"woah, i'm in trouble boys/a Southern Alabama kid's in trouble"

Mobile, Alabama roots


whenever i am about to leave the South, i start going all sentimental & relishing all those great things about the most misunderstood & underrated section of the country.

these are some Southern foods i've been into lately: cheese grits, FRIED okra & pickles & green tomatoes, ranch dressing.
mmm, want some?


and my favorite Southern cities & towns are: Mobile, AL, Fairhope, AL, Memphis, TN, Nashville, TN, Chapel Hill, NC, Winston-Salem, NC, Oxford, MS, Gainsville, FL, Pensacola, FL, New Orleans, LA, Atlanta, GA, Savannah, GA, and OF COURSE, MOST OF ALL... Athens, GA. the loveliest place in all the world.
see, these great boys are from there

my favorite places in Athens are: the 40 Watt, the Grit, THE GRILL, Caledonia Lounge, Secret Squirrel, the Globe, Transmetropolitan, Schoolkids, WUXTRY, and all the hilly back roads just outside of downtown.

i made a "Best Of Athens" mixtape, but that's for another time. so here are my Top 40 Bands/Musicians From The South!! not in order:

1. r.e.m. (GA)
2. the dB's (NC)
3. buddy holly (TX)
4. roy orbison (TX)
5. everly brothers (KY)
6. pylon (GA)
7. b-52's (GA)
8. let's active (NC)
9. love tractor (GA)
10. the squalls (GA)
11. flat duo jets (GA)
12. the silos (FL)
13. vulgar boatmen (FL)
14. jay reatard (TN)
15. dolly parton (TN)
16. otis redding (GA)
17. 13th floor elevators (TX)
18. guadalcanal diary (GA)
19. vic chesnutt (GA)
20. whiskeytown (NC)
21. OLD 97's (TX)
22. steve earle (TX)
23. justin townes earle (TN)
24. pine hill haints (AL)
25. jim white (FL)
26. swimming pool q's (GA)
27. daniel johnston (TX)
28. james & bobby purify (FL)
29. congo rebellion (FL)
30. the right angles (AL)
31. big star (TN)
32. bonnie "prince" billy (KY)
33. neutral milk hotel (GA)
34. of montreal (GA)
35. olivia tremor control (GA)
36. circulatory system (GA)
37. oh-OK (GA)
38. elf power (GA)
39. music tapes (GA)
40. the box tops (TN)

the coolest Southern gal!

ROY ORBISON

Roy Orbison is probably the coolest guy ever. i mean, just look at those shades.



and the coolest scene of any movie of all time is when Dean Stockwell & Dennis Hopper sing Roy's "In Dreams" in Blue Velvet.



also, he sang the truest lyrics to describe love that i've ever heard in my life, in 1989's "Mystery Girl."

a love so sharp
cuts like a switchblade to my heart
words tearing me apart

love hurts! it's also the greatest! thanks Roy.

Old Year/New Year

2008 was pretty sweet. the last day of it & the first day of 2009 were spent in Athens, Ga. we saw Of Montreal. they rubbed blood on us & played a full set of covers, highlights being "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "American Girl" by Tom Petty, and the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen In Love With Someone You Shouldn't've Fallen In Love With." it ruled, a lot.

E & i post-champagne, pre-Of Montreal:


broken glass: new year's eve aftermath


playing guitar with an extra hand


so anyway, that was 2008. goodbye, year.

now i have some predictions for 2009. what you can look forward to:

COOL PLACES- Savannah, Ga; Memphis, Tn; Oxford, Ms; Gainesville, Fl

COOL VENUE- The Bottle Tree in Birmingham, Al

LEGENDARY BANDS THAT WILL BE COOL TO BE INFLUENCED BY- Tall Dwarfs (and all other New Zealand/Flying Nun people like The Clean, The Chills, The 3Ds, The Bats, etc.), Pavement, Guided By Voices, original Elephant 6 stuff, R.E.M.'s first two albums

FOOD PEOPLE ARE GOING TO LIKE TO EAT- french fries (humble, yet easy to personalize & make more fancy; also, cool in a kitschy and also ironic, these-are-bad-for-me-but-i-don't-care kind of way)

COOL ART TO DO- Bookbinding

COOL ACTIVITY- categorizing all your favorite things in life into structured lists

DRUGS THAT WILL BE IN VOGUE- over the counter medications and the trusty, always readily available alcohol (especial hard liquor and cheap champagne)

COOL THINGS TO WEAR- glasses (preferably ones that make you look like Woody Allen), 80's-ish lace up ankle boots, sunglasses indoors, cropped t-shirts, t-shirts that are too big for you, things that are grey

SOCIAL-Y WEBSITE PEOPLE WILL GET EXCITED ABOUT- Yelp (see mine here! camillaaa.yelp.com)

COOL JOB- not actually having a job but finding creative ways to have enough money to live (i.e. selling cd's & lp's to your local independent record store, selling any items really on Ebay, getting your tax return back, spending your savings, having a birthday/graduating from high school or college or grad school/celebrating a holiday, making bets with people you know you'll win, etc.)

PHILOSOPHY/OUTLOOK FOR THE YEAR- no nostalgia; being more excited about right now & the future than the past, not romanticising the past, not basing new experiences on old ones, making new friends, doing new things, memory loss.