As the days go by ...

Official business: I repeat: It's not looking good for an interview, but I expected as much. I set myself a deadline of June 1 for the piece and it's now May 29.
Risky business: David Byrne has quite the interesting website. One entry, in particular, caught my attention. I hear he's been daisy-chaining huge structures together, turning them into musical instruments (somewhat like Neil Young did in the 70s at his California Ranch in the Redwoods, only there he turned a barn into a left speaker, and his house into a right and proceeded to row into the middle of a lake and press play).
This experiment, however, sounds fun. The guy (a Scottish ex-Pat who dropped out of two art schools on the east coast) has way too many effects pedals, which is a nice problem to have. So, he's putting them to use in a "mandatory art exhibit." If you're wondering what the MM connection is here, Isaac is a big fan. Even stole the idea for this MTV spot from this intro made by Byrne from Stop Making Sense.
Another observation: Why would MM put up Fly Trapped In A Jar on their Sony site. That song, of all in their recent catalog, is pretty inadequate in my opinion.

Still no word from the front

Well I'm sorry but I'm not
interested in gold mines,
oil wells,shipping or real estate
What would I liked to have been?
Everything you hate
- "The Union Forever," by The White Stripes

Looking bleak ladies and gents. Looking bleak.

Everytime you think you're walking you're just moving the ground

With two-and-a-half weeks to their St. Paul gig, I'm left without a definitive answer on whether Isaac Brock is even doing interviews this tour cycle. They go back on the road Friday, so I suppose it would be logical to assume if I don't hear back by then, I'm probably not going to get a sanctioned interview.
I could go all guerrilla journalism and try and get one (either backstage, somehow, or outside) at their June 5 St. Paul gig. But I e-mailed their publicist saying if Isaac isn't talking, any band member would suffice. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say, hope not, though.
She agreed to send me Love As Laughter's latest release, due June 24. They're signed to Glacial Pace (lead singer was also in a band with Isaac).
Lunchtime!

Even odd numbers

Zoned out during council and spewed this out.

Under tables wobble like moving lips
Fingertips drip from dirty partnerships
He speaks up after swallowing a pill
Filling your head like a fire drill
Delicious budgets weighed down with ink
Even odd numbers and the kitchen sink
Pull back the drapes see the yellow sun
Checks bounce like a trampoline
Doing it again until its done
Even odd numbers fall to none.
No ism like skepticism
See so much light through this Chevy Prism
He finds percentages don’t add up
To a precise business decision
Even odd numbers make long division

I read a lot of books on tape

I'm probably not going to get a whole lot of research done this weekend. Gig tonight at Dinkytowner, gig tomorrow at Shannonpalooza 3 (co-worker's house party, beer provided).
Still planning on the interview to run in Reveille before the June 5 show. However, I read an entry in Dre's "Harper's Bazaar" last night (don't ask where or why I was reading this), and the horoscope said "Accept that after the 26th inevitabilities will not be changed." WTF? Not sure what that meant, but I drank it down half-empty.
It's looking like, if anything, this interview will be a Pyrrhic victory.
As for the tour, MM is still planning on a June 5 stop at the Xcel Center opening for R.E.M.
• I'm wondering about MM's tour habits (why they are still using a bus, how that affects their dynamic, if the bus has a name, if they read a lot of books on tape ... that sort of thing) and whether this is the "biggest" and most lucrative tour yet (alone, they're charging $35 a pop before surcharges).
• The gigs with REM are sporadic - with the bands playing together for only about half of the dates between now and July 4. Odd. Can't really call MM "tour support" considering R.E.M. had never seen them perform live before. Interested in how all this came about. Also, I see they're playing Red Rox and a very special (meaning lucrative) gig here May 27.
On a personal, band-related note: We go on at 12:30 tonight for some reason. I gotta called "old" because I said that's pretty late. Then when you think about it, most bands go on a 10 p.m. AT THE LATEST, with most starting around 8:30. If you're Phish, DMB or George Clinton (whom I'm going to see at 1st Ave. May 27) you can expect a 3-hour show. Everyone else it's probably around 2. So FU all ya'll haterz.

A call to Reveille

Looks like Reveille Magazine (online) will run the Q&A with Brock. So that's cool. Probably do the interview sometime during the week of the 25th ... hit me with any (good) questions for Brock like this one:
Yes, Mr. Brock, what relation, if any, are you to the noted 19th C. British major-general Isaac Brock "The Hero of Upper Canada"?
On another note, who knew the Mouse was friends with Heath Ledger?

Stike 1 and 2

So I pitched the idea of a MM interview to the PiPress and City Pages. PiPress editor say thanks but no, while City Pages' said sounds like a great article, but we've already got plans. I'm not going to pitch the Star Tribune. That means Reveille Mag (an online zine) is about my last hope, unless anyone else has any suggestions ... did some shopping on Up Records last night.
The moral of the story is basically everything is up in the air and I've got to get some real work done, son.
Not sure how I can really get an interview if I've got no where to run it ...