aMERICAN nIHILIST

John Cage on I've Got a Secret

2010-04-23T10:44:00.002-04:00

Broadcast and the Focus Group - "I See, So I See So"

2009-12-15T15:54:00.007-05:00

Here is a new video from the Broadcast/Focus Group collaboration mini album (ep?), "Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age". Which on paper would appear to be chocolate & peanut butter for somebody w/ my musical predilections. Sadly it didn't turn out to be the case, I found the album as a whole to be too same-y. But like when I finally got my hands on some Focus Group albums a few years ago and was somewhat underwhelmed by them (at first) it may turn out to be a matter of how I listen to this album, that it will improve greatly by being listened to in a more casual way? I'll have to try that out.

That said I do enjoy the above video and song(?) it reminds me a little of The Wickerman which I finally saw a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed, this video though is very much cut from the same cloth. And speaking of the same cloth I just got a DVD of the cut-up movies William Burroughs w/ Antony Balch et al. made in the sixties and early seventies. My thoughts on those wonderful movies shall be left for another post (which I'll probably never write?) But . . .

I think I smell another post of screencap madness in the near future?

Chicky

2009-11-28T14:53:00.007-05:00

Soft Kitty

Warm Kitty

Little Ball of Fur.

Happy Kitty,

Sleepy Kitty,

Purr,

Purr.

Requiescat in pace Baboo

Catholic Architecture

2009-11-01T18:35:00.007-05:00

Catholic Architecture

A white house with a folly
A tower attached.
On the side
A hand painted saint
(Lovingly painted)
Peeps over a high wall
Which surrounds the white house.
His loving gaze
Is interrupted
By a line of broken glass
Cemented
On top of the high wall.
The saint
Lovingly dares
The outsider,
Or the stray cat,
To intrude
And recieve his loving blessing
In loving lacerated
Hands.

I guess I had meant to post this awhile ago, slipped my mind? I know I saw the Youtube clip sometime ago? Why I'm posting this now, no reason what-so-ever other than stumbling over the clip again.

The song "Catholic Architecture" is off of Robert Wyatt's classic album "Dondestan". Which I believe is the first album where he started taking his wife Alfreda Benge's poetry and setting it to music as he did w/ this song.

. . . In other news, I'm about to start intensive studies (at least that's the plan?) into the great anglo/irish comedian Spike Milligan. I'm grabbing the audiobook version of the seven volumes of his WWII memoirs which are read by the man himself and also most of the Goon show that are available.

The other day I almost did a Samhain inspired post about Spike Milligan's epitaph but I guess now I'm doing a post-Samhainian post about his epitaph? Anyway, his tombstone might be my second favorite tombstone (the 1st favorite honors go to Mr. Ozu). If you click on the picture of it below you will see the phrase "Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite", which is Irish for "I Told You I was Ill"!

My All Time Favorite Joke . . .

2009-10-21T15:32:00.000-04:00

Q.: What's the difference b/n Simply Red and a bull?

A.: A bull has it's horns in the front.

My very favorite (probably apocryphal pretty conclusively apocryphal) anecdote UPDATE*

2009-10-19T16:24:00.008-04:00

Luckily royals are used to rescuing such people from their embarrassing situations. Once, as the famed French President General Charles de Gaulle and his wife Yvonne were having dinner at Windsor shortly before the end of his tenure, somebody asked Madame de Gaulle what she was most looking forward to after her retirement. Madame de Gaulle answered, in a strong French accent: “A penis!” Blank stares. Until the Queen rescued the situation by translating: “Ah, happiness.”

At the end of a long and probably very boring meal (at a formal dinner), (British Prime Minister) Macmillan turned to Madame de Gaulle and asked politely what she was looking forward to in her retirement. Quick as a flash the elderly lady replied: "A penis." Macmillan had been trained all his life never to appear shocked, but even he was a bit taken aback. After drawling out a series of polite platitudes, - "Well, I can see your point of view, don't have much time for that sort of thing nowadays" - it gradually dawned on him to his intense relief that what the old girl had actually said was "happiness."

. . . And for good measure a Cut-up:

and probably very boring meal (at Macmillan turned to Madame de Gaulle looking forward to in her retirement. lady replied: "A penis." Macmillan had to appear shocked, but even he drawling out a series of polite your point of view, don't have thing nowadays" - it gradually dawned that what the old girl had are used to rescuing such people the famed French President General Charles were having dinner at Windsor shortly somebody asked Madame de Gaulle what after her retirement. Madame de Gaulle answered, penis!” Blank stares. Until the Queen happiness.” At the end of a long a formal dinner), (British Prime Minister) and asked politely what she was Quick as a flash the elderly been trained all his life never was a bit taken aback. After platitudes, - "Well, I can see much time for that sort of on him to his intense relief actually said was "happiness."

Luckily royals from their embarrassing situations. Once, as de Gaulle and his wife Yvonne before the end of his tenure, she was most looking forward to in a strong French accent: “A rescued the situation by translating: “Ah,

* Take it away Snopes

Pure Products of America . . . I mean, is that under some hedge of choke-cherry or viburnum— which they cannot express— or what?

2009-10-02T15:17:00.012-04:00

This group of images from the past were found stuffed under a drawer of a second hand dresser bought by a friend. And for some reason (maybe b/c I was just reading it?) they really bring to my mind William Carlos Williams' "To Elsie". There are supposed to be about five more found negative that I can not wait to see.

Some interesting photos of Beat writers (I hadn't seen before)*

2009-09-04T16:17:00.005-04:00

And on the William Burroughs tip, A new book just came out titled "The Road to Interzone: Reading William Burroughs Reading". I'm actually pretty excited about this b/c it falls in the category of books I wish someone would write. This book is an (partially) annotated bibliography of books William Burroughs read, which on the surface sounds boring as piss (and I'm sure it will be). But his being such a literary magpie, when reading his writing I'm always wondering where certain passages came from. Now I just wish somebody would digitize the Nova Trilogy, then I'd be in business.

* Stumbled over while putting together

a recent silly Mr Whatever post

Ozu Screencap Maddness 3 (Or The Dance of the Sapporo Beer & Soy Sauce bottles)

2009-08-11T16:48:00.016-04:00

Bounty Shmounty

2009-08-03T14:35:00.006-04:00

More squashes, I think these guys are going to be soup, creamy w/ fennel and chicken and maybe lemon.

And the other day I found this guy in amongst the tomatoes. It's funny b/c just the night before I was on the back porch doing what I do best and this huge moth flew in and was hanging out by the light. Which is a pretty common occurrence but this moth was way bigger than they usually are about the size of a humming bird but still not that odd so I forgot about it. Until the next day when I looked up that crazy looking caterpillar, it's a tobacco hornworm (often confused w/ the tomato hornworm) and saw that those type of caterpillars produce the moth that I had seen.

The business on it's back are the cocoons of parasitic wasps ouch! So I guess that's a good thing for our tomatoes?

I really need to post more pictures of the whole garden, I keep taking them but never feel like editing them down and putting them up. Maybe this week?

Hey look there's Greenie charging up . . . pretty cute!

2009-07-29T17:17:00.005-04:00

Thanks Again G. & Benét

2009-07-28T19:46:00.004-04:00

Burton Stephen Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster

BLEVIN !?!

2009-07-21T17:41:00.000-04:00

. . . Is That You John Wayne ???* & Peep The Crookneck Goodness BITCHES!?!

2009-07-18T17:54:00.002-04:00

???????

Some of the garden's bounty soon to be stewed and curried, YUM!

* . . . Is this me?

" . . . Here's Another Clue For You All, The Walrus is All Fat & Balding & Has Horrible Teeth!?!"*

2009-07-11T03:32:00.009-04:00

* Not to mention filled to capacity

W/ fear & self-loathing !!!

Garden '09 Pt. 2

2009-05-25T14:24:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I forget to shout to the world just how much the great Shirley Collins ROCKS !!!

I've been listening to her 1967 joint "the Sweet Primroses", I always forget just how much I enjoy that album. Anyway here's a somewhat applicable lyric:

Cambridgeshire May Carol

Arise, arise, you pretty fair maids, 
And take your May bush in, 
For if that is gone before tomorrow morn 
You would say we had brought you none.

Oh, the hedges and fields are growing so green,
 As green as grass can be; 
Our heavenly father watereth them
 With his heavenly dew so sweet.

I have got a little purse in my pocket
 That's tied with a silken string;
 And all that it lacks is a little of your gold
 To line it well within.

Now the clock strikes one, it's time we are gone,
 We can no longer stay;
 So please to remember our money, money box
 And God send you a joyful May.

Here's what Shirley had to say about the song in the original LP liner notes:

Wherever May Day is still observed in Britain it is still fairly pagan, even though sometimes, as in this song, it has Christian bits grafted on. It's not all ribbons and blossom though, for the terrifying black hobby horse still dances through Padstow in Cornwall to welcome summer in. I learned this from Jean Ritchie, who was taught it by Rossell Wortley. I love what this song evokes so much that I sing it all the year round.

. . . And after much fallow lying, finally made some more(?) progress on the garden. Hopefully tomorrow We'll get some seeds and tomato plants to plant. And then Smörgåsbord can begin for all creatures great and small !?!

Curiouser & Curiouser (Epistolary Bliss Pt. 3 ... or 4?)

2009-04-29T18:37:00.010-04:00

Again words fail? This one kind of snuck (I refuse to use "sneaked", it just doesn't sound right, correct or not?) up on me and then got shuffled into a pile desk detritus until the second biggest fan of these things reminded me that I forgot to scan and upload it. I think maybe b/c I don't quite get it and the ingenious smudge this may be my favorite one but then again maybe it's just the most recent one is always my favorite? For what it's worth as far as I can ~~tell~~ google Mr. Jenkins is Senior Vice President of John Deere & Co. !?!

. . . & In What's Tommy Listening to news
I snagged a copy of the leaked new Sonic Youth
album, double WOW!!! I've only listened to it
through once (and may not again until I actually buy the thing).
I may like it more than "Sonic Nurse",
which is my favorite of their recent stuff .
I almost can't believe that they are still such a vital band!

Garden '09 Pt. 1

2009-04-28T18:43:00.005-04:00

Yesterday:

Yesterday's test run (shot today):

Today a couple of hours later:

::Back All BROKE::

Bea Arthur

2009-04-26T02:16:00.005-04:00

What can I say Bea Arthur was a giant wonderful wonderful human being. The only time (that I can remember?) that I ever tried to start a secret society it was going to be called The Sons of Bea Arthurs's Dick, that name came from a monumental joke told by Jeffrey Ross ("I wouldn't fuck Sandra Bernhardt w/ Bea Arthur's dick") during the roast of the also great Jerry Stiller and the name was also nod to Jarmusch's Sons of Lee Marvin. It never really got off the ground (go figure?) but I'll always have a great love for Ms. Arthur, Requiescat in pace .

. . . Speaking of Too F'ing COOL

2009-04-11T15:20:00.006-04:00

I love me some Tina Weymouth
w/ or w/o the Typing Pool!?!

. . . Last Bus to the WM ... (?)

2009-04-06T15:42:00.005-04:00

Too F'ing COOL!

2009-04-03T14:48:00.001-04:00

Has It Really Come To All Of This?

2009-03-29T16:21:00.012-04:00

O THE HUMANITY!

An impromptu photo essay by Guy Pinto
edited (badly) and titled by T. Nihilist.

That's it, from now on I'm going all Andy Warhol and letting other people take my pictures for me! If I would have shot that mess I would have been disgusted and not picked up the camera for a month! But since it wasn't me doing the shooting I can appreciate the aesthetic(?) interestingness of it? My only wish is that I didn't have to be the unwitting subject UGH! I guess it could have been worse he could have stuck the camera down his pants!?!

I think this might be a record,

three posts in three days???

A Couple of Couplets . . .

2009-03-28T21:42:00.006-04:00

A few days ago I could not stop listening to David Bowie's "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars". I had just gotten some 30th anniversary edition w/ all kinds of extra tracks bells & whistles. And for days that was all I could listen to non-stop towards the end of it I kept trying to listen to other things . . . electric Mils Davis . . . Bill Fay . . . but nothing would take, I kept having to go back to the Bowie.

When this happens w/ me I'll get various snatches of lyrics stuck in my head playing in a loop over and over. The Main one that was afflicting me from the "Ziggy Stardust" album was from the chorus of "Moonage Daydream":

Keep your 'lectric eye on me babe
Put your ray gun to my head

Finally today out of nowhere I found something else to listen to obsessively, Faust's "Faust IV" and for now in particular the song "Jennifer" so I went from moonage daydream mumbo jumbo to deep a S P A C E R O C K dirge w/ a lyric that is only two lines* repeated over and over:

Jennifer, your red hair's burning
Yellow jokes come out of your mind

. . . Paging Dr. Hoffman!?!

* And a line of near subliminal doggerel in the middle of the song that is driving me crazier b/c I can't quite make it out and I haven't been able to find out what is anywhere on the web!!!

You So Crazee Mr. Ozu !?!

2009-03-27T01:18:00.006-04:00

Ozu meets a 70's sitcom farce!?! A wonderful exchange from the latest Yasujirō Ozu movie I saw, 1960's "Late Autumn". I really can't get enough of his movies, which sucks b/c there are only two more late ones that I haven't seen that are available on DVD.

I Really Shoulda Seen This One Coming . . .

2009-03-13T01:45:00.011-04:00

. . . But not this one fast on it's heels, the coup de grâce of 'tardation!?!

I'm Truly Speechless!?!

. . . And in other news, If I ever talked shit on Mike Watt's second solo album "Contemplating the Engine Room" (somehow I feel that I have?), I take back anything that I may have said?

Nels Cline skronking it up and Watt operating the thud staff, what more do you want? I got my hands on this album again after a long while and today taking a break from my current musical obsession listening to Iggy's "Search & Destroy" over and over again(speaking of 'tardation!?!), I gave it a listen. It really is a solid album, drags at the end a bit maybe. When I was doing the Last.FM I had Watt's "Ball-Hog or Tugboat?" in the rotation and I got to relive how much I enjoyed that album. But I think I always dismissed " . . . Engine Room", I guess I'd been confusing it w/ the one after it which I remember being really boring. I'm going to have to dig that one up and give it a listen again and for that matter his fIREHOSE material as well.

. . . Yeah, I know, I am such a big old LEZZY!?!

2009-03-11T16:54:00.011-04:00

This picture gives me such shpilkes I can't even say!

I've been eating up Jane Fonda's blog, It's so wonderful and it's been such nice treat since Rosie hasn't been blogging as regularly as she was.

Speaking of shpilkes I just finally got to watch last night the great Mike Leigh's latest joint, "Happy-Go-Lucky". And b/c he is at the tippy top of my list of favorite directors I had high expectations for the new movie and I have to say it was at least as wonderful as I hoped it would be. Looking forward to the new movie's DVD release I re-watched his last few movies over the last month or so. The last two, "All or Nothing" and "Vera Drake" were so dour in a lot of ways, this new one was a nice change. Being very familiar w/ most of his film work, while watching this last movie I really started seeing Mike Leigh as a sort of British Yasujirō Ozu (another of my all time favorites). Which isn't really such a great leap both of their movies deal primarily w/ the modern family. What I was thinking about though, while watching this new mike Leigh movie is how not being a Japanese speaker all of the Ozu movies seem so similar and the same could be said for Leigh but being an english speaker the differences and nuances are much more understandable. I couldn't help thinking about how the dialogue of Mike Leigh's female characters (or male for that matter) is always so Mike Leigh, I started thinking of the late great Katrin Cartlidge and how Sally Hawkins character in this new movie was a happier and toned down (a bit) version of the roles Katrin Cartlidge played in "Career Girls" and to a lesser extent "Naked". One last thing I was thinking is that "Happy-Go-Lucky" pretty much ended where a more conventional movie would have begun, I really wish it could've been about 45 minutes longer. I really felt like that w/ his last one, "Vera Drake" as well. My main problem w/ any new Mike Leigh movie though is that now the great wait begins for his next movie (I just hope it won't be four years again!)!!!

How can you not Love that guy?

Happy 60th Birthday Fred Frith & One More Bus

2009-02-17T18:02:00.011-05:00

Again taking the tip from Svenn, I saw that today was the great Fred Frith's birthday so here are a couple of videos of him in action:

That clip is a perfect little snapshot of what Fred Frith is all about improvising w/ the electric guitar.

I can't believe I never thought of the paint brush technique myself.

There's also a pretty ~~interesting~~ dry (it gets better around pt. 3) multi-part interview w/ Mr. Frith that can be found here.

I have to make more noises again!

I have to read ~~more~~ Beckett!

Happy Valentimes Day !?!

2009-02-14T15:14:00.012-05:00

. . .You know, fun w/ GIMP !!!

UPDATEish:

How about that, mere hours after posting the above nonsense I stumbled on (I believe) the only known photo of Richard Lloyd from Television wearing the infamous 'PLEASE KILL ME' T-shirt!

I think the story goes Richard Hell, when he was still in the band, made the shirt (gotta love that seventies puffy letter font!) but chickened-out of actually wearing it. I sure do love those coincidences only made possible by the internet!

Bus Abuse ( . . . Or, When I Finally Get That Advertising Budget !?!)

2009-02-10T17:07:00.008-05:00

. . . You know, for kids !!!

Max Neuhaus & The King of Denmark

2009-02-07T19:09:00.007-05:00

I saw yesterday that the great percussionist/sound artist Max Neuhaus passed away last week. I'm loath to do dead people posts (and it seems they come much more frequently anymore) but his interpretation of Morton Feldman's short piece for solo percussion, "The King of Denmark", holds a special place in my heart. I think I first heard it when I was just beginning to get into Feldman, anyway I listened to the hell out of it to the point that now after not listening to it for years (or so?) I can hear long passages of it in my mind. I know I've listened to the whole album w/ that piece on it but none of it sticks in my mind like "The King of Denmark".

I just read while looking up information about "The King of Denmark" that Feldman wrote the draft score on the beach at Coney Island inspired by the noises around him. That image is pretty wonderful. The other interesting bit of minutiae about the piece is the story behind it's title; which comes from an apocryphal story of the Danish king Christian X who is said to have worn the Star of David in silent protest to the nazi occupation of his country. For some reason I'm a complete sucker for the shorter Feldman pieces and especially the ones w/ colorful titles, my other big favorite is "Madame Press Died Last Week at Nintey" (I think I even had a post worked up I never finished about that piece?). Anyway the great UBUWEB still has up an mp3 of the Neuhaus "The King of Denamrk" along w/ the rest of that album, here. They also have some other Neuhaus stuff as well. Also, I saw this awhile ago but forgot about until now but there's a Youtube clip of a young guy performing "the King of Denmark", pretty well I might add.

WHUT !?!

2009-01-31T15:32:00.006-05:00

Apropos of basically nothing; the featured Wikipedia article for today and having an old joke on my mind. I had made a similar image of No. 2 during the first blush of his stupid presidency, that's been lost to the ages (I think it's on our old computer?) and it's been on my mind recently. After I made the Dr. Johnson one I actually tried to recreate it but then I quickly lost interest.

. . . good riddance to bad rubbish!

. . . And the king of all Sir Duke!

2009-01-12T18:16:00.006-05:00

Here's my latest Youtube ~~movie~~ ~~creation~~ abomination, I made it especially for my comrade in MR, G. over at Happy Happy Fun Time Mr. Whatever.

This thing is really all about the infamous audio track, which when we first got our hands on it, G., pretty much devoted a good six months of his life to (I wish I was joking!). But that was some time ago, why I made this now, I don't know? I wanted to misquote a line from it in a cryptic comment I left for G. over on the other blog and being nutso I needed to get the line just right, so I had to go back to the original and I figured somebody must have put it up on Youtube. And of course someone had, I just didn't care for their version and I thought I could make something a little better, plus I thought it would be mindless fun to snag a buttload of Duke Wayne pictures while singing the Stevie song who's title I stole for this project (which it was). so w/o further ado . . . SIR DUKE !!!

For some reason, again I got some video glitch in the opening frames but that doesn't really bother me. I really prefer the six minute plus directors cut, it seemed to have a more interesting flow but whatever, six minutes is way too long to devote to something so stupid.

A Document(s)

2009-01-10T18:48:00.006-05:00

. . . Sometime I forget I have a scanner, alright pretty much all of the time (~~. . . I can't even remember the name I dubbed it w/ when it was brand new?~~ Darryl, I just remembered)

Anyway, every so often I get these wonderfully crypto-bizarre epistles from someone w/ a very vivid (can I say wonderful again?) imagination who knows just how much I love to receive mail (and the absurd)!

So on the occasion of receiving a new one (and remembering about Darryl):

. . . Great work in making my day Benét! I look forward to the next one!

. . . The name 'Danielle Baldwin' is pure genius!?!

An Announcement . . .

2009-01-04T23:39:00.007-05:00

I know it's been pretty whirlwind, I mean, we've only been together since Christmas.
But I know in my heart this is how it must be . . .

. . . And yeah, yeah I know I all but betrothed
myself to this post, but that was before
the dear one entered my empty life!

Then and Now(ish)

2008-12-31T18:58:00.004-05:00

Der Bruno

Both of these pictures of the great one were snagged from a recent story

about him in the NY Times.

Dave Byrne & G-d

File Under: (obsessive?) Wyatting, The Early Years

2008-12-22T18:33:00.038-05:00

The past few weeks or so I've been doing the Last.fm while I'm using the computer. It's alright, it seems to always play the same handful of songs which are pretty much all songs I like so it's not so bad.

It's more a boring than long story as to why if I have multiple gigabytes worth of music I'm doing the Last.fm, I don't know, I always have some issue or other when it comes to either space or RAM, this has to do w/ my RAM issue, BLAH!

The Soft Machine, circa 1969
(Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge, and Robert Wyatt)

The above photo and the B/W one below, I scanned from the "Spaced" linernotes

Whatever, it's been nice listening to music again when I'm using the computer. Anyway, ~~the best~~ (one of the best, listening to more of the late great Ivor Cutler, is another thing to come from all of this but that's for another post!) thing to come out of my Last.fm adventure has been a new found love for the Robert Wyatt era Soft Machine, particularly their second album, "Volume Two". I have pretty thoroughly listened to all of Robert's solo albums, his earlier work I avoided for a long time, I don't know, it always seemed way to Prog Rock for my taste. And my few attempts at listening to his earlier stuff, "The End of an Ear" (his actual first solo album although nobody seems to count it as such) and the first Matching Mole album pretty much proved my prejudice. Aside from a few tracks on the Matching Mole album, the rest I just found way too prog boring. B/c of my lack of interest in those two albums I didn't really even consider bothering w/ any of his Soft Machine material. Then last year somehow I became completely addicted to his Soft Machine era magnum opus "Moon in June" (from their third album naturally titled "Third") and all of it's different versions. That song for the most part is his first solo song, he played all of the instruments for the majority of the song. That pretty much broke the ice for the rest of it though, somehow from there I started listening to the second Matching Mole album, "Matching Mole's Little Red Record" and I in turn became completely addicted to that as well. What I really enjoy about "Moon in June" and the second Matching Mole album is the stream of consciousness quality to the lyrics. I love their banal-ness, they are almost anti-lyrics and b/c of that they become more evocative in a way? From there I'm sure I listened to more of the Soft Machine albums but they were more cursory auditions and nothing really came from them, I enjoyed the albums but moved on to other things?

The above personal listening history isn't entirely true, I forgot, I really got into the Soft Machine album "Spaced" and have liked it for some time now. It's somewhat of an oddball album for them, it wasn't released until 1996 and it's not really like any of their other albums (and I'm just talking Wyatt era) in that it's all instrumental and loop based.

Back to the Soft Machine's "Volume Two" and Last.fm, for some reason the version of "Volume Two" that Last.fm plays is just one long track that's the entirety of the album, which is a little over a half hour long. So whenever it comes up, I have to listen to the whole thing (and I usually do), actually I'm usually trying to get it to play next. Again it was the banal stream of consciousness of Robert's lyrics that has really hooked me. All of the songs meld together really well so listening to the entire album as one long track has been nice. Anyway I wanted to post the lyrics to a few of the choice songs (as they come up in order). —

Terrible album cover BTW.

HIBOU, ANEMONE AND BEAR

In the spring, I think of sex and means to ends 
Summertime, I like to sit upon the grass 
Autumn nights I go to parties with my friends
 Winter time is when I think about the past

But of course I do all those things all year 'round 
I mean, all the good things are there to be found 
It's all here, pick-a-bag and get to work
 If you don't, your life in fact will surely go berserk
 Or indeed be bored to death, which is worse?
 If something's not worth saying
 Not worth saying
 Not worth saying 
Say it...

THANK YOU, PIERROT LUNAIRE

In his organ solos, he feels 'round the keyboards
 Knowing he must find the noisiest notes for you to hear

And when I know that he's found them
 It feels so good... but I still can't see 
Why people listen, instead of doing it themselves

But I'm grateful all the same 
You're very kind and I don't blame you
 I don't mind if you just watch
 In fact I'd welcome it, welcome it, welcome it...

AS LONG AS HE LIES PERFECTLY STILL*

Here's a song for 'clean machine Kevin Majorca'
He's found his own way of 'live in Majorca'
 Don't walk, don't drink 
Don't talk, just think
 Heaven on Earth he'll get there soon

Kevin's highly unlikely to get ill
 At least as long as he lies perfectly still
 He eats brown rice and fish - how nice
 Heaven on Earth, he'll get there soon

Good and bad go so well together in his tunes 
He wrote a song and called it the weather - or not 
He's Lucky or Pozzo, Estragon and Vladimir
 Waiting for something that's already there 
Heaven on Earth or is it the moon?

Why, why, why is he sleeping? 
Why is the trumpeter weeping? 
Kevin maybe asking to get back into my dreams
 His voice is so weak now and the customers are screaming
 Heavens above, we can't hear what you're saying

We've got something to tell you
 Hold on we wanted to thrill you
 Reckons it's so nice and it will make you feel better
 Something in the nature of a Lullabye Letter

Kevin on Earth there'll be one
 Kevin on Earth make room for one
 Kevin himself he'll be in Kevin on Earth, be here
 Or you could be now 
Or is he found, in Herne Bay...

DEDICATED TO YOU, BUT YOU WEREN'T LISTENING

Famous parabolic versions 
Songs that promise:
 Beauty, sleep, love, sadness.
 Do I dream that something's missing?
 Hungry, thirsty, open off-peak mind
 Give me the truth, give me the truth, 
give me the truth, tell me...

Songs and verses,
 Handy captions,
 Photographs of:
Real-life action, horror, madness.
 Can it be that something's happening?
 Wash me, paint me, but please don't taint me
 Give me a chance, give me chance,
 give me a chance...

When I was young, the sky was blue 
And everyone knew what to do
 But now it's gone, the telly's here
 Mass media, the sewer too

Universal maximillion
 Eight rare cases
 Chickenpox and crawling gladness 
Seemingly it's nothing happening
 Cure my doctor 
don't swallow him down
 Give me the cure, give me the cure,
 give me the cure...

The night was cool, the moon was bright, 
The air was clear with oxygen
 The stars were there, and in my eyes
 Were thousands of chrysanthemums

Don't use magnets -
 Geophysics carry you back
 Wholesome, healthfood, homepride
 Satisfied 
Something outside gives out hunger 
Face my mirror 
Electricity...

All of the words to the above songs
are by Robert Wyatt except the last
song, I just noticed it has words
and music credited to Hugh Hopper

On a sad side note, Hugh is currently
in battle w/ leukemia, so send
all good vibe his way!

GET WELL SOON HUGH!

* This Song, "As Long as he Lies Perfectly Still", is a nice little ode to Kevin Ayers who had recently left the group. It always makes me think of another sort of ode to Kevin Ayers later in his life written by John Cale That's not exactly so nice —

Guts

The bugger in the short sleeves fucked my wife
 Did it quick and split
 Back home, fresh as a daisy to Maisy, oh Maisy
And the twelve-bore it stood in the corner
 Quite operatic in its self disgust 
It blew him all over the living room floor
 Like parrot shit, parrot spit, parrot shit was
shot

Now suppose it was someone familiar 
Someone we all would know
 Embarrassing denouement, ne c'est pas?
 Familiar hyperbole

And there would go the secret plot
 The piss had missed the hole in the pot
 Like that ancient teenage dream
 From soul to poison soul to poison soul

Guts, guts, got no guts
 And stitches don't help at all
 Guts, guts, got no guts
 Holes in the body, holes in the legs
 Holes in the forehead, holes in the head
 Holes in the body, holes in the legs
 There should never be holes at all
 There should never be holes at all

So: kill all you want or more 
Make sure, do it right

BTW "Hibou, Anemone and Bear"
is the new name of my imaginary band,
"falseTRUE Lovers" is out!?!

2008-12-17T18:56:00.010-05:00

Sad news . . .

I just read that Davey Graham died the other day. I'm not really even that much of a fan, I just know his work from the classic album he made w/ Shirley Collins, "Folk Roots, New Routes" (I did a long embarrassing post about it, here). Actually when I first was listening to that album his guitar playing annoyed me, I found it too flashy. But after many more listens it started to grow on me and that album has become one of my most favorite Shirley Collins albums. I also think it's really one of her strongest and most easily accessible (I wish they could've at least made one more). You really can't call it a Shirley Collins album though b/c Davey Graham's guitar presence on it is very much equal to Shirley's voice.

On a related note, a few weeks back I was trawling thru the archives of some blog or other and could not believe the amount of truly great people that had died this year, it was nuts. I was thinking they are going have to do a second night of the Oscars which will just be the montage of dead people!?!

Peep The New Tightness . . .

2008-12-16T19:44:00.008-05:00

All's I'm Saying is —
Be BLEEPS and BLOOPS
emanating from the Ivory Basement
for quite some time in the foreseeable future!

. . . Oh yeah, sore thumbs

and multiple muttered "DAMMITS!"

as well!

XMASS Came Early . . .

2008-12-15T16:08:00.003-05:00

. . . SITUATIONIST POETRY?

2008-12-08T19:50:00.029-05:00

While loading up my image banks w/ MISTER WHATEVER fodder
about a week or so back
I tapped into this vein of images that seemed to be their own piece
and I started to get really excited by images w/ subtitles
and how when re/arranged randomly
they opened up the door to new meaning?

Of course that's no new discovery, even for me,
that's exactly what I was doing w/ the little youtube movie I made.
I'll take it where I can find it though
and just enjoy discovering again what I already knew.

. . . And Now Some Surrealist Poetry

2008-11-27T17:03:00.012-05:00

Victoire Éclair

L'oiseau bêche la terre,
Le serpent sème,
La mort améliorée
Applaudit la récolte.

Pluton dans le ciel!

L'explosion en nous
Là seulement dans moi.
Fol et sourd, comment pourrais-je l'être davantage?

Plus de second soi-même, de visage changeant, plus de saison pour la flamme et de saison pour l'ombre!

Avec la lente neige descendent les lépreux.

Soudain l'amour, l'égal la terreur,
D'une main jamais vue arrête l'icendie, redresse le soleil, reconstruit
l'Amie.

Rien n'annonçait une existence si forte.

— René Char

Lightning Victory

The bird tills the soil,
The serpent sows,
Death, enriched,
Praises the harvest.

Pluto in the sky!

In ourselves the explosion.
There is myself only.
Mad and deaf, how could I be more so?

No more second self, nor changing face, no more season of flame and season
of shadow!

The lepers come down with the slow snow.

Suddenly love, the equal of terror,
With a hand I had never seen, puts an end to the fire, straightens the sun,
reshapes the beloved.

Nothing had heralded so strong an existence.

— René Char (translated by W. S. Merwin)

Tournesol

La voyageuse qui traverse les Halles à la tombée de l'été
Marchait sur la pointe des pieds
Le désespoir roulait au ciel ses grands arums si beaux
Et dans le sac à main il y avait mon rêve ce flacon de sels
Que seule a respiré la marraine de Dieu
Les torpeurs se déployaient comme la buée
Au Chien qui fume
Ou venaient d'entrer le pour et le contre
La jeune femme ne pouvait être vue d'eux que mal et de biais
Avais-je affaire à l'ambassadrice du salpêtre
Ou de la courbe blanche sur fond noir que nous appelons pensée
Les lampions prenaient feu lentement dans les marronniers
La dame sans ombre s'agenouilla sur le Pont-au-Change
Rue Git-le-Coeur les timbres n'étaient plus les mêmes
Les promesses de nuits étaient enfin tenues
Les pigeons voyageurs les baisers de secours
Se joignaient aux seins de la belle inconnue
Dardés sous le crêpe des significations parfaites
Une ferme prospérait en plein Paris
Et ses fenêtres donnaient sur la voie lactée
Mais personne ne l'habitait encore à cause des survenants
Des survenants qu'on sait plus devoués que les revenants
Les uns comme cette femme ont l'air de nager
Et dans l'amour il entre un peu de leur substance
Elle les interiorise
Je ne suis le jouet d'aucune puissance sensorielle
Et pourtant le grillon qui chantait dans les cheveux de cendres
Un soir près de la statue d'Etienne Marcel
M'a jeté un coup d'oeil d'intelligence
André Breton a-t-il dit passe

— André Breton

Sunflower

The traveler who crossed Les Halles at summer’s end
Walked on tiptoe
Despair rolled its great handsome lilies across the sky
And in her handbag was my dream that flask of salts
That only God’s godmother had breathed
Torpors unfurled like mist
At the Chien qui Fume
Where pro and con had just entered
They could hardly see the young woman and then only at an angle
Was I dealing with the ambassadress of saltpeter
Or with the white curve on black background we call thought
The Innocents’ Ball was in full swing
The Chinese lanterns slowly caught fire in chestnut trees
The shadowless lady knelt on the Pont-au-Change
On Rue Gît-le-Coeur the stamps had changed
The night’s promises had been kept at last
The carrier pigeons and emergency kisses
Merged with the beautiful stranger’s breasts
Jutting beneath the crepe of perfect meanings
A farm prospered in the heart of Paris
And its windows looked out on the Milky Way
But no one lived there yet because of the guests
Guests who are known to be more faithful than ghosts
Some like that woman appear to be swimming
And a bit of their substance becomes part of love
She internalizes them
I am the plaything of no sensory power
And yet the cricket who sang in hair of ash
One evening near the statue of Etienne Marcel
Threw me a knowing glance
Andre Breton it said pass

— André Breton (translated by Mark Polizzotti)

The René Char poem I've enjoyed for some time, I can't remember where now but maybe a movie or something I was reading or some show I watched(???) I heard the line, "In ourselves the explosion." from that Char poem and it stuck w/ me.

The Breton poem I came across in the biography of him I just (finally) finished reading, I was caught by his phrase 'emergency kisses' which is the title of a Stereolab song. The poem "Sunflower", is one of his more well known poems so I figured they cribbed it from him. A little while later in the biography a line from another of his poems was mentioned, "The whale and her calf/ in the milky night." which also has a strong Stereolab connection, the 'milky night ' part at least. After seeing that one, I think I started doing some looking on the internet and I found a bunch of interviews from the time of their album "Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night" (which is the one that contains the track "The Emergency Kisses"), where Tim or Lætitia mentions reading a biography of André Breton while working on that album. It was after seeing those interviews that I came across the final Stereolab cribbed line from the biography which was something about the Cobra and Phases groups.

ARE YOU THREATENING ME!!! Screencap Maddness Pt. 3: The Great Cornholio!!!

2008-11-16T17:24:00.008-05:00

Yesterday for some reason I found myself thoroughly engaged in the activity of getting semi-decent screen captures of the Great Cornholio. Right now I can't recall what spurred this on, I can remember looking up Cornholio on wikipedia (and being amazed by how wonderfully complete the article was) and the rest is a blur. I really can't explain just how genius I found the Great Cornholio the first time I saw him, words truly fail me. It was just one of those "my god, it's full of stars!!!" moments.

You can keep Veteran's Day . . .

2008-11-11T14:13:00.005-05:00

I'll take Armistice Day or Remembrance day!

Happy Third Birthday Inquoris!!!

2008-11-10T22:58:00.012-05:00

Inqie doing WORK!

And then . . .

taking a break . . .

from her birfday bone!

Little dogs do get tired!

In other news: I did a little update on the Mike Watt/Piss Bottle Man/James Joyce post, you may be interested in checking out - Jimmy, (Jerry?), and person from Lithuania searching for "piss on man face"!?!

Pop Quiz! (No. 3)

2008-11-08T03:18:00.017-05:00

The outcome of the recent election has got me wondering one thing? Does Terry still hold the crown?

YAY YAY YAY!!!*

2008-11-04T23:12:00.001-05:00

* Of course apologies to the late Great
Fela Ransome-Kuti I just couldn't
help myself when I found
that wonderful poster.

I (REALLY) wish I was joking more than I (actually) am . . .

2008-11-01T02:17:00.006-04:00

Robert Wyatt & Bertrand Bergalat - This Summer Night

2008-10-23T00:30:00.004-04:00

Why couldn't this wonderful track have been on the last Wyatt album (or for that matter the last Stereolab album?)

. . . Oh, That's Rich!

2008-10-21T00:12:00.001-04:00

Screencap Maddness Pt. 2: The Many Faces of Special Patrol Group**

2008-10-18T18:44:00.020-04:00

"Amazulu!" . . . 'Am a Glaswegian?

My little ode to Special Patrol Group*, the glorious anarchic Glaswegian bête ~~noire~~ rouge(?) of the "Young Ones" in all of his many incarnations (and ultimate demise).

*Maybe my favorite piece of détournement ever
let loose on the mainstream?

** Plus a few flash frames à la Series 2
thrown in for good measure!

Ozu Screencap Madness!!!1*

2008-09-30T17:10:00.013-04:00

This is a little project that I found myself making very late last night (this morning) for almost no reason when I really (REALLY) should have been sleeping.

I've been working my way through the Eclipse Late Ozu boxset and these images, mainly of Chishu Ryu, (Ozu's filmic doppelgänger?) are from the master's 1957 movie "Tokyo Twilight". It's kind of funny b/c this movie is actually the first Ozu movie that I've seen that I'm not completely crazy about, I found it a little bit more melodramatic than his movies usually are. That said it's still a Yasujirō Ozu movie, so it's memsmerizingly beautiful at least to me. Since I've been on my Ozu kick I've been meaning do a post about him and/or his movies, in fact the other day (week?) I was going thru the archives and I found not one but two files started for an Ozu post. maybe I'll wait for his birth/deathday?

Yasujirō Ozu self-portrait

*Somehow, all the nonsense of this post
has to do w/ my daydreaming that somebody,
(Eugene!) would get off their ass and start up
American Cinéaste already!

While We're at it Two More Early Clips of Our Bob . . .

2008-09-27T19:06:00.011-04:00

These two clips are from French TV in 1975, I'd love to know more about them, what the show was they were on? The two songs, "Sea Song" and "Alfib" are from Robert's seminal 1974 album "Rock Bottom", his (second) first solo album. I go back and forth w/ his first two albums, "Rock Bottom" and "Ruth is Stranger Than Richard", as to which one is my favorite. It usually just come down to the last of the two I listened to is my favorite. I believe that it's going on ten years that I've been loving Robert's work and I still haven't gotten sick of his first two albums. I remember they took me almost a year to get into but once I did, that's all she wrote.

I guess I've been Wyatting the last two days b/c of the announcement that all of his solo albums are being rereleased. I'm not so interested in that so much b/c I already have everything and then some, the two bits of Wyatt news that I'm intrigued by are rumors of a boxset (which will probably just be some discograhy but they might get to buy it just for the linernotes?), the other rumor is that he has a new album in the works for next year sometime. The new album news is always great to hear although, truth be told I didn't really care for his last one. I've tried hard to get into it but there are just no songs on it that jump out at me. I don't know, I think I like his stuff better when it's more just him doing everything on it?

The great clip of Robert doing "Shipbuilding" in the previous post reminded of a somewhat recent article I read about the history and legacy of that song, which I'm sure I had meant to do a post about after I first read it. Anyway for those interested you can find it here. And while I'm at it here is the uncut version of a very interesting Uncut interview w/ Robert from last year.

As for the sad new of the great Paul Newman's passing yesterday, I really have nothing to say. Not only do they not make them like that anymore, I don't think it's even possible!

. . . Another Piece of Completely Escapist Light Entertainment

2008-09-26T15:53:00.006-04:00

Here's To . . .

2008-08-09T17:46:00.005-04:00

Another Horrible Day In The History Of The World*

At least I have a ripe Tomato (and a ~~waning~~ case of Olympic Fever).

* Made just that little bit worse, R.I.P. Bernie Mac.

Enough W/ All of That Tinkle Already . . . Well Mostly

2008-07-02T01:59:00.009-04:00

The other night I was fooling around a little bit w/ this new site Wordle and in doing so I generated the two word clouds below:

I used this blog as the address, it only seems to be using the top few posts, I lost interest in it before I could figure out how to get it to input more words. Anyway from doing that I remembered that had this screen capture widget (how I made the above images) and that made me remember this other site that I used to fool around w/ a couple of years ago but I can never remember the name of. It's Java applet thingie that makes graphs out of websites, I find it kind of neat and every so often I remember about it and I have to go wading through my bookmarks to find the site again. The reason the screen capture widget reminded me of that site is b/c I never had any kind of screen capture thingie so I could never save the the graphs that the applet generates. Well, I did and here are some of the fruits of my endeavor again using amnihilist as the input:

I don't know what happened w/ that last one but it's pretty neat none the less. the key to what it's showing is:

blue: for links (the A tag)
red: for tables (TABLE, TR and TD tags)
green: for the DIV tag
violet: for images (the IMG tag)
yellow: for forms (FORM, INPUT, TEXTAREA, SELECT and OPTION tags)
orange: for linebreaks and blockquotes (BR, P, and BLOCKQUOTE tags)
black: the HTML tag, the root node
gray: all other tags

Piss-Bottle Man . . . and Spiel about his recent pilgrimage to see 'The Prick w/ the Stick'

2008-06-23T04:05:00.025-04:00

PISS-BOTTLE MAN

There are some things a guy gets from his Pop
Some of those things get spaced, others are never forgot
I got such a tradition, I keep in my truck cab

Oooo Oooo Oooo
Piss bottle man
Oooo Oooo Oooo
Piss bottle man

Miles and miles and all the while I feel secure
Even when the fuse gets short I can keep my nerve
Believe in such a tradition, I got in my truck cab

Oooo Oooo Oooo
Piss bottle man
Oooo Oooo Oooo
Piss bottle man

Piss bottle man
Piss bottle man

Oooo Oooo Oooo
Piss bottle man

Piss bottle man
Piss bottle man

Oooo Oooo Oooo
Piss bottle man

Driving in his shoes, using the bottle he used
Every time I pop I think of my Pop and pay my dues
Respect such a tradition, a shrine in my truck cab.

Oooo Oooo Oooo
Piss bottle man
Oooo Oooo Oooo
Piss bottle man

Oooo Oooo Oooo
Piss bottle man
Oooo Oooo Oooo
Piss bottle man

(repeat to fade)

— Mike Watt

This post is kind of a response to the recent post by Brotha' G., over on Sunnyside Dr., that just snuck up and smacked me in the face so to speak.

. . . I been had that CRAZY picture of WATT w/ said bottles (from god only knows where originally?) . . . I love the man, WATT . . . and I had been recently thinking about him, reading a freshish tour diary . . . and knowing that he was going to be in Dublin again for this past Bloomsday, He's a big fan of "Ulysses". I had been meaning to read his spiel about it this time around, which I remembered to read just now. . . . Oh Yeah, I just remembered this, I also recently had a dream where I was telling my 'meeting Mike Watt story' but as dreams usually go I don't think I ever got to the punch-line of it, not that there is one really?

An interesting fact from what WATT wrote about being in Dublin this time around, he says that two-thirds of the songs he did for "Double Nickels . . ." were influenced by his first reading of "Ulysses", I knew about the instrumental on the album titled "June 16th" but I'll really have to go back over the rest of his songs on that classic.

UPDATE:

Not only did I find the picture below of Watt and the statue of Joyce but I also saw an article about Watt being on an album of artists setting Joyce's "Chamber Music" to music. I'm going to have to track that down.

Watt & said Prick w/ said Stick

June 16, 2008

My 2nd Favorite New Yorker Cartoon

2008-06-19T23:34:00.004-04:00

. . . This one has made me laugh out loud.

I Am So Feelling You CC!

2008-06-05T17:44:00.007-04:00

"Chocolate City"

Uh, what's happening CC?
They still call it the White House
But that's a temporary condition, too.
Can you dig it, CC?

To each his reach
And if I don't cop, it ain't mine to have
But I'll be reachin' for ya
'Cause I love ya, CC.
Right on.

There's a lot of chocolate cities, around
We've got Newark, we've got Gary
Somebody told me we got L.A.
And we're working on Atlanta
But you're the capital, CC

Gainin' on ya!
Get down
Gainin' on ya!
Movin' in and on ya
Gainin' on ya!
Can't you feel my breath, heh
Gainin' on ya!
All up around your neck, heh heh

Hey, CC!
They say your jivin' game, it can't be changed
But on the positive side,
You're my piece of the rock
And I love you, CC.
Can you dig it?

Hey, uh, we didn't get our forty acres and a mule
But we did get you, CC, heh, yeah
Gainin' on ya
Movin' in and around ya
God bless CC and its vanilla suburbs

Gainin' on ya!
Gainin' on ya!
Gainin' on ya! (heh!)
Gainin' on ya!
Gainin' on ya!
What's happening, blood?
Gainin' on ya!
Gainin' on ya!
Gainin' on ya!

Yeah!
What's happening, black?
Brother black, blood even
Yeah-ahh, just funnin'

Gettin' down

Ah, blood to blood
Ah, players to ladies
The last percentage count was eighty
You don't need the bullet when you got the ballot
Are you up for the downstroke, CC?
Chocolate city
Are you with me out there?

And when they come to march on ya
Tell 'em to make sure they got their James Brown pass
And don't be surprised if Ali is in the White House
Reverend Ike, Secretary of the Treasure
Richard Pryor, Minister of Education
Stevie Wonder, Secretary of FINE arts
And Miss Aretha Franklin, the First Lady
Are you out there, CC?
A chocolate city is no dream
It's my piece of the rock and I dig you, CC
God bless Chocolate City and its (gainin' on ya!) vanilla suburbs
Can y'all get to that?
Gainin' on ya!
Gainin' on ya!
Easin' in
Gainin' on ya!
In yo' stuff
Gainin' on ya!
Huh, can't get enough
Gainin' on ya!
Gainin' on ya!
Be mo' funk, be mo' funk
Gainin' on ya!
Can we funk you too
Gainin' on ya!
Right on, chocolate city!

Yeah, get deep
Real deep
Heh
Be mo' funk
Mmmph, heh
Get deep
Bad
Unh, heh
Just got New York, I'm told

— as preached by the maven of funk mutation
George Clinton, back in the day and hopefully
applicable again soon.

2008-06-02T00:46:00.004-04:00

LaWanda Page

Happy 60th Birthday Brian Eno (A. K. A. GOD)

2008-05-15T17:09:00.006-04:00

"Portrait of Eno with Allusions"
by Peter Schmidt

I just saw on one of the other blogs that I read daily that today is the great Brian Eno's sixtieth birthday. It's kind of funny b/c for the past few days I've been fooling around w/ this EMS Synthi AKS emulator soft-synth thingie and just yesterday (after successfully installing the English version, I had the French version installed and could not uninstall it) I finally got it to make a noise. The Synthi was Eno's synthesizer of choice back in the day and b/c of that I've always been fixated on them.

(the late) Peter Schmidt and Eno
strategizing obliquely

Be Reasonable Demand The Impossible! Pt. 1

2008-05-01T14:33:00.001-04:00

Be Reasonable Demand The Impossible! Pt. 2

2008-05-01T14:04:00.012-04:00

I can't get enough of these posters and here are a few pictures from the Atelier Populaire where most of them were made . . .

The Visitor(s)

2008-04-24T17:13:00.009-04:00

Upon awakening this fine spring afternoon, here is the majestic sight that greeted me from our backyard.

In my book that constitutes what I would declare an auspicious day. And half way around the world, having an auspicious day of their very own . . .

Congratulations Amy & Dave!!!

File Under: YAY YAY YAY REDUX!!!!

2008-04-18T18:52:00.005-04:00

I just saw over on bitchfork that a new Stereolab album has finally been announced!!!

Talk about making my day.

now i have to wait until August whatever when it's scheduled to be released, BLERGH!?!

In truth, I'm sure in a few weeks it will get leaked and I'll be all Sophie's Choices about whether to listen to it or wait until I can actually buy it. I don't know? I'll probably just wait?

GAWD it's been so long since their last real album, I need a fix so bad! The last Monade album was really pretty good, I liked it much more than the other two, it was very Stereolabesque but nothing is like the real thing. I can not wait.

It's funny I noticed that my first 'File Under: YayYayYay' post which was written upon finding out about the new Robert Wyatt album and mentioned the possibility of new Stereolab material as well, was written almost exactly a year ago.

Keep A Good Heart . . . The Worst Is Yet To Come*

2008-04-16T18:21:00.021-04:00

I am the Great Sun

From a Normandy crucifix of 1632

I am the great sun, but you do not see me,
I am your husband, but you turn away.

I am the captive, but you do not free me,
I am the captain but you will not obey.

I am the truth, but you will not believe me,
I am the city where you will not stay.

I am your wife, your child, but you will leave me,
I am that God to whom you will not pray.

I am your counsel, but you will not hear me,
I am your lover whom you will betray.

I am the victor, but you do not cheer me,
I am the holy dove whom you will slay.

I am your life, but if you will not name me,
Seal up your soul with tears, and never blame me.

- Charles Causley

I've been listening to alot of Ghost Box material recently in particular the second Focus Group disc "Hey Let Loose Your Love". The second track of that disc, 'You Do Not See Me' has a loop of this disembodied voice repeating the phrase "I am the great sun but you do not see me". It's kind of eerie in it's blandness and that phrase always gets stuck in my head. Actually the looped phrase continues, " . . . I am your . . ." and the next word gets cut off and it always leaves me wondering what the next word is? Well w/ all of that business dancing around in my noodle the other day I remembered, "Oh Yeah, there's that internet now, I can look up pretty much anything I can think of . . . DUH. "

So I looked the phrase up and found it's from the poem "I Am The Great Sun" by the late Cornish poet Charles Causley. I rather enjoy that poem and from what little I've read about Causley he sounds pretty interesting, I'm looking forward to investigating him further.

The other bit of poetry related business that's been on my mind this week has been that PBS ~~American Masters~~ American Experience program on Walt Whitman. What I saw of it I thoroughly enjoyed (I still have to catch the end). Whitman has always been someone I had a vague interest in but I've never really known too much about him and it's been years since I tried reading "Leaves of Grass". What I kept thinking about while watching that program on Whitman though was how I wished Allen Ginsberg was still alive b/c they would've had him on that program talking about Whitman. Which reminded me of an addendum I was going to do on my 5th anniversary of the Iraq war post, about how the Dragon Lady, Madame Nhu is still alive and well living in Paris writing her autobiography (and I'm sure continuing to be a horrible human being) while poor Allen Ginsberg has to have merged w/ the infinite already, BLEH.

. . . And in other news of the unimportant —the GTR WRK-SHP is back home after it's year (or so) abroad, first on the Southside and then mouldering away in Forest Hills.

* That line is a piece of advice from Walt Whitman's father and it may become my new personal motto?

In Praise of —

2008-04-10T16:20:00.008-04:00

. . . Just a little while ago in the short period of time b/n two blogs something fired off in my brain, and I wish I could remember what it was??? But I remembered that I had this dashboard widget called Characterpal that gives the secret keyboard combinations for writing special characters —so I could finally make '—'s instead of making ghetto '--'s in their place.

Using two hyphens to replace em dashes (that's what '—'s are called b/c they're a hyphen the size of an 'M' ) had been bothering me for aesthetic reasons. Apparently William Carlos Williams loved his em dashes, he scatters them all over his poetry and having just transcribed a Williams poem in the post below that contains one it's been on my mind (well not really?).

I'm like a bowerbird for little bits of (somewhat) arcane knowledge, I love finally being the master of the —, I can still remember when I learned the secret of making accents (é á í ó ú) and tildes (ñãõ) and umlauts (üïëöä) back in the day . . . wonder of wonders!

Howsa 'bout We Just Skip April This Year? . . . (or the whole history of May)

2008-04-03T18:11:00.029-04:00

The Locust Tree In Flower

[First Version]

Among

the leaves

bright

green

of wrist-thick

tree

and old

stiff broken

branch

ferncool

swaying

loosely strung—

come May

again

white blossom

clusters

hide

to spill

their sweet

almost

unnoticed

down

and quickly

fall

The Locust Tree In Flower

Among

green

stiff

old

bright

broken

branch

come

white

sweet

May

again

A couple of days ago I had the first two words of the final version of this William Carlos Williams poem jump into my head. And they were there for a little while like when you get a song stuck in your head and you just enjoy it being there until you realize that it's a song, and that you have to figure out just what song it is or you won't be able continue living. So I was all "Among of", . . . Among of what? . . . "Among of" . . .

I quickly realized that it had to be from a Williams poem and I was pretty sure that those were the first two words of the poem so that I could easily look up that poem. Thankfully they were and from one that's a particular favorite not to mention timely as to the newish season. One of the things I particularly love about Williams is that since he lived all of his life in Rutherford New Jersey the flora and fauna that are in his poems is pretty much the same as what I see everyday (except for maybe the seagulls). It's the locust trees in his writing that always gets me though. Locust trees are a major part of my personal cosmology, I've been thoroughly enjoying them my entire life.

On a similar note, I had a whole post (that I never wrote) on the (to my ears) misreading of the word 'cinders' in the Williams poem "Between Walls" that I noticed in a discussion I listened to somewhere online this past winter. I could tell that the people talking about that poem weren't from the northeast by how they didn't realize that Williams' use of 'cinders' in the poem had nothing to do w/ fire but just referred to a common ground covering.

Between Walls

the back wings

of the

hospital where

nothing

will grow lie

cinders

in which shine

the broken

pieces of a green

bottle

. . . Anyway, I wanted to add Dr. Williams' commentary/explanation of the two versions of "The Locust Tree In flower" b/c I love it -

"It's the recurrence of the season—the whole history of May. . . . I cut out everything except the essential words to leave the thing as simple as possible and to make the reader concentrate as much as he can. Could anything be plainer?"

Is it too late to name my album of the year for 2007?

2008-03-31T19:47:00.005-04:00

I recently filled in most of the holes I had in the Ghost Box catalog and today instead of downloading the whole world, I remembered that I had some new Ghost Box material to listen to. Anyway all i can say about the most recent Focus Group disc, "We Are All Pan's People" is WOW! Great Great Stuff!

. . . Huh, What War?

2008-03-19T18:57:00.006-04:00

PEACE ATTACK

3 FEB O3 PEACE
PEACE ATTACK
EARLY BOOK WHISTLING
WHISTLING EARTH
WHISTLING EARTH DAY OFF
NATURE SEX
NATURE SEX YAWN WINKING
REMINDER

OF THE GREAT
OF THE GREAT ANTI-HATE
SPRINGTIME IS WARTIME
ALL EYES TO THE CRIMEBOSS
ELECTRIC GUITAR STRING
BELLY FLOWERS

Really what is there to say on this fifth anniversary? SO MUCH BULLSHIT!

I don't know. That Thurston Moore/Sonic Youth song always reminds of the beginning. I think, I read somewhere that Thurston was writing a poem a day for a month or something which is where this song comes from, explaining the "3 Feb. o3" line. And then the "Belly Flowers" line comes from a protest sign Allen Ginsberg made that Thurston has in his collection,~~I can't remember the rest of what was on the Ginsberg protest sign, though~~.

Posted too soon, I found the text of the 1964 Ginsberg protest sign:

Down with Death!
War is Black Magic!
Belly Flowers
To
North and South Vietnam

Those lines were originally from a much longer protest sign/poem from Ginsberg's first protest in October 28, 1963 demonstrating against Madame Nhu when she came to San Francisco. As far as I can tell the poem is uncollected? I found it along w/ the above information in a contemporary interview from the period, the complete poem is:

Man is naked without secrets armed men lack this joy
How many million persons without names?
What do we know of their suffering?
'Oh how wounded, how wounded! ' says the guru
Thine own heart says the swami
Within you says the Christ
Till his humanity awakes says Blake
I am here: saying seek mutual surrender tears
That there be no more hell in Vietnam
That I not be in hell here in the street

War is black magic
Belly flowers to North and South Vietnam
include everybody
End the human war
Name hypnosis and fear is the
Enemy—Satan go home!
I accept America and Red China
To the human race
Madame Nhu and Mao Tse-Tung
Are in the same boat of meat

Can I get a w00t w00t . . . (w00t?)

2008-02-26T19:06:00.014-05:00

I noticed that it was that time of year again, the little blog turns three!!! So, I guess that means time for a few slices of détourned Birthday Cake!!!!!!11

Like I said, I noticed that it was birthday time, this Blog's birthday is the same day as Rosie O'donnell's wedding anniversary and seeing that was what reminded me. Anyway,seeing as I finally did a post just yesterday (when it rains it pours!?!).

I was just going to let the day pass w/o recognizing it but then I got the détourned Birthday Cake idea and it gave me a chuckle so I figured I'd do one and that would be it, Ha-Ha!

Well once I began I just couldn't help myself so that is the reason for the four cakes. Too much fun. It's funny the blog's birthday was just a day or so after it's 2000th page visit, which was of course someone (I believe from Greece) searching for the clock w/o hands image I have up.

Apparently people can not get enough of that image? Whatever, I guess in my own retarded little way I'm giving back to the internets!?! I doubt I'll be getting any hits for the above images but here's hoping. The next big milestone for the blog will be the 100th post, which at my posting speed probably won't be until sometime in late august of this year.

Fair Play To You . . . (or my favorite 2008 Academy Awards moment, which I actually missed!?!)

2008-02-25T16:37:00.014-05:00

Anybody that knows me knows that the Academy Awards broadcast is a big deal to me.

I make a big vat half-assed cheese popcorn and some type of dessert, this year's was chocolate chip bar cookies w/ pine nuts (which next time I make that I have to remember to toast the pine nuts first b/c they kinda got lost taste-wise being raw) and I have my score card and I tally up all of the winners and I sit there making myself sick w/ too much popcorn and I watch the whole damn thing loving every minute of it. I haven't missed one since I started watching them regularly in 1991. I don't really care about any other awards show and really I usually don't even care too much about 75% of the hollywood movie up for the awards. I don't know, I love movies in general and I like the whole community of it and the history. I always really like all of the movie montages in the show and I love the acceptance speeches (especially for the lesser awards) and it's just a nice thing to look forward to in the winter time?

So, I found this year's show pretty enjoyable, it was nice that nothing really completely swept and all of the big pictures are ones that I'm actually looking forward to seeing. All of that said, I actually missed the best moment of the broadcast (I can't remember if it was b/c I was tinkling or that I had changed the channel for the commercial and didn't quite turn back in time?), it was when Jon Stewart brought back out the cute little czech girl, Markéta Irglová from the movie "Once" who had just won for the best original song but got cut off at the microphone just as she was about to speak. I remember noticing that and feeling badly for her. I was really happy for them winning although truth be told I was only lukewarm about their movie. I thought it looked nice and I liked the story but the two big ruiners for me were that I didn't like most of the songs in it (which is tough w/ a musical) and I found the main character a little too earnest for my liking. Which I think I could have looked past if I would've liked the songs? Anyway,~~here is some Youtube-age of what I'm babbling on about:~~

I had put the Youtube clip of the acceptance speeches here but my html skills are lacking to say the least and somehow everything got screwed up, I hate fooling w/ youtube. Anyway, the clip would probably have gotten taken down but while it lasts (and if you are interested you can find it here)

And here are the transcripts of both of their speeches, Glen Hansard's:

"Thanks! This is amazing. What are we doing here? This is mad. We made this film two years ago. We shot on two Handicams. It took us three weeks to make. We made it for a hundred grand. We never thought we would come into a room like this and be in front of you people. It's been an amazing thing. Thanks for taking this film seriously, all of you. It means a lot to us. Thanks to the Academy, thanks to all the people who've helped us, they know who they are, we don't need to say them. This is amazing. Make art. Make art. Thanks."

and Markéta's:

"Hi everyone. I just want to thank you so much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we're standing here tonight, the fact that we're able to hold this, it's just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible. And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don't give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are. And so thank you so much, who helped us along the way. Thank you."

Two really nice speeches and really a big part of why I enjoy the Oscars, moments like those. What I especially enjoyed about Markéta's speech though (and pretty much the whole reason I'm even posting this nonsense) is her use of the Irish-ism "fair play" (which translates(?) to kinda "way to go" in blah english english) I love that expression to no end. It always makes me think of the great Van Morrison song funnily enough titled "Fair Play" from his underrated classic 1974 album "Veedon Fleece".

FAIR PLAY

Fair play to you
Killarney's lake are so blue
And the architechure I'm taking in with my mind
Is so fine

Tell me of Poe
Oscar Wilde and Thoreau
Let your midnight and your daytime
Turn into love of life

It's a very fine line
But you've got the mind child
To carry it on when it's just about to be carried on

And there's only one meadows way to go
And you say Geronimo
And there's only one meadows way to go
And you say Geronimo

A paperback book as we walk down the street
Fill my mind with tales of mystery, mystery
And imagination
Forever fair
And I'm touching your hair
I wish we would be dreamers in this dream
Oh, oh let it be

And there's only one meadows way to go
And you say Geronimo
And there's only one meadows way to go
And you say Geronimo

Fair play to you
Killarney's lakes are so blue
Hi ho silver tit for tat
And I love you for that

Hi ho silver tit for tat
And I love you for that

. . . And to make this pointlessness even longer, I just recently saw the Mumblecore tiny masterpiece "Quiet City" and it was pretty much everything that I wanted "Once" to be but wasn't.

Pop Quiz! (No. 2)

2008-01-05T20:33:00.000-05:00

Hands up, Who Loves Buttermilk?

LOLPUGZ* (XMASS Edition)

2007-12-25T00:12:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry but I do sort of love the aesthetics of the Lolcats meme and I couldn't help but subject our little dog to the indignities of LOL-ization . . . you know for the holidays!?!

* Inquoris would like it to be known that she finds
this image to be demeaning reactionary bullshit
and that if she would have known to what end her
image was to be used she would never have posed so
nicely for her picture to be taken. And especially that
if there were some fantasy universe where she could
actually speak, she would speak proper grammatical
English albeit w/ a cute Daffy Duck lisp.

That's Right Bitches* . . .

2007-12-23T16:53:00.002-05:00

I just found Luboš Fišer's soundtrack for "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders"!

Now, granted this wonderful aural delight was something I didn't know that I was looking for less than an hour ago but that doesn't take away from the fact that I'm enjoying the hell out of it now.

I saw the classic Czech coming-of-age gothic surrealist creep-fest a few years ago and I'm sure I enjoyed the soundtrack being as it's so completely right up my alley musics-wise. As w/ most things (especially those that I enjoy) though, I completely forgot about it. Until a little while later Broadcast had a tribute song called "Valerie" (funnily enough?) on their great 2003 release "Ha Ha Sound".

Now Listening to the "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders" soundtrack I can hear the melody used in the Broadcast song was lifted from a motif Fišer uses throughout his soundtrack. The lyric of the Broadcast song is pretty much just a synopsis of the movie, which w/ the movie being so crazy actually makes for a great song.

. . . Now I have see if there's a soundtrack available for that other Czech new wave classic "Daisies",which I actually liked better than "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders" but I don't know about how the soundtrack will stack up?

* At this point do I really have to say NOT THAT ANYONE CARES!?!

MERRY XMAS III

2007-12-08T18:41:00.001-05:00

IMAGINE PEACE

Auf Wiedersehen Karlheinz

2007-12-07T20:14:00.001-05:00

I just found out a little while ago about Karlheinz Stockhausen's passing. I've never really ventured that far into his massive body of work but he'll always hold a special place in my personal music listening history.

When the internet was still a new thing for me and I started exploring music that wasn't familiar to me, he happened to be the first composer that I started reading about. I have a very distinct (hazy) memory of reading something about his early work w/ tape recorders when they started becoming available right after World War Two and it fascinated me. It was something about him taking a second or so of recorded material and stretching that to last an hour and how it would take him an incredibly long period of time to do that in those tape splicing analog golden days.

It must've been in that same article (or around that time), talking about his use of ring modulators or something else I was reading at the time? But I developed a pretty healthy obsession w/ ring modulation; what a ring modulator actually was, what they looked like, and more importantly what they sounded like. A little while after that mini-obsession began I chanced upon a used copy of Stockhausen's 1970 piece Mantra. I bought it I'm pretty sure just b/c it was by Stockhausen not knowing that it was utilizing ring modulators (and two pianos and various small percussion instruments). I've listened to that piece so much since I first bought it that I can hear it in my head now as I type this nonsense and I'm sure it's been at least two years or so since I actually listened to the disc. Finding that disc though is still one of greatest used disc finds among a handful or so that I still remember fondly but w/ some disbelief.

After Mantra though I never really pursued Stockhausen much further, I moved onto other things Messiaen and Minimalism and then I found Morton Feldman and that re-awakened an interest in John Cage. I think though that if more Stockhausen discs would have been available when he was still new to me I would have listened to him more.

After just having read an article in the New Yorker about the resurgence in classical music sales or something(?), that article though, had this great passage by a pianist talking about an ecstatic experience he had while playing Messiaen's "Quatuor pour la fin du temps" that was so beautiful, it got me thinking about how little modern classical, avant garde (whatever you call it) musics I listen to anymore. Maybe once I dig out my copy of Mantra and give it a few listens that will get me listening to that type of music more?

Karlheinz Stockhausen
August 22, 1928 – December 5, 2007

Ne Travaillez Jamais

2007-12-06T03:33:00.000-05:00

"A Girl With A Leika" snapped by the Leica of Alexander Rodchenko

Some pictures and quotes, the products of a day and a half of television and internet drifting. Like any other day and a half just w/ a little something to show for it - of course for no particular reason.

"Man has survived hitherto because he was too ignorant to know how to realize his wishes. Now that he can realize them, he must either change them, or perish." - Bertrand Russell byway of William Carlos Williams

"Suicide carried off many. Drink and the devil took care of the rest." - Robert Louis Stevenson byway of Guy Debord byway of Richard Linklater from his film "Waking Life"

"A functioning police state needs no police." - William S. Burroughs

I keep thinking what did I do before obsessively looking at the same dozen or so blogs all day and night and of course before the gloriousness that is Wikipedia?

. . . Oh yeah, obsessively download music.

"Um Yeah, That's What I'm Talking About!"

2007-11-29T16:08:00.001-05:00

Two Marble Giants (+ Synth) in their Salad Days

Salad Days

Think of salad days
they were folly and fun
They were good, they were young

- Alison Statton, Young Marble Giants

America's Favorite Jackass?
	Terry Paxton Bradshaw
	Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr.

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Buttermilk?
	Love It
	LOOOOOOOOOVE IT!!!!!!!!11

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