Falwell gives all credit to Hucksterism

On this morning's Morning Edition from NPR. Listen to this story. "Course I don't hate gay people, and damn them to hell, I jes' say that kind o' thing..."



Also, the next one was really good too - about the Texas ice house tradition (nat'l story from San Antonio). Listen to that story.



Drink up!

Everyone ♥'s YouTube

I do. Sports guy's do. Science culture-jammer's do. Insufferable hipsters do too. (Thanks, MilkBone!)

Although this list stinks far too much of shoddy availability (thus '80s apologetics), might as well... No harm done.

Here's the best I think they have to offer (and there's several that reach this level), but I haven't watched them all - yet:


Hell, if you want '80s videos (thanks Goferboy!), no problem. But how do you have an effete homage to '80's pop without the lads from Hull?

Manitoba / Caribou

We saw Manitoba a few years ago, before (t)he(y) were Caribou.
It's a long story.

The music live was a very cool mix of pop, electronic, and rock.
(T)he(y) had a great multi-media show, with elaborate, synched video back-up. Which was released the following year on DVD.

They've got almost all of them [playlist] from that tour on Youtube. (I editted in a couple for the two missing ones.) I'd meant to buy the new album at the time, but had forgot about it until pretty recently. So, there it is...

Here's the shortest one, and the whole collection of Caribou vids.

Recent Legislative Issues (U.S.A.)

And results:

I Support The Troops Resolution - nothing really.

Video Game Violence Debate - nothing.

Flag Burning Constitutional Amendment - nothing.

Gay Marriage Constitutional Amendment - nothing.

Pledge Protection Act - nothing.



What in the world is going on here? How many empty gestures can a government rack up? Will we hear meaningless rumbles about Roe v. Wade?

Probably not. But this is a fight for America's soul!!! ... against gay, flag-burning, video game-playing, troop-hating, pledge-refuseniks! Maybe something about meth-heads?

More Laffoley

Some may have missed my previous post on "slightly autistic" artist Paul Laffoley. Some may not have cared.



Just found a related MySpace site with TONS of his art, and various things (like art and .gifs and stuff in the Comments).

And they've got this mini-doc on there:


Last week, Laffoley agreed to participate ("!!!") in the Paul Laffoley Online Archive Proposal - check it out if supportive.

How have I never seen this?!

Having watched "Superthunderstingcar" a few times now, while home sick, I went looking around for some more stuff on Supermarionation and Gerry Anderson.

I'd seen a bit of "Thunderbirds," and apparently he was the creator of "Space: 1999" - which I watched as a kid.

So, how in the world have I missed THIS?


Will be reading more about "UFO" (1970) - I can assure you.

Infinity Times Scarier Than...

Well, almost anything, but I was thinking the Biblical-Scholars-Unlock-Bible-Code-To-Predict-U.N.-Nuclear-Attack-Window headline.

"Amendment on Flag Burning Fails by One Vote in Senate" - one vote!
It passed in the House - passed! Sometimes, though, burning the flag is the only thing to do...


What about a flag-signing amendment?

Poëm

I noticed a bird in our tree,
underneath the crepe myrtle blooms.
It seemed unable to fly, so it
jumped from branch to branch
fluttering.
Two birds seemed to call to it,
one from a powerline, the other
from the opposite tree.
It might have been injured.
Or it could have just hatched
(I'd noticed a nest in the tree
recently), but it seemed too big.
Finally, after moving into the middle,
it seemed to settle down.
So I lost interest
and went inside.

True story.

[Edit: Went back out, and it looks like it was just a big baby. The two other birds were in fact trying to help it learn to fly. It hopped around in the yard and street a bit. I only saw it make about 3 feet - across our front walkway. I don't like poetry. Just seemed appropriate for the "wounded bird struggles to fly" event.]

To Scale the Heights of Madness

If you're anything like me, you have a voracious appetite for all trivia related to one Kenny Rogers. Now, we all know "The Gambler" - the song and the tv specials - and who could forget "Islands in the Stream?" Which is medically proven to cure any lack of stomachache.

But what about The First Edition? Did you know their drummer (Mickey Jones) was the guy who replaced Levon Helm as drummer on the Dylan-goes-electric tour? (He's also a tv/film character actor, playing Burly Miner in Total Recall.) Sure, Johnny Cash was "honored" to present "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town."

But before that, the Rog' handed this to the world on a 3-D, day-glo, Peter Max platter.


So, sure, you've got Kenny Rogers, Dylan's first touring rock drummer... big deal! What if I told you tv theme-impresario Mike Post produced this slab? Ok, how about Glen Campbell on black-metal guitar solo? Look, if you can't dig Jimi Hendrix's favorite song, that's cool (I guess).

You might also remember... this?

"Caswell doesn't like to be stood up."

Swingin' San Francisco - 1967!

Read about Moby Grape. [movie]

Swingin' Austin, TX - 1966!

Read about The 13th Floor Elevators.

Houston never swung - but here's a crackéd '60s gem 40-years-later.

Read about The Red Crayola/Krayola.

Philip K. Dick - yessir!

It's weird to say that Philip K. Dick is the Sonic Youth of the 21st Century. I first heard about Dick via Sonic, back in the late 80's, Sister era.



But both PDK and SY have been getting lots of press recently. They are in vogue. I haven't been too interested in the last several Sonic years. But Phil Dick doesn't have the same issues of current output - he's 20+ years dead.

Anyway, I love articles that drag someone like Foucault (or even better would be Derrida) into the equation.



I'm really planning to see "A Scanner Darkly." It was a good book, and I have liked most of Richard Linklater's movies.

Jawohl! Deutschland!

I'm getting too tired to make up commentary.

Explore the Youtube vault, under category: Krautrock.
Here's a digestible nugget:


Blatantly ripped by the Lips.

"You're a genius, Masterbraun!"

Believe it - Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were good.

Lots of hilarity, but this appeals the most:


This has John Lennon. "Drastic slashes..." hehe.

I'd never heard of this "Derek & Clive" thing. I don't know about "breathtakingly obscene," but still...



What I was looking for was the "Bedazzled" theme song. But this is all I could find.

My first sickly stab at...

An idea I've kind of had for a little while. Someplace to put the upcoming, local events and everything I mention or am just interested in checking out. Or that someone else might be.

So, it's a calendar. Or a start at least... I've set up a framework, and put just a few easy-to-identify things in for July.

It's not quite right, but that's generally what I had in mind. Each day with something entered would have an event-half (top) and a location-half (bottom). I've put the summer months' links over on the sidebar, although June will probably pass before it sees much use.

I'm taking suggestions.

Only in The America!

1970/80's - holy crap!

They started so much for all of u.s.
Big Boys' "Funk Off / Baby Let's Play God"

Also recommended: "I'm a Man"

Her too - lots to answer for...
Patti Smith Group's "Gloria" (from freaking SNL!)

Also recommended: "Horses"

Who can deny it?
Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale" (from '72)

Also recommended: VU docs

Guh?

Nice headline, this:
"Bible Scholars Widen the Window to 5 days for a Nuclear Terrorist Attack on the United Nations between June 29 and July 4"

To the point, but retains it's snappiness, eh? Found here. Five days is still a pretty tight window... and I'm going out on a limb here and betting - against.



Party at Ground Zero?

"Hello, It's from Merry Olde England."

1970/80's - glam, bam, slam!

The only band with two well-named bongo-ists:
Steve Peregine-Took and Mickey Finn!
T. Rex's "Cadilac"

Also recommended: "Life's a Gas"

Now with added Brian Eno!
Roxy Music's "Virginia Plain"

Also recommended: "In Every Dream Home a Heartache"

Absolutely fiery performance!
The Jam's "Funeral Pyre"

Also recommended: "Full Rockpalast concert 1980!!!"

A Good Time Was Had By (me)

Well, Austin and Pong were great - as per usual.

Cookie has the groovy pics of course.

I have to pick just one? Well...


The band was all resplendent in white - cabana pants and Mexican waiter shirts. (I don't really know what cabana pants are...) The set was launched with "Rocket Fuel," which was a pleasantly surprising opener. This is the newest song I believe, and it was a cool one to get everyone rolling. I hadn't heard "Incapacitated" or "It's Great" in quite a few shows, and they were certainly welcome returns!

I always wish the Pong shows could last about another hour to 90 minutes, just to fit in more heaviosity ("The Owl," "Bubble Jungle") and recent rarities ("Click Ok," "Blues Underground"). But who's complainin'? Not me.

O yeah, one more:


Also, Jason Craig has a side project.

And I located some archival evidence of old Pong.

Ha Ha!

Go here to check out the newest This Modern World comix.

Like this (click for max legibility):


Newest news posted to TMW homepage - Rush busted?

Now I must find this album.

As if the front cover wasn't enough...


... there's also the back!

Kinda reminds me of this.

Sports Guy's Youtube HoF

Been battling a cold since leaving Austin, so mostly just sleeping (barely).

Here's ESPN's Bill Simmons' new Youtube Hall of Fame.

My favorite quote is: "Every time I watch this clip, I feel like I just smoked hash that was laced with peyote acid."



Also, Ken and I were there for #32, actually pretty close to where the camera is.
More later...

Slurring Slurred Slurs

I was thinking recently about the still-acceptable slurs in our society, so I started poking aound. Found this.



See, I thought that "to welsh" was related to Wales. And I had heard about potential problems with "squaw," but didn't think that was accurate. Turns out I was only half-right. Whatta gyp!



I'd never heard about the place name-changes in '67. Sad, sad, sad...

VIC-20

Started reading the Lienhard book, and the first essay runs the spectrum. Sometimes evoking 2001: A Space Odyssey, sometimes recalling my formative technological experiences.



Such as the Commodore VIC-20, the first computer I owned - with cassette drive. Later I upgraded to the C-64, with dual outboard floppy drives and a modem.

I learned to program in BASIC on these, and wrote some simple games. I also retooled an existing (broken) program, and ran a BBS (called "The War Room") during the day through my home phone. (I'd totally forgotten the term "SysOp.") The sole purpose of which was to upload/download pirated video games.

My favorite was Brøderbund's Lode Runner. To this day, I still enjoy using game editors to design my own levels (only the one with the pentagram).

This guy's insane!

Insane like a fox...

I Have A Dream(s)

Don't worry - this isn't going to become a Dream Journal blog. But the last two nights have brought me a pair of elaborate, continuous, epic dreams.



In last night's, I was a guest in some girl's apartment. The previous night's party hadn't been there, and the person I was staying with wasn't a good friend, complete stranger or girlfriend. I had something important to get to that day, so I really kind of needed to go. Nevertheless, I mixed several scotch-and-waters in a four-foot-long crystal ashtray, helped hide drugs from law enforcement, took multiple naps, and did some laundry. I believe I also used the word "naïf," which I just now learned was a recent word of the day online.



In the apartment's laundry room, there was a very small sushi bar - room for only one or two stools. And the Nipponese sushi chef (in uniform) explained to me The History of Sushi. It seemed pretty thorough, and may well have been in Japanese, but only one part sticks with me. He said that sushi portions were small because of his culture's concern for "face" and not giving affront. With smaller discrete pieces, sushi could be enjoyed without leaving partially-eaten food sitting in view of one's companion(s). Thus sparing all the resulting discomfort and embarrassment!



This theory(?) is all news to me, but I guess it sort of makes sense. Considering my brain came up with it, I suppose it would. I've never heard anything about The History of Sushi... so I thought I'd post this, and then find out.

...

Ok, I checked all around, and I can't find any-such-thing of the sort on the exhaustive and always-reliable Internet. Although this history does connect the sushi chef's hand positions to ninjas!

No. Really?

You're telling me you're not reading Jim Woodring's blog? Seriously?
Ok, whatever...

Foreign Films

I've been trying to pick up some of the non-U.S. classics recently, and now I just have to watch some of them.

Just tonight, it's a supposed greatest ever - Jean Renoir's "The Rules of the Game"



The time before, it was French New Wave. Jean-Luc Godard's "Masculin Feminin"



Before that, British Ealing Studio's "Kind Hearts and Coronets" - with Sir Alec Guinness in a pre-Sellers 8 roles!



And going back further, Japan. Yasujiro Ozu's "Tokyo Story"



Obviously, I'm letting Criterion guide me somewhat in this area. Can I be blamed? If you want me to burn copies for you, just let me know.
(kidding.)

Tonight, we're watching "The Last Waltz" - one of the sure-fire greatest ever.

Rock Radio

So, someone at work today stumbled across the equivalent of six years of my unheeded advice, and we all got to go home an hour-and-a-half early. One way or another...

So, I'm driving home at an unusual time (3:15pm), and something great is on the radio - 90.1fm Pacifica - apparently called "Uncastrated Classic Rock" (today's playlist isn't up yet right now, but the link's there). So, they were playing a David Bowie song I didn't know, then some pretty heavy glam stuff, and overall the kind of thing I'd definitely check out on a regular basis. Maybe less far-reaching than Little Steven's Underground Garage, but damn fine for radio in Houston.



Also, I get to see Christian Arnheiter cruising around - where else? - on lower Westheimer... Moped scooter? Pink mohawk? Perma-grin? That's him!

Kinda reminded me that I forgot to link to yesterday's comforting episode of "Engines of Our Ingenuity." Never expected to hear The Who on this show... I need to check out one of his books sometime.

[Edit: We ran up to Half Price Books, and I got this one.]

Amor y Cohetes

Last post for the night - getting (sick and) tired.

Not to be confused with the post-Bauhaus trio, Los Bros Hernandez's magnificent achievement, "Love and Rockets" should be enjoyed by all. Immediately. If I were to pick one comics-style literature to endorse for random test-subject A, this is it.



This Salon article is mostly about its depiction of women (a common topic). This related interview covers some of the same territory.

Most people seem to enjoy Jaime's "Locas" stories more - cute, American, punk rock - with his clean Carl Barks-esque style. But I think Beto's "Palomar" epic(s) wins by a hair - dark, exotic, gothic (in the non-Bauhaus way). Seriously, if you can digest words, pictures and ideas together - check it out.



Who knew Salon covered L&R so heavily?

Open up the Box

The Music Genome Project offers Pandora in an effort to help you find music similar to music you already like. The "Guide Us" button is used for various functions, including telling you why certain songs were chosen.

In addition to the "radio" functionality, they have Backstage, that lets you just browse around.

I found the article where I learned out about this thing. The site's not too flashy, so here are some antique radio dials:

Big Box Alex Star Tops Chilton

Two of my favorite albums:


Anyway, I'm not sure how these guys got away with no success. This song certainly should have been at least as big a hit as "The Letter", right?



Apparently, this is all they got for Big Star. Too bad - sign o' the times, I suppose.
They do have the Place Mats' "Alex Chilton" vid though.

Chapter the third: In which, Our Hero makes a shocking Admission. Chaos ensues.

I'd never bought a serious piece of furniture in my life. Sure, an Ikea entertainment center or something, but nothing really real. It's pretty much all been second-generation hand-me-downs.

Until now:



I came home sick in the middle of the day, and also got this sweet barcalounger delivered. It's pretty decadent, I admit, but I'm looking forward to many happy years of reclining.

Paul Laffoley

I found out about this artist through an informative dvd from Disinformation, which covers interesting people, places and trends - culture, politics, etc...



Most of his work includes diagrams, schematics, and text-driven metaphysical theorizing. Sometimes they're machines, or life processes, living spaces, or sometimes just conceptual riddles. Here's a grab-bag of some of his work.



Many of his works seem to be at the Kent Gallery (images down the left sidebar). And here's a nice little photo-walkthrough showing some of the detail in their pieces.



His strange art definitely reflects his strange ideas. I got his out-of-print book, The Phenomenology of Revelation, awhile back - mainly for the page-sized prints and corresponding "explanations."



His explanation of "Thanton III" (above):

The painting depicts an extraterrestrial's exhortation to me, explaining how to:
1) Link life to death in a continuous experience.
2) Utilize the resulting thanatonic energy to travel faster than the speed of light, turn matter into consciousness and back again, alter evolution at will, and exist simultaneously at every moment in time.
3) Move the entire universe into the fifth dimensional realm, and say when in history it is possible for this to happen.

I have also received other information I cannot understand

Sound like a painting you could dig?

Happy 100th Post!

Ever since the "first post!" (six weeks ago), I've been dreaming of this day.

Sure there have been some failed experiments, but overall it's been great.

I've gotten to champion a few of my favorite things.
And mock those who deserve it.

And I look forward to the next 100 posts. What will the future bring?
Hmmmmm...

Bumppostcountslatelinkbump

Yeah, whatever. At least most everyone acknowledges the situation - we just differ on whether it's a problem. I say, your off-the-charts athletic talent shouldn't score you freebies on the court. Other people either exculpate the refs, or just disagree.

Here's the Game 6 foul called on Nowitzki. But I'll definitely grant that the Mavericks didn't need all that much help.



This should be the last you hear from me on the subject. Scroll down to these comments (way down, white sidebar), and/or just enjoy this.

Holy Joementum!

This is dumber than Korgoth...



Found out about it here during the birthday party.

More Classic Movies soon!

On the last weekend in June (and repeated the next), outdoor sit-in style classics can be seen in this town of mine - Houston, TX, U.s.A.

Here's the schedule.

June 29 (and July 1) - "Casablanca" - one of the most beloved movies of all time (and my AIM Friday Movie Contest entry for "Best Chick Flick," can't remember if it was a winner.)



June 30 (and July 2) - "Singin' in the Rain" - not a big fan of musicals (I'll probably miss "Yankee Doodle Dandy"), but this is a quality movie for reals. I think it's the topic - movies' transition to sound - that allows me to accept the Musical conventions.



Would like to see both of these on the big screen - sounds fun!

Back to Austin News

A mere two days ago, I posted that we'd go see Pong in Austin. Little did I know that this show would be the Room 710 Sixth Anniv. Party! (Closest I could get...)



Opening will be DJ Lemon Lime (Lyman Hardy), Combo Mahalo (Hawaiian Jazz), and Hug (Killer Lifestyle track 8?).



Thanks to this site (and no thanks to you), I found some other stuff going on.
Friday, at Woody's South (321 W.B.W.), Hug (diff-link) also open the Foot Foot (Killer Lifestyle track 1!) CD Release Party.
Friday, at Room 710, the party pre-tinues with (The Lord Weird) Slough Feg, Dixie Witch, and others. (Sounds loud rock like.)

C'mon - Foot Foot/Hug? Whaddya thinkin'?!



Old-school Ed Hall link(s) (scroll to end). For the record.