Happy 10th Anniversary to Stupefaction!

This swell photo of some fellows from the 10th Mountain Division seemed as good as any to tout the fact here that Stupefaction has creaked along to it's tenth anniversary. That's positively ancient in interweb years! So congratulations to me.

I'm not posting a whole lot these days as I'm pretty busy selling records, but I'll take the opportunity to remind you of some of the places you reach me besides here.

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Tumblr

Soundcloud

Mixcloud

Movie of the Week - A Box Full of Rocks: The El Cajon Years of Lester Bangs

A big tip 'o the cap to Joe Carducci (who recently started blogging again over at Gas Giant - HIGHLY recommended interesting tidbits, links & tips of a historical bent) for pointing to the full stream of this Lester doc on YouTube.

I first learned of this film almost two years ago, and then promptly forgot about it. I'm happy to have the opportunity to watch it in full now.

Oh, hello there...

I know, I know...things are awfully quiet here. There's a reason for that. I've been lazy busy. But seriously, I'm trying my utmost to balance some things in my life, and just haven't had the time to post here with any regularity recently. 

That said, I do continue to share items of interest on the other Stupefaction-related pages, so please take a moment & follow me, like me, friend me, whatever...just do it! Danka, baby...

Stupefaction Facebook

Stupefaction Twitter

Stupefaction Tumblr

To the reader, Bean...

...who just commented, "it's really sad to see this site become an ad for your ebay sales. I expected and still expect better of you."

First, I'm glad your expectations are still there. I have to say its nice to know, and means something to me. As to your point about the ebay sales let me say this:

This coming September will be nine years since I started Stupefaction. In that time, I can count on one hand the examples of any sort of advertising I've done (i.e. made money from). And, when going heavy on the eBay sales, why WOULDN'T I share some of the interesting stuff I'm trying to sell here? Its a target auduence and perfect for what I may have to offer. Plus, its a sort of keepsake for me - I at least get to put up images of some of this stuff that will hopefully move on to someone else who will appreciate it. I fully take advantage of the fairly wide social network I've built up over the years.

Believe it or not, since I started doing eBay again recently, I thought twice about posting some of what I have available here on Stupefaction. I think I've kept it fairly minimal, and am conscious of it. You're the only one who has actually mentioned it, but I felt it needs addressing. Not that it'll start any great conversation here. Most folks just look and move on, so I appreciate the comment, but please cut me a little slack.

Thank you, and I hope to meet your expectations in the future. I'm glad you're noticing.

Stupefaction: 8 Years On

Source

Happy eight years of Stupefaction to me...I'm not sure how much longer it'll go on, but I'm trying...I'd like to thank everyone who encourages me, and checks it out. I really do appreciate it. Every year, it seems, I go through a period or two of feeling tired about it, and I think about shutting it down, or taking some time away from it, but then something inevitably changes that feeling. I've met a lot of wonderful people, and (I think) turned some folks on to some cool culture. I hope everyone enjoys it...see you tomorrow.

Its nice to be noticed...

...especially when its by one of my all time favorite magazines (proud reader here for almost 20 years). Deputy Editor Andrew Male enjoyed the recent New Order Play At Home film so much he's made it Clip of the Day over at the Mojo website!

Punk Is in the Air, or Thanks For The Mention, James Wolcott

Who says print media is dead? I don't get the chance to toot my own horn often, but James Wolcott mentions Stupefaction in the May 2013 issue of Vanity Fair! Thank you James!

About us, along with Dangerous Minds, Wolcott writes "Web sites such as Stupefaction and Dangerous Minds routinely showcase rare and revelatory archaeological finds from the punk netherworld: rehearsal and concert videos that resemble the recovered dreams of long-defunct tape decks. Watching footage of the original Television—Richard Hell, Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd, Billy Ficca—rehearsing in Terry Ork’s loft in 1974 is like paying a flashback visit to punk’s bawling crib."

The article covers the rush of 70's punk nostalgia that is upon us this year with the punk fashion exhibit open at the Met in May, the recent publication of the Richard Hell autobiography, and the upcoming CBGB movie. Friend of the blog (FoB©) Paul Dougherty also gets a namecheck.

Read Punk Is In the Air here.

THEY DID IT THEIR WAY: Clockwise from top left: Sid Vicious (Dennis Morris/Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art); Patti Smith (Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty Images); CBGB (William LaForce Jr./N.Y.Daily News Archive/Getty Images).

The Vinyl District app on NPR's All Songs Considered

 

I'm very pleased to say that NPR's All Songs Considered blog picked up on the Vinyl District Record Store Locator app, and posted a nice story about it today. You can read the story here. 

Download the app for the iPhone here. Download for Android here.

Big thanks to Bob Boilen & his team for helping to spread the word!

Introducing the TVD GPS-based Record Store Locator App for your iPhone or Android!

I’m very proud & happy to report that, after some time, a new app I’ve been working on in conjunction with developer Shoutem, and music blog The Vinyl District, is finally available for iPhone & Android users!

The great thing about this simple app is that it has a record store finder in it based on location. So it should be useful for vinyl lovers out there who find themselves in strange towns looking for a fix. It currently has about 1200 US stores listed, and we’ll be adding more as they come up. We may also eventually add UK stores at some point.

Read about the app & take a tour here.  

Download for iPhone here.    

Download for Android here.   

Yes, its free.   

Now contributing at Bedazzled!

 

I'm happy to announce that I'm now contributing to the mighty Bedazzled. It'll mostly be ephemeral items as I've published here for a long time...thanks to Spike for asking! See my first post here.

Now contributing to the Vinyl District

For those who care, I'm happy to report that I'll now be contributing 

to the wonderful Vinyl District as a New York correspondent. If you're not familiar, it started out of Washington DC to support their local record stores, and has since grown to cover the entire country (and beyond). Its also become the official blog of Record Store Day! Happy to be on board, JM.

As of right now...

Stupefaction is going on something of a hiatus. Anything set to publish over the next couple of months will go as planned, and my newsfeed (via Google Reader) will continue to be updated, but otherwise I won't be adding much. Stay tuned for further developments.

Links: Updated & Restored

For those who care, I've updated and restored the links page. Just click on the FoB© tab above, and away you'll go!

New year, new look!

Via TIH

I hope this morning sees everyone safe, sound & relatively sane. Just wanted to point out the fact that we've recently undergone a bit of a renovation here at Stupefaction, and we hope you like the results. HUGE thanks to JC over at Cerysmatic Factory for the help & guidance.

As well, our sister site for photographer Eugene Merinov has undergone a similar change. We'll soon be announcing details on new, high quality, digital prints of his work so stay tuned.

Keep in touch with us:
- Facebook
- E-Mail subscription
- RSS feed
- Twitter

Stupefaction 5th Anniversary

With this, the 2001st post, I wish myself a happy 5 year anniversary on Stupefaction. When I started this blog I really didn't have any agenda or plan in mind. It's been an interesting ride, and I'm pretty pleased with the way it's been going, and what it's become. I thank each & everyone of you who take a moment out of your day to have a look, leave a comment, and let me into your lives. It's not always easy, and sometimes I feel like killing Stupefaction, and starting something new, but those are just thoughts...I'm looking forward to what the future holds, and I'll do that right here.

The great Cookie Monster mystery

Way back in April 2006 I posted a silly little thing which included a picture of the Cookie Monster. Over the last several months I've noticed a lot of traffic, especially at night, coming in from people searching Google Images for "cookie monster." They come from all over the world, different computers, you name it...I must be averaging 20-25 hits a day because of this Cookie Monster picture. Are there really that many people looking for this every day?

Reading Stupefaction - new poll

If you end up here with any sort of regularity I'd like to ask that you take two seconds, and answer the simple question I've posed in the poll to your right, at the top of the sidebar. Please click thru if you're reading this in a blog reader, RSS feed, email, or facebook. Thanks!

Here's a reminder about the formats available for following this blog - I hope one of them is convenient for you:

- To get updates via RSS feed (for example, using a blog reader) click here
- To have posts sent to your email address on a once daily basis, simply enter your address in the box over near the top in the right hand column. Your address will not be used for anything other than sending out Stupefaction posts!
- On Facebook click here
- On Twitter click here (will include additional content)
- On Tumblr click here (will include additional content)

Stupefaction on Facebook

If you happen to follow Stupefaction on Facebook (or would like to) please check the following: I'm migrating the blog from Networked Blogs to a Fan page. If you follow me please hit the "like" button right here. Thanks!

Big Takeover mag seeks fresh blood, i.e. writers

Are there any aspiring music writers out there? If so, Big Takeover magazine is looking for some help.

At least my customer service works

I've heard from several readers & friends that the snapshot function I have installed on the blog is quite annoying, and I've listened. Unfortunately the folks over at snap.com have not (I've written to them to ask how to get it off the blog completely and they have not responded), and the function continues to work unless you do the following:

Go to the blog (if you're not here already), and hover your mouse over one of the links with snapshot. When the snapshot box opens look in the upper right corner and you'll see a little icon for preferences. Click that and make the selection to turn off snapshot. That should do it. Let me know how that works out.

On the other hand, if you like the snapshots (like Nazz Nomad), then just keep it as is.

Thanks, and as always, I appreciate your patronage. It means the world to me.