind first, then say it. I heard Irwin Chusid do this last week. #Radio


nostr:npub1m0vcr0caxjdqex0pk5kpsqlt3emc2mcajvmlzdq0px3rm6v6wjzq8ldu9y Sure, could be. I don't have a strong opinion about that. But they don't come in together. That seems clear.


nostr:npub1m0vcr0caxjdqex0pk5kpsqlt3emc2mcajvmlzdq0px3rm6v6wjzq8ldu9y Not really a ritard. The tempo of the song never changes.


nostr:npub1m0vcr0caxjdqex0pk5kpsqlt3emc2mcajvmlzdq0px3rm6v6wjzq8ldu9y They don't come in together. They're not clear on where the beat should be.


...It's not as obvious here, but the Litter messes up in the same way in the a cappella section of this song (at 3:28). In Cream's original of course they get it perfect. https://youtu.be/j4j8NAG64g0


...I've experienced this kind of thing myself—bands being unclear on how to handle the counting when there's a long rest or a fermata (a sustained note). The band I played in when I was 16 had trouble coming in after the long a capella section in Zeppelin's "The Ocean."


...You may disagree but I'd call this a blatant mistake (they're confused about the counting), something a producer would normally call out. I've heard any number of covers of this song (e.g., Joan Baez) and the rhythm is always handled correctly.


Been hesitant to post about this because people may think I'm a lunatic pedant or I'm speaking ill of the recently deceased (Robbie Robertson). But I'm genuinely puzzled that a world-class group like the Band messes up going into the chorus on this song. https://youtu.be/QC-eDtV5O0Q


Spotted at least four nostr:npub1j4jz0spltwzazdgsszpc7pc53svrjdw3fh5mxplql4ctv6wmw37sp47vxf T-shirts at the Park Slope Food Coop this morning. This blows my previous record (two) to smithereens. Clearly, Saturday is when all the cool shoppers come out.


nostr:npub1waq57j6zq5wf7jslhjk07gc9mgn2dzj2ul7hu44f0fvn4mu93tpqzany6z

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So the founder of Rolling Stone is a white-male-centric dick with abysmal taste in music. My whole world is falling apart here.


#NowPlaying This 1974 release from Masahiko Sato is just wild.

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nostr:npub1p77c6lk3sg26utamxkfrgg3v6ukgpl0ycv56rrsu39nugpfxxqjqre8366 Thanks, Steve! We have played out a bit, mostly in NYC. We're hoping to do some kind of tour in the spring. It would be lovely to play in Boston.


nostr:npub1gqxn8d8dv0658gna7xgw5g2l3z3tv8ctad86gjs0y7f6npfyqaasfsumyp I'm always up for a fest.


Very excited to tell you that Emergency Group has a new release coming out soon on Centripetal Force Records, and it's available for pre-order now. Check it out or buy it here: http://centripetalforcerecords.bandcamp.com

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#NowPlaying "Gulliver's Travels" (1968). A baffling project organized by Andrew Loog Oldham, a half-hour of sound collages featuring proto-sampling of songs by the Lovin' Spoonful and others. Apparently the only release ever on the Instant label. https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/gullivers-travels/gullivers-travels/

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My god, Microsoft Teams is literally unusable, and I need to use it constantly to talk to dozens of co-workers and groups.


Fluid Radio: For people who can never possibly have enough reverb in their lives.

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Fire in the sky.

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I cried less on my first day of kindergarten than I'm crying today on my first day back at work after a two-week vacation.


"They call us faggots / We call them an ambulance" (which I saw on a T-shirt the other day) is very clever, not least because of its play on two meanings of "to call." #Grammar


Finally had Indian food today, with my old mate Caroline at this great vegetarian place on Stroud Green Road. Caroline: "Last time I went there was in 1981."

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Nice smell in Marylebone this morning. All the perfume shops and French bakeries?

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In London for a week and I haven't managed to have Indian food once. A sad state of affairs.


nostr:npub1j7t9753lqsyyjq8s7w4h8zu0dvnyvdw4rwdkr3lmglxw7fralr3sngls96 That (my photo) doesn't strike me as very unhealthy! I wasn't making fun of the English. But yes, they have a lot of terrible food to answer for. It's been much better there in the last thirty years or so.


Breakfast in Gypsy Hill.

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Time Trout plays tonight at Rose Hill in Brighton and tomorrow at Cafe Iklectik in London. Then we head back home (after some more book shopping). Come see us and say hello! https://www.therosehill.co.uk/events https://www.iklectik.org/whatson

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I screwed up by not using my running app to track the huge walk I did with Clive Graham in North London today. All I did was save this screenshot somewhere along Parkland Walk. We also walked through Waterlow Park and a fantastic brutalist housing estate near Highgate Cemetery.

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nostr:npub1uex7gtlrw26p5xct7avlw0cqpckssqvm08ddnqm2jljtgm6k4zkq58rsgy nostr:npub1j4jz0spltwzazdgsszpc7pc53svrjdw3fh5mxplql4ctv6wmw37sp47vxf It will be great to have you in the chats. Note that I'll be missing my show on 9/11 but I'll be back the following Monday.


Cheltenham at night.

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#NowPlaying This CD that Belgian composer Jacques Bekaert compiled for me a long time ago. If he ever gave me track info it's gone now 😡, and I wish I had it. I think this is all unreleased material. Small orchestral pieces, musique concrète, great stuff. http://www.lovely.com/artists/a-bekaert.html

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nostr:npub16sp4t3j0xczpm3lcntad7jqanz266qsw43dcslj7vrlr0h5nf2hsxnx302 nostr:npub1hykucplphuhelaxutcw4jw3vuu7gcg42czhqmk7jhchs8vdga4fsj73p33 👍


nostr:npub1l8822ehmvqy0fa4d88lgxc8tfaprw7d93u97u346ennlmf33q2wsn5rr8m Where is the show?


#NowPlaying Been listening to a lot of Art Blakey lately. The use of the word "orgy" (even playfully) in an album title seems surprisingly bold for 1957.

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Dave Mandl

Writer, editor, musician, #radio DJ (#WFMU), photographer, computer geek. Other interests: #linguistics, information theory, grammar/usage, #anarchism/situationists. #musodon. Brooklyn, NY.