Andrew Bird

So simple and cool

Wolf Parade

Yes, there is a band called Wolf Parade. This is the best song I've heard in a while. Thanks to Juan Castro for hipping me to it!

Here He Comes - a story of Van and George (dumb, dumb George)

I love it! The song is a van morrison track from the 2nd disc of the many times repackaged "Bang Sessions." Sometimes known as Bang Masters, sometimes known as Brown Eyed Beginnings, etc, etc, etc. This track, along with about 30 other strange one minute songs like Ring Worm, Chickee Coo, Dumb Dumb George, Jump and Thump, make up the whole second disc.

Van's George (the one in the songs) owned the label van was recording for (Bang) and was responsible for releasing an album of van's material without his knowledge. George was attempting to capitalize on a) the chart success of Brown Eyed Girl and b) the hippie movement (the album was called "Blowin Your Mind" and the cover featured a psychedelic van morrison). Van was pissed. And to get out of his 2 disc record contract he turned in the 2nd album of nonsensical songs. One of those songs is called "Blowin Yer Nose" and in the song he pretends to call the operator and rag on his own album. "Hey! Operator. I have a new album out and it's groovy. It's called.... it's called.. blowin' yer nose."

Van writes off all of his work at Bang as crap, but despite that there are some bad ass songs all on that first disc. Joe Harper's Saturday Morning, Madam George (later slowed waaay down for Astral Weeks), It's All Right, Beside You (same idea as Madam George), and the acoustic version of The Smile You Smile are all top notch tracks. Some of the best music ever created.

Here are the lyrics to ringworm:
I can see
by the look on your face
that you've got ringworm.
I'm very sorry but,
I have to tell you that
you've got ringworm.
It's a very common disease.
Actually, you're very luck to have
ringworm
'cause you may have
had somethin' else.
Oooh, aaahhh...
Uuunnnhhhaaahhnnn...
You've got ringworm.
Oooh-oooh, oooh, oooh-oooh, oooh, oooh-oooh....

Everything she wants

Is everything she sees.

Wise words from Wham era George Michael? That song came over my ipod while busing to work (don't criticize) and it made me laugh laugh laugh.

But could this song be about ditching a pregnant wife? He says she's perfect. Then, six months later, they are married, she's pregnant, and now he's going on about "one step further and my back will break." What is she asking for? A crib? If I ever had the opportunity to interview George Michael I'd ask him to explain himself.

Next I will analyze Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam songs. Lost in Emotion? I'll be the judge of that. Hit the beat now!

Netflix Review

I wrote my first and maybe last movie review on Netflix. It was for Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me. I hated it the movie. Here is the review -

Title: Why is everyone yelling so loud?

"This movie is not scary, but the main thing I'll remember from this movie is all the screaming. Despite this, I fell asleep trying to watch it. Twice. Why is everyone screaming? Don't really know, but maybe very few of the actors know what their motives are so they just yell their way through the scenes. "CLEAN THE FLOOR!" "DON'T WEAR MY CLOTHES!" "WASH YOUR HANDS!" WHO ARE YOU!" "I LOVE YOU JAMES!" "AAAAAAIGGGH!" Okay, I get it. Bored now...

By the way, half of the interesting scenes (2 of 4?) are ripped off from the series. Besides that, this movie is just a disjointed b flick.

RENT IT IF YOU HAVE TO! But you probably won't enjoy it."

I love, love, love Blue Velvet, but Mr. Lynch doesn't impress me much.

SKATE FOR CHRIST!

wow.



I turned on my tv and it was tuned to TBN (of course). Stephen Baldwin was hosting some strange show featuring some weirdo who spins basketballs...for christ. Anyway, a Stephen Baldwin +christ youtube search ensued and I found that awesome little video. And make sure to always remember...
skate skate skate
christ christ christ
Skate for Christ
Skate for Christ
Ride the halfpipe
Don't smoke the crack pipe

Dylan on Youtube

Girl From the North Country. I love this song. Conor Oberst, M. Ward and Jim James were singing this song as the final encore song when they were touring together. It's available somewhere, cause I heard it on the radio. Anyway, always nice to hear the original. "If you go where the snow flakes fall.." So gorgeous.

Why? Huh? Why?

Okay, my ears may have been deceiving me, but I could have sworn that I heard/saw a dog food commercial with a Magnetic Fields song as the soundtrack. Unless I'm wrong, and I hope I am, "I think I need a new heart" is now the official song of cesar's dog food. How could this happen? Does Mr. Merritt need money? Is his club losing money? Is he hungry? Does he need to eat? Someone explain this to me?

Can someone with window's media player tell me what is happening here?
http://www.cesar.com/events/advertising_temp.aspx

Again, I have no problem with songs in commercials as long as the commercial doesn't suck the life out of the song. In honor of the good use of songs, I embed the following video:

Nick Drake

Shut your prayer hole!

I got to see a TBN discussion about referendum 65. A few things stood out.

1) Listening to them would make you believe that ref 65 is a referendum on gay marriage. I think they did it for maximum scare effect.
2) The pastors went out of their way to not come off like hate mongers. "I have nothing against homosexuals. I want to defend marriage for the children! I want to honor god's word. Children and God. God and Children."
3) The pastors came off as hate mongers, "These laws could change EVERYTHING! Marriage is the fabric that hold our society together. What would happen if that fabric was torn apart? Think what they would teach our children in schools! This law could change who the government gives benefits to!" And my personal favorite, "You must get up and act! Remember, God not only punishes the practitioners of sinnful deeds, but also those of us who let the sinners practice these deeds." It's all about the subtext.
4) Awful music from young adults from the Prayer Team. The only thing I hate more than 89.5 is TBN music.
5)They tried, but failed to describe non-biblical arguments against gay marriage (again, not what this dam referendum is about). They really

Okay, referendum 65 is all about rejecting or approving HB2661. HB 2661 added sexual orientation to this language:

"The legislature hereby finds and declares that practices of discrimination against any of its inhabitants because of race, creed, color, national origin, families with children, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, age, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a disabled person are a matter of state concern, that such discrimination threatens not only the rights and proper privileges of its inhabitants but menaces the institutions and foundation of a free democratic state."

Can you believe that Tim Eyman actually says, "Government-imposed preferential treatment will only enhance suspicion and conflict between our citizens exactly as described earlier by Rep. Cox. When the classroom teacher treats Johnny special, the other kids end up not liking Johnny. When government gets involved, it usually makes things worse. This is especially true when it comes to social issues. Better for the government to stay out of it."

Is it Tim? Would it have been better if the government stayed out of civil rights? What about the our government's push to get Saudi Arabia to remove anti Christian language from children's textbooks (this story was on the radio this morning)? Should the government stay out of that?

Concerned Women for America has this brilliant nugget to add to the debate:
"If HB2661 stands, our freedom to lovingly rescue people out of the sin of homosexuality will be limited."

Yea, well, guess what? Lucky for you this part of the constitution also restricts my freedom to pull your head out of your fucking ass. Deal with it. I am.

ALSO, THIS IS VERY IMPORANT. WOULD YOU PLEASE SHUT UP ABOUT THE DAVINCI CODE? The book is obviously a work of fiction. I was tired of hearing about it in real time and now TBN and the religious right will not shut up about it. How stupid do THEY think their audience is? Judging by the shite that flows on TBN, my guess is "pretty stupid." Either they're just using this jig to raise money or they really think the foolish will be fooled. And organizations like TBN like to keep their monopoly on the foolish and their money. Now they're pimping a book called "The Da Vinci Deception" I mean really, is this work of fiction seriously being debated?

I come in the name of Jesus...

Hope sent this to me and hope it gives me. This is how I like my religion. Prepare yourself.

"so he flew from the pit with the moon round his waist
gathered wind in his fists and the stars round his wrists
cryin' holy, holy to the lord" Neko Case

This is not Neko Case

This is more like it

Sam and Ali

This is strange

Yes that is en vogue in the background. The director certainly did ol' Rog a favor by cutting away after his "yea, I pointed to the crowd" rock star move (about 45 seconds into it). Whatever happened next was certainly quite scary for everyone en volved.

Let Me Introduce You to This Shady Cast of Characters

Shins plus McDonalds. I thought I heard about that on a NPR interview a long time ago and whenever I'd compare the shins to michael bolton I'd make sure to tell folks that. No one ever believed me and I never saw the commercial so i started wondering if it was true myself. POPO ZAO suckers! Not like this should change anyone's mind about the music though. That Dylan/Victoria's Secret commercial was amazing. "I'm sick of love! I wish I never met you." And I definitely dug the car commercial with Nick Drake. It was brilliant.

The other day my brother confused me by putting some R Kelley in the cd player. There is a song on the album called "You Remind Me Of My Jeep." R Kelley says it like it's the biggest compliment in the world. "You remind me of my jeep. I want to get inside you. You remind me of my jeep, I want to bump you like my speakers" and so on and so forth etc etc until "and I just want to tell you..." long pause, music building ".......YOU REMIND ME OF MY JEEP!" My brother assured me that this was a big hit in it's day and I was utterly confused. I mean, this song was the literally the soundtrack to a million memories. It's too much to think about.

Alas, alas, another one of my favorite musicians put out a not so great album. I can now add Jolie Holland to my list that includes The Gourds, Bright Eyes, Devendra Banhart, Neko Case (maybe..not too drawn to the new album), Wilco, Ryan Adams (really more like 10 mediocre albums) and probably a much longer list if I think about it. I'm always saddest when super talented folks put out albums that are don't do anything for me. Okay, shouldn't rag on Jolie Holland's new album too much, because there are a few outstanding songs and a few fascinating song. It just seems like there are too many parts that drag. What I want to know is who is that guy singing on You're Not Satisfied? He sounds a sleazy and tired and awesome.

Holy Shot Through The Chest While Jumping Out a Jail Cell Window, Mor-Man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith%2C_Jr.#Smith.27s_death

Scott let me borrow "Under the Banner Of Heaven." It is keeping me up at night.

Another Great Album Cover

This photo reminds me of Tom Bombadil for some reason. I think I just like the idea of wandering through a forest and stumbling upon the master of Hawaiian guitar. He's got some kind of Hawaiian/Western Swing thing going on. I'd be as enchanted by him as the hobbits were of Tom and his river nymph.

Rockin Steady with Slim Smith

I'm obsessed with this man. I want this album on my wall. I love it.

Lazy the Crime Toe

I guess I'm the neighborhood watch guy tonight. I called the police on a car that's been sitting outside my house for a few days and I found this website.

Throwing toenails at crime.

My new favorite tree

These things dot the shores of Mercer Island. I never really noticed them til I was out on Lake Washington with JuanB. In the light of the setting sun they looked like shaggy creatures making their way to the shore.

Saturday was a great day to be on the water. Didn't catch any fish, but we drank a decent amount of whiskey, boated all they way around Mercer Island (no small feat for the 12 footer), listened to good tunes and had a lot of fun. My ass hurts though. 7 hours on that hard boat seat did me in.

Neko!

Soooo glad I found this. Video footage from last year's zoo concert. Absolutely amazing. The rain hadn't hit yet.

Neko doesn't live in Yarnia.



Soooo cute. And apologizing for the rain reference too.

Chronicles of Yarnia

Yarnia is inhabited by Pat Boone, Keb Mo, and C.S Lewis.

I lied. Sort of.

Keb Mo is the Pat Boone of blues

I will never blog about Pat Boone Again

Why? Well, here are a few things from All Music reviews:

"To his credit, Boone was somehow able to extricate any sense of sexuality or danger from rock and roll - no mean feat."

"It doesn't include his hit covers of 'At My Front Door' and Little Richards 'Long Tall Sally' and 'Tutti Frutti,' which is perhaps just as well for all concerned."

AllMusic folk are wrong about a lot of things, but they are spot on about this one. However, I actually really like this one song called Moody River. It's a suicide tale set to a Sam Cooke ish piano rhythm thing. "Moody river your muddy water, took my baby's life." So, Pat wanders off into the woods to meet his lover at the oak tree by the river. Instead he finds a glove with a note on it.

"On the ground, your glove I found with a note addressed to me. It read dear Love, I've done you wrong and now I must set you free. No longer can I live with this hurt and sin. I just couldn't tell you that guy was just a friend."

Moody River, more deadly than the vainest knife. Moody River, your muddy waters...

Wedding Bell Blues

Saw a couple of curious performances by this Laura Nyro gal. The performances (on the Monterey Pop Festival dvds) and images I've dug up (see photo below) make me think of Fiona Apple. A bunch of Laura's songs were hits with artists like The Fifth Dimension, Blood Sweat and Tears, Three Dog Night, etc. This makes me a bit dubious. Those bands don't get me all tingly inside. Then again, most of the Byrds' versions of Dylan songs are pretty shite. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just putting you on.

Anyway, I'm not buying anything yet. I will check her out from Ms. Casey first.

Last Call For The Poverty Train

Destiny!

I love not working. A random set of events led to up to a very sweet old woman giving me 4 moving boxes worth of records. And they are very old records. I kind of recognize some names (Dennis Day, Duke Ellington, Bing Crosby, and things of that era), but the boxes mostly comprise of super old 78s with titles like the Bohemian Polka and the Hawaiian War Chant, etc.

Anyway, just so happens that my record player doesn't play 78s. Sadness. However, happy hour introduced me to a friend of a fiend who just happens to have a record player that plays 78s. There are record listening plans in the works. Happiness.

On a random 78s note - I seem to remember seeing, in movies set in the 50s and 60s, record stores that had little recording booths for people to play music in. I think they would be recorded on 78s. Anyway, record stores should bring back the recording both, but with digital music. People could roll into the store, dig around for music that inspires them, and see if they can work something out in the booth. That sounds like a good time.

Girls Gone Wild

Women have been dominating my music scene.

Things I suggest you do:

1) Buy the Etta James' song called "All I Could Do Was Cry." I suggest the version from the album called "Etta James Rocks the House." Dam that gal can sing. Yup, you can get it on itunes.
2) Buy "Call on Me" on Big Brother and Holding Company's self titled album. Could be my favorite Janis Joplin song.
3) Download this album. Sexy singing gals make me swoon. So do sexy singing boys.
4) Listen to the new Neko album. Some great tracks on there. Not a super big change in sound from Blacklisted, but you have to love "The Band" connection. Garth Hudson adds a lot of goodness to that record. Neko, I will swoon over you on April 6th and 7th.
4) Ella. This was on PBS's American Masters' website.

"I swear, when she finished you could hear a rat piss on cotton." I need to work that line into more conversations.

Mystery!

A mysterious new shared itunes music folder showed up at work today. Scooby Snack is the name. I am intrigued by this Scooby Snack. We have shockingly similar music tastes. I saw Bob Dylan and The Bands' "Basement Tapes" in there, Songs of Freedom (bob marley), a few Bright Eyes albums, Mason Jennings (!), and plenty of other albums that I have. And plenty more that I plan on listening to in the next few days. My only complaint is that Mr. or Mrs. Snack seems to like The Boss just a bit too much. Anyway, I kind of want to know who this person is. Would it be weird to communicate through itunes' playlist? For the record, my shared itunes music folder is called "Guilty Feet," which is absolutely ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as the CashFlow infomercial.

Blowing Your Nose

Obscure reference

Double Jeopardy

THE CHASE IS ON!



A perfect life?
Not so fast!






















Let's see if I can explain this...
Judd - amazing life, lives on Whidbey Island, likes boats, husband gives judd a boat (first picture), husband stages death on boat (blood), judd convicted of crime (court case), best friend adopts Judd's son (tears), best friend (and son) disappear, Judd makes friends in prison, judd uses six years in prison to train physically (rocky scenes), judd released, judd skips parole, escapes re-capture (second picture), hardened criminal judd tracks down husband (breaks many laws), Mr. Jones hot on her trail (chase scenes), Mr. Jones helps trap husband, Judd shoots husband, Mr. Jones injured, final shot freeze frame of judd embracing child, a bandaged Mr. Jones in the background.

Nominated for 4 awards (three blockbuster and one MTV)

from the quotes section of imdb - Mr. Jones - Dammit, woman, if you don't get out of this car and go to your kid, I'm going to have you arrested... for stupidity.

Amazing!