Back in the Bay: Don't you just love British Accents? & the amazing Prius

Me & my brother made the long drive up from OC to SF today, we left at around 12:30 PM, then hit LA traffic until around 2:30. It was like 98 degrees outside, but luckily the a/c was pretty good. We heard the Dandy Warhols on Jonesy's Jukebox while we were stuck in traffic. They were discussing their "Odditorium" which seems like a huge studio with a nice kitchen for entertaining their guests, which are usually touring musicians.  They played acoustic versions of "Godless" and "Bohemian Like You." After that, I had a nice rotation of my compilations of Beggars Banquet, Matador, and 4AD artists.  I like the recent line-ups, but my favorite was "Deafening Divinities with Aural Affinities" from 1993, which features The Charlatans, Rollerskate Skinny, Tones on Tail, Grant McLennan, Peter Murphy, Bauhaus, Gary Numan, and The Fall... the classics! I also like the Sip More Tea! and Tea for 2000 compilations, which feature artists such as Brassy, Bowery Electric, China Drum, Magoo, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, The Delgados, Six by Seven, etc.

We arrived at 7:30 PM with a couple stops for gas. We had dinner with my dad at our usual favorite Chinese restaurant Gourmet Carousel. I got my Japanese edition of the Dogs Die In Hot Cars CD "Please Describe Yourself" from ebay! I've recently noticed how excellent the British Accents Newsletter is. I learned of it through Filter-Mag.com, and it's everything I ever wanted in a music newsletter: an online radio show, release dates, upcoming shows in your major metropolitan area, etc. According to the site: "British Accents is a radio show, e-mail newsletter, and now a website catering to American fans of British music." Here are the release dates listed from this week's newsletter:

NEW & UPCOMING ALBUM RELEASE DATES (subject to change)
Aug 8 - ED HARCOURT/Elephant's Graveyard  USA (b-sides, download only)
Aug 9 - ORANGE JUICE/The Glasgow School   USA
Aug 9 - SONS & DAUGHTERS/The Repulsion Box   USA
Aug 9 - MOBIUS BAND/The Loving Sounds of Static   USA
Aug 15 - SUPERGRASS/Road to Rouen   UK
Aug 15 - THE RAKES/Capture/Release   UK
Aug 15 - LEAVES/The Angela Test   UK
Aug 16 - THE STANDS/Horse Fabulous   USA
Aug 16 - THE KILLERS/Hot Fuss-bonus version    USA
Aug 16 - MALCOLM MIDDLETON/Into The Woods   USA
Aug 22 - BRMC/Howl    UK
Aug 23 - STELLASTARR/Harmonies of the Haunted   USA
Aug 23 - NEW PORNOGRAPHERS/Twin Cinema   USA
Aug 23 - JOHN VANDERSLICE/Pixel Revolt   USA
Aug 23 - THE CRIBS/The New Fellas   USA
Aug 23 - various/Live at KEXP Vol 1    USA
Aug 23 - INTERPOL/Antics: The Special Edition   USA
Aug 23 - THE BRAVERY/Fearless: The Remixes   USA
Aug 30 - THE CORAL/The Invisible Invasion   USA
Aug 30 - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE/Plans   USA
Aug 30 - OK GO/Oh No   USA
August - UNDERWORLD   UK
Sep 5 - IAN BROWN/The Greatest   UK
Sep 5 - THE CLIENTELE/Strange Geometry  UK
Sep 6 - IDLEWILD/Warnings/Promises   USA
Sep 6 - RICHARD HAWLEY/Coles Corner   USA
Sep 13 - SUPER FURRY ANIMALS/Love Kraft   USA
Sep 13 - DANDY WARHOLS/Odditorium or Warlords of Mars   USA
Sep 13 - NADA SURF/The Weight is a Gift   USA
Sep 13 - ROB DICKINSON/Fresh Wine for the Horses    USA (x-Catherine Wheel)
Sep 19 - OCEANSIZE/Everyone Into Position   UK
Sep 20 - THE FALL/The Fall Head's Roll   USA
Sep 20 - GOLDFRAPP/Supernature   USA
Sep 20 - ORANGER/New Comes and Goes   USA
Sep 20 - MUSE/Origin of Symmetry   USA
Sep 20 - BILLY BRAGG/reissues    USA
Sep 20 - BROADCAST/Tender Buttons     USA
Sep 26 - PADDINGTONS/First Comes First   UK
Sep 27 - SUPERGRASS/Road to Rouen   USA
Sep 27 - ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN/Siberia   USA
Sep 27 - ROGUE WAVE/Descended Like Vultures   USA
Sep 27 - CALLA/Collisions   USA
Sep 27 - ELBOW/Leaders of the Free World   USA
Sep 27 - THE GO TEAM/Thunder, Lightning, Strike  USA
Sep 27 - METRIC/Live it Out    CANADA
September - THE CRIMEA/Tragedy Rocks   UK
September - SIGUR ROS    USA
Oct 4 - FRANZ FERDINAND/You Could Have It So Much Better...  USA
Oct 4 - METRIC/Live it Out    USA
Oct 4 - PAUL WELLER/As Is Now   USA
Oct 4 - BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE/Broken Social Scene    USA
Oct 11 - GANG OF FOUR/Return the Gift   USA
Oct 11 - THE CLIENTELE/Strange Geometry   USA
Oct 17 - CARDIGANS/Super Extra Gravity  UK/EUR
Oct 18 - DEPECHE MODE/Playing the Angel   USA
October - LIARS/Drums Not Dead   USA

Also, while searching for the site, I found this unusual article on an American woman from Indiana who had a stroke which gave her a British accent: "a mixture of English cockney and West Country"

And speaking of British Accents, here's yet another article on the 10th Anniversary of Britpop from BBC News, come on now - I really don't think Britpop ever ended.

Okay, one last update: an article from FMQB on the new Bunnymen album Siberia, #10's a charm!

Here's an interesting article about the totally awesome Toyota Prius - I've wanted one since they first came out, but I don't really like to drive (and I'm better off walking or taking public transport here). Actually, my dad should get one - I sold him on them a long time ago and here's an even better reason to get one:

Hybrid Car Enthusiasts Achieve 110 MPG In A Prius

From Eric Powers, Your Guide to Hybrid Cars. FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Prius Goes Nearly 1400 Miles On One Tank Of Gas

They did it!

The weekend of August 5th through the 7th, 2005, a team of hybrid car enthusiasts, took an unmodified Toyota Prius to a record breaking 1397 miles on a single 12.78 gallon tank of gas. That is a whopping 110 miles per gallon! This is an amazing accomplishment considering the EPA estimates for the hybrid is 60 city and 51 highway.

The original four men, Dave Bassage of W. Virginia, Dan Kroushl of Pennsylvania, Wayne Gerdes of Illinois, and Rick Reese of South Carolina, began driving in shifts Friday evening. On Saturday, a fifth man, Bob Barlow of Virginia, was added to ease the load of driving the nearly 1400 miles.

They drove back and forth for over 40 hours on an 18 mile stretch of 30 - 40 mph, four-lane highway. The route was selected specifically because it is in range in which the Prius can be operated very efficiently.