Remember the episode of The Wire from the first season where you see Wallace’s living situation? It’s in that brutal building with all the extended wires coming off the telephone poles, and it looks out over that vacant lot where maybe a dead body shows up one morning? I looked at an apartment today (I won’t say where) that gave off an eerily similar vibe. For all the hardwood floors and granite countertops they were still installing, it couldn’t make up for the fact that the bedroom view was a transformer, and the living room view was an empty lot with what appeared to be a rundown shack on it. Also, on the third floor of the 60-unit complex, the walkways were uneven, appeared to be unstable, and more than once I was warned to “watch my step”…why, I don’t know. Maybe I would have fallen through the floor if I was a few pounds heavier. That was a quick “no”. Tomorrow the search continues.
There used to be a show on WFMU back in 2003-2006 era that played a lot of Calypso. I think it was Irwin’s show? That’s where I learned about Lord Kitchener and Lord Invader. I don’t know why their music resonated with me (my tastes were more closely aligned to those of Bryce or Fabio) but it did. And my research into finding Lord Kitchener and Lord Invader on vinyl led me to the Honest Jon’s compilation called London Is The Place For Me. Ironically (or maybe…fortuitously?) I found that 2LP at the WFMU Record Fair in 2010. It was October 24th, to be exact. And why does it fit into this week’s Housing Project theme? Because of the song called “My Landlady” by Lord Kitchener. That’s why. Also, who among us DOESN’T want to bone their landlady?
Tomorrow I have to take my car in for service, and then I’m going to walk a few miles while I wait and look for “Now Leasing” and “For Rent” signs. Any that I can find. Hopefully it will result in something productive.
Various Artists
London Is The Place For Me
(Honest Jon’s – HJRLP2, 2002)
Sample MP3: Lord Kitchener – My Landlady
