Something Shiny

The free summer(ish) block parties are a little bittersweet. I can’t help but remember the glory days with multiple stages for both the Lyn-Lake shindig and Cedarfest. But those days are gone so I need to learn to appreciate what we have left. Specifically this weekend’s Lyn Lake Street Fest and the Pizza Luce block party in early August.

And really, the street fest is… not unimpressive… last year they had Solid Gold well after they’d made it big locally, and this year Mark Mallman and Har Mar Superstar are both big names in the local scene. It’s really better than anything else you had planned for noon to 7 this Sunday and you know it.

Oh, and it’s not just music, here’s the blurb from the event site:

Fire jugglers, balloon artists and strider bike races are just a couple of the festive side elements in this event. The festival is conceived as a multi-faceted partnership bringing together the 4 neighborhoods surrounding the Lyn Lake intersection, the Blaisdell YMCA as one of the less visible crown jewels of South Minneapolis, and the local business community to simply welcome spring, and showcases the vitality of one of Minneapolis’s most vibrant and eclectic corners. It’s free and family friendly, the music is local, and the crowd is sure to be entertaining.

More information at the official site: http://www.lynlakestreetfest.com/

Lineup
12:00 The Mood Swings
1:30 E.L.nO.
3:00 Mark Mallman
4:15 Sims (+Lazerbeak and Mictlan of Doomtree)
5:30 Har Mar Superstar

There’s a new joke email circulating with various humorous observations. As with anything that gets forwarded around, it’s hit or miss. But one of the observations struck me as particularly true as I was listening to my Zune on random:

I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

So, here’s what happens when I leave it play on random for 10 songs, no skipping, songs in gray weren’t available in Grooveshark and therefore not included in the playlist below. In my defense, I have the SXSW sampler tracks loaded so I take no responsibility for some of the tracks (e.g. Colin Gilmore).

1. Faith No More – Crack Hitler
2. The Mood Swings – Generation Y
3. PowerSolo – Pirates of Oblivion
4. Traveling Wilburys – Not Alone Anymore
5. Colin Gilmore – Running Circles in the Yard
6. Duran Duran – The Reflex
7. Pretty Girls Make Graves – Speakers Push the Air
8. Black Box Recorder – The Facts of Life
9. The Doors – Break on Through (To the Other Side) (Live)
10. The Cardigans – Never Recover