Currently Listening to Tom Waits, Bad As Me

"Everybody knows umbrellas cost more in the rain."

Just as I was listening to the new Tom Waits album, Bad As Me, courtesy of NPR, Jeffrey Eugenides described his surrogate in his new novel as looking like a young Tom Waits. I smiled. One, because I just love Tom Waits. Two, because, thanks to the ten trillion cool-as-shit pictures of Tom Waits, I could picture everything this kid was doing-- even in an Eastern Relgions class at Brown, and even though Eugenides has never looked a bit like Waits or half as cool. 


In many and various situations I simply wasn't paying attention to, I've been listening to Tom Waits all my life. But let's be real-- and if you know me, this will come as no shock-- I love Tom Waits, and came to the bulk of his material thanks to the single best television show of all time, The Wire. Thanks for that, buddy. And thanks for this new joint, which is suiting me perfectly as sort through all this research.


The new album came out this Monday. You can preview it on NPR too. Check out "Raised Right Men" and "Talking at the Same Time," which is somewhere between NOLA and LA noir. 


For some hump-day fun, in case you're bored and would like an excellent procrastination tool, you should really check out Tom's Wit & Wisdom section of his website. You've got to be a pretty serious badass to even create a Wit & Wisdom section of your website in the first place. And even more so to fill it with things like: "Poetry is a very dangerous word," and "You know, I don't like straight lines. The problem is that most instruments are square and music is always round." About NYC: "It's like a big ship and the water's on fire."


And my personal favorite, if only for its Scottish references, "It's hard to play with a bagpipe player. You can't play with them. It's like an exotic bird. I love the sound; it's like strangling a goose." Hilar. 


Also, check out this snazzy typography video by Jackie Lay set to "Eggs and Sausage."