Beck's website has been seen a flurry of activity recently; it's hard to keep up. Just arrived is a new interview feature called Irreverent Topics. In the first installment, the singer interviews Tom Waits about growing up in Los Angeles. It's a fascinating discussion.

Choice passage:

Beck Hansen: I was born in the McArthur park area.

Tom Waits: You remember when they drained McArthur Park, the lake?

BH: I do, yeah…

TW: They found unbelievable things: Cars, human bones, weaponry.

BH: They should have done an exhibit.

TW: I don't know why they didn't. I thought that's why they drained it.

BH: I'd always heard that when they drained the Echo Park Lake they found an amateur submarine.

TW: Oh, my God.

BH: I don't know if that was lore.

TW: You mean a homemade submarine?

BH: Yeah, I think it was older too, from the early days of “home submarine building.” I don't know if that subculture still exists?

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