Auto Rock - Mogwai - Mr. Beast - 2006

As expected, we spent a big part of the morning sleeping in. The soccer game we had come to attend didn't start until 5, so even with the lie in we had a bit of tourist time. We figured, we'd hike down to the Museum of Fine Arts and grab brunch somewhere along the way...and yet again, Boston seemed determined to thwart us.

As we walked each block between our hotel and the museum we were continually amazed by the lack of brunch options. There was not one neighborhood cafe or at least a pub with a big Irish fry-up...but no, nothing but chain restaurants and houses.

We finally arrived at the museum and resigned ourselves to eating at the restaurant onsite. The good news was that there were three of them, the bad news was that they were all crappy in one way or another. The downstairs was simply a cafeteria, the upstairs was a place that was going for the illusion of being upscale and offered a $35 pre-fix brunch (I wouldn't even pay that in NYC, let alone at a museum in brunch-less Boston). The place in the middle was where we settled, but none of us were overly enthused with the option. I got a bowl of seafood chowder and ate a bunch of the free bread. It would turn out to be my only meal of the day.


Ahhh Mogwai, is there anything you can't make sound ominous? Since their songs are generally wordless, the titles are usually the only place you can look for meaning and in this one it's fairly easy to see. From the plunking, Knight Rider keyboards, to the slow build of the synths and guitars swelling to an almost overwhelming level of intensity this is the sound of driving alone on a rainy night with a gnawing anger in your stomach. Having personally driven through the black Scottish night, and seeing just exactly how dark, dark can get...I feel like I know exactly what this song is about.

Angels vs Aliens - Mogwai - Ten Rapid - 1997

Ok, so here is the thing that never made sense to me: you can't feed the Mogwai after midnight...but until when? Dawn? 7AM? 9AM? Is there some kind of Mogwai clock?

Also, if a drop of water made them multiply, what did they drink? Was it just water that produced this response. What if you dropped some Jameson's on them, would you get drunk and surly Gremlins (Suddenly the Leprechaun films make more sense...yes even Leprechaun 6: Back 2 Da Hood). Were Mogwai in fact the only non-water based life form around? Or was the reason the other Mogwai wanted to turn into Gremlins just cause they were freaking thirsty?

Continuing on this line of thinking...the title of this song also suggests a new film franchise to me. Now that the Alien has succesfully faced off against The Predator, perhaps they need to take a shot at God's messengers. Angels vs Aliens: This time it's Holy War! I'm thinking the Rock as Michael the Angel general, with Vin Diesel as Gabriel, and Samuel L. Jackson as God. And of course, as always, James Earl Jones as the voice of the magic taco.

Thoughts for the ages.

Acid Food - Mogwai - Mr. Beast - 2006

So, I had been talking up Enid's in Greenpoint as the best brunch in the city to a newer friend of mine. I lived in Greenpoint from 2003-2005 and made Enid's a regular weekend trip. Despite generally regarding my time in the Point as "hellish", I would never have said a bad word about the breakfast. Plus as a Midwesterner, I am always happy to find a place that makes biscuits and gravy. Except this is now the second time in a row I've been there and they've run out of biscuits. Seriously, dipshits...it's Easter Sunday...did it not occur to you that you might have a run on biscuits? Make more than you think you need.

In addition to that our waitress was awful and I had only slept an hour and a half on saturday night, so I was not in a good place to be messed with. She could have at least brought us our bloody marys (Which sat on the bar for a solid ten minutes) over when she came to tell us there were no more biscuits. I threw a small temper tantrum. It was not my proudest moment.

Anyway, I certainly could have used this song to cool me down. This is one of Mogwai's new "Hey, we'll try out this whole singing thing" songs. The song is so laid back it sounds like someone gave The Beta Band Quaalude's and told them to wash it down with some NyQuil. Lovely pedal steel part though. I need a nap.