What do you do if you are an unsigned band in Britain and want to make a music video but don't have any money for cameras and crew? Have the police state do your bidding!
The Get Out Clause produced this video by performing in front of eighty different CCTV cameras all around Manchester and then requesting the footage under the Freedom of Information Act. Brilliant!
This is a mash up using footage from an ABC interview with some of the women from the polygamist sect in Texas which was raided recently. It's an eerie and somewhat disturbing look at the clash of cultures.
So I was just reading through my news feeds and saw this headline...
...and I'm racking my brain to name just one Mariah Carey song, chartbuster or not, and I can't think of one. I could name a score of Elvis Presley hits and I'm not even a big fan of his. I could name Beatles songs until the cows come home. But Mariah Carey?
So I'm either completely culturally out of touch or they don't make pop icons like they used to. I'm betting it's a combination of the two, but bigger than Elvis and the Beatles? Puh-leeeeeze.
So, I'll ask you. Can you name all of Mariah Carey's 18 chart toppers? 6? 1?
I knew Carrie back in West Lafayette, Indiana. She was a frequent headliner at a Friday night coffee house I helped start and she and I collaborated on some theater projects. She also sang at my wedding back in 91. It's nice to see her going strong and putting out material on her own YouTube channel.
This one goes out to Heather.
As we begin Spring I was reminded this morning of this story of how Stravinsky's Rite of Spring caused a riot the first time it was performed. This segment from an episode of Radiolab explores the physiology and psychology behind the riot. It's fascinating listening.
I Miss Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Megan Gogerty (playwright and self described wordsmith) wrote and recorded this nostalgic ode to her halcyon days with Buffy and posted it on her website as a free download.
I just really discovered Buffy last year and ran through the seven seasons in about nine months. I bought the series as my birthday present to myself and now I'm rewatching the series with my teenage (gasp) daughter.
Here are some great lines from the song for those too technologically challenged to click on the link or need some encouragement to do so:
A friend of mine met the guy who played Xander at a party and in real life she said he was kind of disappointing. I said, "Of course he's disappointing. This is real life and he's an actor. And in real life everyone's disappointing."I want metaphorical mythology coupled with ontological authenticity. I really don't think that's too much to ask of a show.
I'm this close to reading fan fiction but writing this song is pathetic enough.
I feel your pain, Megan. I really do. Thanks for the laugh.
"We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope."
- Barack Obama
Vote Hope.
Fuzzy did this video of Dirt Bike by They Might Be Giants in his continuing attempts to Impress These Apes. I'm amazed that he got handed this song randomly as I know we both love TMBG. In fact, I believe it was Fuzzy who turned me on to this band back many years ago.
So on the 10 hour trip between Two Harbors and Joliet today we had the requisite "what's with that?" discussions in the car. Emma started randomly singing "That's Amore"...
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore.and I stopped her and said, "Say what?"
First of all, neither of us have ever been hit in the eye by either a naturally occuring satellite or a doughy comestible with cheese and tomato sauce.
Second of all, when we extrapolate what we know of pizza and the moon we doubt that the experience of being hit in the eye by said objects would be at all comparable. The first would be mildly inconvenient while the second would be undoubtedly fatal.
Third of all, whether pizza or moon, we can't figure out how being hit in the eye by either of them would be even roughly analogous to the state of being in love.
This whole conversation caused my daughter to sing:
When something from space hits you in the face, that's like love.Any words of clarification would be most welcomed.
Musica para 6 baterias y 1 apartamento - ZappInternet
I don't really want to turn my blog into a clip joint, but I've been coming across so many I want to share of late. This is the latest and it comes from my favorite school of art - the "hey I could do that" school of art. I love art which makes you look at your world anew with wonder and possibility. While this video is a bit long at almost 10 minutes, it's definitely worth the ride.
Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri and Vimeo.
These people clearly have too much time on their hands. Cheers to that!
This is done in the offices of Connected Ventures in New York which runs Vimeo so I guess this could be considered work.
My friend Maria is making birdhouses now (for decorative use only) and since I haven't plugged her artsy craftiness (or is that craftsy artiness?) in awhile, I will now!
I had almost forgotten about this shoot when I came upon this video. It was about 4 or 5 years ago. This was for a local band, the Black Eyed Snakes, and it was filmed in the NorShor Theater in Duluth, Minnesota. I was supposed to be a disinterested professorial type and one of the wrestlers slammed into my table, destroying it, while I calmly took a drink of my wine. We did that shot with the breakaway table 3 or 4 times, but it didn't make it into the video. Ah well.
So the kids and I went to our first Huskies game of the summer in historic Wade Stadium. One of the things I love about going to a ball game is their quirky little song snippets they play throughout the game to egg on the opposition and fire up the crowd. All of the Huskies have their own personal theme song that plays as they step up to plate. I imagine them sitting around trying to figure out what their song will be for the season.
Now, I'm never going to be a ball player, but it still would be cool for my own personal sound cue to follow me around and psych me up. I think, for fun and irony, mine would have to be "Missionary Man" by the Eurythmics.
What would yours be?
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra!
Here's what you get when you give a bunch of Kiwis some ukuleles. Presenting the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra!
I may not have a jetpack but, by golly, I have a robot.
The Onion regularly interviews celebrities by taking their mp3 player, setting it to shuffle, and having them respond to the first 10 songs that show up. I'm a big fan of randomness, so I'll post mine, whatever may fall out, and I invite you to post your own. I may do this periodically just because it will turn out different all the time. So, out of the 2696 songs on my iPod, the first 10 to come out are:
1 A Safe Place | Carrie Newcomer | An Angel at My Shoulder
I knew Carrie back when I was attending Purdue. She's gone on to produce a multitude of albums and some very fine music.
2 I'm Having a Heart Attack | They Might Be Giants | Apollo 18
This 22 second beauty is from a host of microsongs. TMBG puts these songs on their album specifically for shuffle play so that there would be little songlets that would just randomly appear between their longer songs.
3 The UFO Mystery | Jim Richardson | Gonzo Science
Jim Richardson is a Duluthian Gonzo Scientist. This album takes some of his essays, sets them to music, and goes over the top. It's spoken word jazz and rap and, well, somewhat indefinable. This particular song tries to explain the UFO phenomenon through ball lightning.
4 I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) | The Proclaimers | Sunshine on Leith
I love this song. Remember it? "I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more, just to be the man who walks 1000 miles to fall down at your door." May be one of the best love songs ever.
5 Intonent hodie | Anonymous 4 | Legends of St. Nicholas
Anonymous 4 are four women who sing early polyphonic music. Very evocative and atmospheric. Good music to get lost to.
6 Love Shack | The B-52s | Cosmic Thing
From the soundtrack of the early 90s. It's probably the most popular song from this album, though not my favorite. Ah, memories.
7 In the Middle, In the Middle | They Might Be Giants | No!
TMBG comes up again! Not surprising, I love this band. This is a cover of an old safety song sung by Robin Goldwasser.
8 Sleepwalkers | They Might Be Giants | No!
Okay, this is just weird. Is this random? I think the Johns got in and fixed my iPod. This is another song off of TMBG's very wonderful children's album about children walking in their sleep. Marimba, baby!
9 Linger | The Cranberries | Everbody Else Is Doing It
This song reminds me of long summer evenings, kicking back in the back yard or at the beach. Don't ask me why.
10 Bandwagon | R.E.M. | Dead Letter Office
Not a very familiar R.E.M. song. I had to check twice to make sure it was in fact R.E.M. Lot more twang to it than I'm used to with the boys from Athens, Georgia.
Well, that's it for now. Submit your own Random Ten list.
Promoting grammar, punctuation, and spelling on the internet is a little like promoting healthy eating at a fast food convention, but one lives in hope. I have come to accept that in netspeak people don't always capitalize their sentences. Sometimes a return replaces a period. Sometimes (and I shudder at the thought) people even substitute the letter "u" for the word "you."
But more than all of these things what annoys me the most is the capricious and wanton use of "lol."
Now, I'm not a purist. I use this abbreviation myself... when I'm laughing... out loud. I don't stop to write, "Oh, Beatrix! How witty you are! I am beside myself with laughter. I can hardly control my bowels I am chortling with such ferocity." No, if I laugh when I am IM-ing someone, I zap off a quick "lol."
What I can't stand is when "lol" is used as a kind of punctuation. An example:
pnk1323: hi lol
ironic1: Hello, how are you?
pnk1323: good lol u?
ironic1: I'm fine. What can I do for you?
pnk1323: lol I dunno lol
I mean, I'm a pretty funny writer and I consider myself to be passingly witty, but no one is that funny.
So, let me add my plea to that of the above video. To all you compulsive lol-ers out there... Stop it, for the love of God! Please, stop! It's not funny. It's not cute. It's as annoying as hell.
Pass the Stuffing
by Grant Baciocco & Doug Price
The turkey is done; the potatoes are mashed,
but you're not here so my holiday's thrashed.
The candied yams, well, they're ready to eat
but the marshmallows on top of them, well, they just aren't as sweet.
Since you walked out of the door
I just don't feel like giving thanks no more.
So thanks for nothing.
Please pass the stuffing.
The TV is on in the living room.
A broken heart would be my parade balloon.
And all I want to do is just sit here and cry
and watch my tears fall down into my pumpkin pie.
My cranberry sauce heart has lost its canned shape.
Dumped on thanksgiving, well, that's something I just can't take.
So thanks for nothing.
Please pass the stuffing.
Thanksgiving holiday comes every year
but you aren't ever coming back, so to you, my dear, I say:
Thanks for nothing.
Please pass the stuffing. (repeat and fade)
Continue reading "My New Most Favoritest Thanksgiving Song Ever" »
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
Any guess who said this?
One of my favorite things in theatre is to take familiar plays of one period and set them in another period and see how they work there. We see this a lot with Shakespearean plays adapted into movies - Hamlet in modern day New York, Taming of the Shrew as a High School Comedy, Romeo and Juliet as feuding gangs in Florida just to name a few.
Lately, I've been impressed with musicians taking tunes I know well and resetting them. Here are a couple I've found - the Star Wars theme on a banjo and Smells Like Teen Spirit on ukeleles. Send in your own favorites.
Now it's crap. Then it rocked my 14 year old world.
Oh, Martha Quinn... how I long for your sassy ways.
Remember Space Invaders? Yeah, it's a little like asking, "Remember the Model A?" or "Remember 8 Tracks?" Well, apparently a lot of people are hankering for the good ol' days. Here is a smattering of artists and enthusiasts who are memorializing the classic arcade game.
Check out this rug. Polish artist Janek Simon used projection television, an actual rug, and old world, low-res design to create this playable Space Invaders rug.
Invader is a Paris-based artist who puts little (and sometimes big) pixelated mosaics of space invaders all over the world. You can track the invasion on his site.
George W. Bush singing U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday. It doesn't get much more ironic than that. Thanks thepartyparty.com!
Hey Bob, happy birthday. Ya get a street named after ya. Sweet!
By the way, do you know who that is standing in the background? I didn't! But I found out.
Senator, Treasury Secretary, and former Vice Presidential Candidate Lloyd Bentsen died today, but mainly I knew him for the biggest political debate knock out punch ever given on prime time television. I was a college student and living in Oregon at the time. It was the first time I was old enough to vote in a presidential election so I was following it fairly closely.
On the evening of October 5, 1988 a bunch of fellow students and I gathered in a professor's living room and we watched the debate live. Bentsen's debate opponent was the very easy to ridicule Dan Quayle - but looking back on it, Quayle's political obituary was written that night when Bentsen retorted to Quayle's predictable comparison of his youthfulness with that of John F. Kennedy -
Jackson Browne released this song in the 80's when we were knee deep in Central American blood. Eerily, the song is more relevant today than ever.
I submitted this video to videobomb and you can see it there too.
