I don't usually title these things, but this post would definitely be called "You Are a Target Market," because I think that was a name of a Radiohead DVD that came out at some point. I think its a pretty good title, and it would have also been appropriate.

Email received today, courtesy of amazon.com:
Subject: Save on Seventeen: The Best New Music (Hear It First)

I think this is the first time that a Seventeen product has been marketed to me. Hopefully, I'll also start getting the Delia's catalogue, because they've got some funky sunglasses and some awesome existential questions in the margins. I don't recall any of the questions, but I remember them being pretty thought-provoking, at least for my then-12-year-old sister.

Apparently, Seventeen readers have gotten pretty cool lately, because amazon reports that, "We've noticed that customers who have purchased Bitter Tea by Fiery Furnaces also purchased the work of Seventeen: Best New Music (Hear It First)."

The Seventeen tracklist includes artists such as The Shout Out Louds, Faces on Film, Citizen Cope, Apollo Sunshine, The Like, Architecture in Helsinki, Regina Spektor, Tegan and Sara, Iron and Wine, Dirtie Blonde, Persephone's Bees, and Say Hi to Your Mom. I've enjoyed the work of two of these, and heard positive things about three others. I find Architecture in Helsinki good in short (ten-minute or less) bursts.

Pretty impressive list, considering the source, but I'm probably not the guy they're looking for.

- - - - - - -

Job update: It turns out that R/DS is the office pariah, officially, although the title is more understood than acknowledged. I guess that's sad. I went out on Saturday night, and was invited to sleep on somebody else's couch any time I felt the need this summer. I thanked him for the offer and politely turned it down, but not until we had jointly hatched an involved alibi necessitating my move. Alcohol was involved, I think.

- - - - - - -

Job update 2: The goal is, of course, to get out. The goal is always to get out, of course, no matter where I am. I'm pretty excited about the current getting-out target, although I've learned (not particularly well) to not get excited about these things. I've not learned at all how to not write or talk about these things. It's a pretty sick addiction.

On the other hand, I've got one independent person who has already made a call for this job on my behalf, and I've got potentially another one who will also be doing the same thing. However, the other one hasn't responded to an email from me; had I sent the email a week ago (that is, before the opening was an opening), which I thought about doing because I like emailing with this guy, he would have probably helped by now, and unsolicited. However, I finally emailed him about three hours after I found out about the position, and that probably looked a bit disingenuous to him. But it wasn't, I swear.

- - - - - - -

Updating last week's "What CD's I Brought Along" list:
I did not bring Billy Bragg and Wilco's Mermaid Avenue along. It made the round of 86, but was one of the six cutdowns.

I did bring both Robert Pollard's Waved Out and the Robert Pollard/Doug Gillard collaboration Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department. In addition, I brought GbV's Tonics and Twisted Chasers along.

This means that Pollard releases outpace Tweedy releases, six to five (Pollard's got seven if you count Vampire on Titus/Propeller as two releases, which you/I probably should.)

- - - - - - -

Most annoying thing about the R/DS: When writing the full version of the baseball term abbreviated "HR," he writes "homeruns," and not "home runs." When I asked why, he said, "Because spell check accepts it as one word." I didn't have the heart to respond, "But what about 13 decades of baseball [ed: or is it "base ball" ?] history?"

So this just means that I'll subjugate every urge to the contrary and use the term "homeruns," which is not a word, this season. Or I'll be gone.

- - - - - - -

Highlights of two pretty good phone conversations tonight:
1) Nemo thinks I'm a wuss.
2) Gurs will be just fine in the Twin Cities, it turns out.

Awesome.