Hot dog bun, my sister’s a nun

This week I recommend…

**Wenches — Stupid Sick

Get your digital, vinyl or CD copy here, or go to Already Dead if you are the cassette type. Mixed by Don Fury (Agnostic Front, GG Allin) and featuring Chad Price from the band ALL.

**This interview with Micheal Gira from Swans

I’m a latecomer to the phenomenon that is Swans. One day on a long run, the shuffler pulled up the eleven-minute Sunfucker and I don’t know if it was the July heat or slight dehydration or both, but I zoned out for what must have been miles to Gira’s eternally repeating sonic mantra. It was like a strong gummie, but with stereo sound.

Some choice bits:

There is no philosophy in the sense of an overarching set of principles or an ethic that serves as a filter for the work. The exigency is: work or die. Do the work.

I have never known anything other than writer’s block. I liken my process to trying to carve an image in a granite cliff face with a steel toothpick. But through persistence, something eventually emerges.

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I sit for hours sometimes staring at a blank page, but eventually when I give up completely something gets written. In the best instances, I don’t really feel like I wrote the words myself at all.

**John Prine

I thought John Prine was in the Velvet Underground for a long time. (Different John, I learned eventually.) Turns out, John Prine is one of the wittiest lyricists I’ve ever heard. A bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down and won…pure gold.

**Yazsh Cafe and Bistro

Indy has a long history with Central and Eastern Europe immigrants, particularly in its food and the flavor of the old neighborhood cultural halls and festivals in Haughville and the near Southside. A new brunch place opened over on Michigan Street featuring a Macedonian and Bulgarian-inspired menu that will bust your gut and make you want to sleep all day in the best possible way.

**Cameron Fence

They did a great job installing a very handsome fence around my back yard. I highly recommend them for all of your fencing needs.

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What I’m reading: Weird Walk (various authors)

What I’m listening to: John Prine (John Prine)