Opus 40

Levon Helm plays drums on this Mercury Rev song from 1998.



(I still like the first couple, noisier albums a bit more.)

Blahg blahg blahg...

I love how self-reflexive the interweb can be. And blogs are no less, if not more, so. Here's a Slate article about a recent Pew survey of bloggers - front page title:
"Does Anyone Read Your Blog Besides Your Family?"



Plus a general Slate round-up of recent stuff I haven't been able to find a place for...

The Shamu story establishes once and for all that men are the new women. You can now use the New York Times to write the most dehumanizing and insulting shit about them and everybody will laugh in recognition.

Agreed, been saying it for years. TV commercials by far the worst. (Hit Article!)

In one of the strangest legal statements of all time, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez on Friday said, "I think it's dangerous for us to try to make an evaluation, case by case, as we look at potential terrorist plots and making a decision, well, this is a really dangerous group, this is not a really dangerous group."

Big Brother is reading your mind. (Thoughtcrime!)

Iraqi officials, he declared, are "going to have to persuade as many people as possible that it's in their interest to support the government and participate in the political process. And anyone who doesn't want to, they're going to have to go find and do something about."

Woohoo! Rumsfeld should have been fired years ago. (Reality-based reality.)

Bush and Rice supported the participation of Hamas in the Palestinian elections in January on the strength of Abbas' prediction that he would win. Whoops. In Lebanon, the State Department has hailed the "Cedar Revolution," without emphasizing that the elections it led to gave one of the world's worst terrorist organizations a significant voice in the government.

On the flipside! (Some defense of Bush.)

Yet the rule, which should have vanished long ago, is enforced today at the Economist, where I work. (Our style book notes that "the ban is pointless. Unfortunately, to see it broken would be annoying to so many people that you should observe it.")

Everyone's favorite! (Grammar Nazis, grammar nerds...)

Music and the drugs

The local free weekly has a music column, which this week commemorates the passing of Syd Barrett - by noting how rare his influence still is.



Click here to read.

"Racket" - Houston Press

A Thousand Words

More rock and/or roll

Weirdly, I got an e-mail today from a co-worker who's moved up to Seattle, encouraging people to go to this Monday's happy hour with The Dimes, et al.

Finally, a Veto.

Well, as expected, Bush vetoed the embryonic stem cell research funding bill. His first.

Some are for increased funding. From yesterday's ATC.

Some are against it. From today's.

Right now ~

Pong is probably on stage at Stubb's, in the outside, opening for The Beat! Wish I was there.

Rock Music, Weekend Last

Saturday night, we went to see the show at Rudyards.

The Kimonos, The Linus Pauling Quartet, The Dimes, and something we missed (Concrete Violin).



The Kimonos headlined with a 30 minute set, and they were bad. Peoples were leaving in literal droves.

The Dimes were the big surprise. Four young guys, dressed up and having a great time, breaking out. A bit of the Sound of NOW!, mixed with some classic sounds (esp. New York noize). Will try to catch them again.

Linus was the true headliner, and they put on a show that made me think. They opened with a slapped-together cover of "Interstellar Overdrive," and they played "Waiting for the Axe to Fall." And pretty much the whole show was more recent, unreleased (developing) songs.



So, here's a band with 3 LP's, an EP, a Double-LP, a few singles, 10 years of catalogue... And almost nothing with any history in their whole set. I actually like their new material, and the show was good.

But I've seen a bunch of bands stay productive, just to constantly shunt tested material aside for the new stuff. And I've seen a lot of bands return from the brink. (And I'm seeing them both in a couple of weeks!)

Anyway, I mentioned something to Charlie about mixing in some old school with the new favorites, and he actually said that was the plan. I wasn't harrassing him - I was paying him for my new Italian "Jason Bill" split-single (#75 of 300!), apparently recently unearthed. $3.00!

I actually might have been more coherent about this late into Sunday morning, but you get the idea. I like for bands to continue mining their older materials. I also like when multiple people vocalize...

Cool Money (NL)

Who has the coolest money? Who else? The Dutch.

Loose lips stop shit

George Bush used some strong language in discussing the Israel-Hezbollah conflict with Tony Blair, at the G8 conference.



I agree with this article. Sounds like the most sense Bush has ever made on the foreign affairs front. Who cares about the profanity? Why isn't anybody talking about Bush's table manners? The man's chewing with his mouth open, talking with his mouth full, and smacking his lips like he's ready to carve a German pig.

[Edit: Well, now I watched past the Bush portion, and the BBC host mentions the table manners! Right. On.]

Of course, Jon Stewart is all over it. I think it's interesting that The Daily Show dropped the [bleep]ing for Bush. Daring uptight moral crusaders to rally against swear words on the lips of their boy-king... Nice.

Why do I work afternoons?

So, I'm off today. The A/C guy comes by a little late (quoting the "Petticoat Junction" themesong), but he leaves me some good news - immediate relief! I mess around for awhile, then go for the groceries. On the way back home, I hear a really nice little song on KRTU. The kind of thing that makes me calmly think, "Why couldn't this have been a regular hit song? (instead of all the rage-inducing manipulative dreck that clutters the...!!!)" Apparently, early afternoon is the time to hear decent rock radio around here.



So, I saw The Shins at Vegoose last year (see My Profile for me and Kristine during Ween), and they were really good. Sounded good, obviously enjoyed it a lot, didn't get boring. Not 100% my cup o' tea, but I was much less than disinterested. Can't really say the same thing for the "Garden State" movie, but I don't think I was the target moviegoer. Hopefully...



So, the point is: when I'm looking to a Shins song on the "Garden State" soundtrack for rock radio redemption - it's time to consider armed occupation of local stations.
[Hit the little speaker button to hear a clip.]



[Edit: O yeah, Nick Drake was on the "Garden State" OST, so I've hidden a video-link behind Che.]

The Internets

Most funniest thing we've seen on The Daily Show (with Jon Stewart) recently.



Go ahead and click here to laugh it up. Courtesy of Dispatches from the Culture Wars, apparently courtesy of BigDumbChimp.

This just in.

Milkbone e-mailed me at home, and let me know the holy land is erupting into full-blown war. This is terrible news, but the inevitable result of escalating tit-for-tat foreign relations.



In terms of pointlessness, it reminds me of this recent story of a military operation in Afghanistan. (From NPR's All Things Considered.)

Let's all hope this gets better before it gets worse. This is how these things start...

As potential comic relief to the opening salvos of a possible Dubya-Dubya-Thr33, Paul DLF forwards this patently-offensive bio of Geo. Washington.

Robt. Wms.' Surrealist Violation

While we're talking about R'n'R cover artists, here's an L.A., Calif.-specific "happening" site, with reminiscences by Robt. Williams, the hot-rod Titian. Saying he did the original (banned) cover for "Appetite for Destruction" is like saying R. Crumb was the cover artist for "Cheap Thrills."

He's so lowbrow, he has no website.


[I actually attended this show's opening in 1998, and was star-struck to meet the man in person. This piece ("The Four Seasons As Seen Through The Eyes Of Jessica's Sock Monkey") graces the program cover, sitting on my physical-collage top shelf of a bookcase.]

More.

This is Important Stuff

Unlike Steely Dan, necromancer-assassination, or the Texas governor's race - here's something that could make some kind of difference.

SEARCH is having a Water Drive for Houston's homeless.
Ends Saturday, 7/16.

It's summer, it's hot, and I just thought it might be nice to help out a little.

Open the bottle (right)
for more info.

Also, the Special Olympics sent me their annual fund-raiser notice. Suggested donations are $8.15, $16.29, and $32.58 (full season for one athlete). No jokes.

Mad about Brubeck

Not everyone can stomach Steely Dan. But I've heard good things about Donald Fagen's new solo album, "Morph the Cat." So, I thought I'd take us all the way back to 1982.

"New Frontier"


Including Picasso sample(s).

Kinky Grandma

A couple of days ago, Texas decided that cigar-smoking Richard Friedman can run as "Kinky," but they've denied Carol Keeton Strayhorn "Grandma." Sounds reasonable to me - like this story explains (chosen for the sidebar "60 Minutes" video).

A Million Little Pieces of Oblivion

by Raekwon Kenobi

Last thing I remember, I was in the Grub and Grog. Next thing I know, I wake up in jail – grubby and groggy. Too much Skooma, I assume. After a little while, some old coot with Alzheimer’s shows me a way to break out of my cell – insisting I call him "The Emperor." He does have a certain hobo wisdom, like he should be commanding a space-faring galleon, or heading an academy for orphans with strange abilities.



Somehow he loses me in the sewers while I’m vomiting off the night before, and I spend the next half-hour wandering the tunnels, fighting off sewer rats. My kind of life brings more rat meat than mutton, so I feel better after a meal. When I find him again, he starts nattering about some long-lost bastard son, the family consigliere, and how I've got to deliver this priceless heirloom. Then his ravings become incoherent. Mysteriously, he keels over dead (maybe it was ninjas).

I finally reach the exit, and my clothes are, uh... soiled. Luckily, a clothing store is right across the river, although it must be a fancy lad place. The clerks all try to give me the bum’s rush, so I end up killing a few – I need to find a manager.



Well, turns out they were bandits. The kind who hear rumors of monsters and disappearing comrades, and decide to write in their diary how the place will make a wonderful waylay station. I can’t resist a mystery. Whenever Dickwolf the Bard starts in on his Tales of Justice Constabulary, I can never leave until they're solved...

True enough, the place is lousy with zombies and skeletons, which I methodically dispose of. I sneak up some stairs and spy a hooded figure in dark robes, surrounded by corpses and reliquaries. “Who’s there?” he asks pleasantly, so I shot him through the neck with an arrow. I think it was the right thing - based on the grave-robbing and corpse-animating described in his letter to “Aluc.” But he had some pretty sweet threads.



On my way back to town, I stumble across a strange sort of weed – it’s probably worth some money to the right type of dealer.
I need to find one, and a bar.

Syd Barrett (1946-2006)

I heard the news today. O boy.



"Jugband Blues"


Here's the news source.

Space Force: 1988

Over at Something Awful, they've got a parodic mash-up of: UFO, Space: 1999, and daytime soaps.
It's called (click here) "Space Force: 1988."

EXT. MEAN STREETS OF NEW JERSEY - DAY

CAPTAIN SEARCHWELL, LT. TIVOK, ENSIGN RILEY and ENGINEER BUGGOCK phase into existence on a filthy street corner in New Jersey. A newspaper blows past and it reads “IT’S 1974!” as the main headline. Cars and barrels burn in the streets and several PUNKS in leather jackets are disco dancing.

CAPTAIN SEARCHWELL
That crystal! Where has it taken us?

LT. TIVOK
Based on that paperine computer wafer I believe it is 1974 and we are somewhere called ‘New Jersey.’

Also, recent ALOD's have been pretty great, including a wacky comedian (7/8/06), and cats that look like Hitler (7/9/06).

Ron Mexico

Or English... Just trying to get Cookie to blog it.

"Mais, pourquoi?! Mais, pourquoi?!"

Zidane headbutt, and Explainer.



I've already discussed by e-mail with most everyone who would care. But I'm an American, so I think a lot of fútbol rules are goofy. Offsides too restrictive... Fouled players not doing own penalty kicks... Three tie-breaker stages?! Also, they need to decrease the field size - ties are dumb.

And no headbutting?

The Zapruder of Bigfoots

For some reason, I decided to look up the 1967 Roger Patterson film - very interesting (to me).



James recently mailed me a copy of "The Legend of Boggy Creek." Gotta watch that soon - about the Fouke Monster, investigated by the Texas Bigfoot Research Center.

The Game

The rules are simple, but you are going to lose. Badly, and often.

Visual Kei

I've never heard of this Japanese musical style before.



But I was looking through the Youtube archives, searching for Houston TX. And I found some pretty interesting stuff, such as the previous post's video. Anyway, apparently this band had their first U.S. concert in Houston, coinciding with last year's Oni-Con, some big anime convention.

It's pretty "extreme" for what I'd think young Japanese girls (or American anime fans) would dig, and it's also pretty absurd and goofy. So, here's the entirity of Phantasmagoria's "Survivor's Guilt" playlist.

This year, this band will be playing this music in this country.
First ever!



And since we're on the subject - Loudness!

duneTX videO

Local Houston band, duneTX have a new video. It includes performance footage from two of my favorite local places Rudyard's and Cactus Records (R.I.P.).



Sorry I've been a lazy blogger - been somewhat busy recently. More soon!

I like Space

Live video of spacewalk right now. Really amazing stuff.

[Edit: no longer a spacewalk - now - so here's a compilation of EVA footage...]


Check out NASA too.

Satchel Paige

According to
this article,
today is
Satchel Paige's
100th Birthday.



Remember.

"Ain’t no man can avoid being born average, but there ain’t no man got to be common."

Greatest Logo Ever!

Many have heard me sing the praises of paint-monolith Sherwin-Williams' corporate logo.
Only because it rocks! Check it:


I found some others who similarly dig. (Also, check background of photo in next post.)

Family History by VW

Taking a cue from Tom Waits... I noticed VW's reintroducing the Rabbit, so here's a quick history of VW's over two generations in my family. (Pictures are not of actual cars described.)

My mom's first car (mid- to late-60's) - Beetle
I don't actually remember this car, owned around the time I was born probably. Legend has it as one of the first Bugs unloaded at the Port of Houston, where it was purchased.


The first car I remember (mid-70's) - Dasher
Can there be a more 70's car color than bright yellow, with brown fake leather interior? No. Reminds me of super sounds of the 60's and 70's on KRBE, and elementary school.


One of my high school cars (late-80's) - 1980 Diesel Rabbit hatchback
Inherited after totalling my '80 Olds Cutlass, in high school. The interior hatchback cover was missing, and all of the rear lights were exposed. Car was dubbed "The Jean-Michel Jarre Lightshow."
Rusty white.


My first new car (late-80's through 90's) - 1987 Fox
H.S. graduation gift, it was between this and a Suburu Justy (?). $8,100 and ran well for 13 years. An absolute warhorse... Shared all VW Fox's congenital paintjob-fading problem. (Dark red as shown.)


My next car (early 21st century) - 2000 Passat (green)
Killed by Tropical Storm Allison, which lead to one of the greatest stories ever told - me and Darren stranded in Fourth Ward for a weekend.


Soon after (early 21st century) - 2002 Passat (blue)
Replacement for the short-lived Passat I - almost paid off!

Hitch on Flag Fetishes

Christopher Hitchens is one of those guys who can sound so lucid when he's agreeing with you, but so unhinged when he doesn't.



But in this article, he brings up my two big flag-burning amendment complaints: it's a collosal waste of Congress' time, and it's in a category with only Prohibition as amendments that would limit individual freedom.

I don't plan on ever burning a flag any time soon, but I don't see the big threat to anyone or anything when some goofball decides that's his message to the world. Kinda reminds me of my feelings on gay marriage as well.



Also, I had some AM station on when I left home this morning, and the drive-time talk radio was in full gear. Guess what - Pat Gray is for an amendment! And one caller said she could understand allowing flag-burning if this were China ("where it would probably get you shot"), because their flag just represents the government, as opposed to here in America, where it represents... uh, something more... uh, something more symbolic... and also she does like flag-patterned underwear - even if some sticks-in-the-mud don't think it's appropriate.

My point is: talk radio drive-time callers are idiots. Basically, this woman was saying America should have flag-burning laws more like China, because America is different, and it's ok to desecrate the flag if you're right-wing/patriotic, but not to protest America.

[Edit: In comments, Digital Traveler points you to this post, where there are click-able stars.]

Ken Lay Cheats Justice by Dying

Local NPR report, with Houston legal dynamos Joel Androphy and Gerald Treece.

If only it could have been this guy:

Claudia Cardinale

Two quick "Blonde on Blonde" facts that I'd never known.

A photo of Claudia Cardinale (smoker) had to be removed from the inside gatefold of the album. And the cover was a gatefold, with a full-length (sideways) photo of Dylan.



Watch this Claudia Cardinale movie. And this Bob Dylan documentary.

Bad Cover Version

Being American, I never listened to Pulp, but I find this very funny - at least the people I recognize. It's apparently a "cover version" of a normal song of theirs. Oh Britpop, up yours!



Here's the key. For you Mr. Show fans, check here.

Ouroboros

In a Moebius strip of blog proportions, Jim Woodring links to a spotlight on his blog on a blog-spotlighting blog.



Just passing on the new site I found - absolutely not seeking out a plug. I don't think my self-ventilating, "E/N" blog wants or needs it. So don't get the hint that's not there. Both of you!

Hannah Arendt

The Famous Smokers Gallery (linked via the Claudia photo below) reminded me of how many pictures of Hannah Arendt capture her smoking.

Even here:


The caption on the original page reads:
"One recognizes the faces of Hannah Arendt (left), Mahatma Gandhi (center), Bertha von Suttner (right) and Immanuel Kant (small). Their common striving for peace is appreciated by the modern peace symbol. The Foetus before the world ball refers to Hannah Arendt and her concept of the 'natalität'."
(Translated by Babelfish.)

One of my heroes.


Here's an English-language mirror site for the artist.