STOP MAKING SENSE! Another priceless white trash moment

I'm a frikkin Repubican and I don't have to make sense!

Now git offa muh lawn!

What If Breitbart Had Edited It?

Check out this Twitter Feed! Here's a few creative examples: 

 • Huckleberry Finn: Affirmative action sends ungrateful black man on river cruise, using lib-approved child labor. (via)
• 2001: An intelligent computer heroically stops wasteful government spending on space exploration. (via)
• Little Rascals: Juvenile delinquency caused by having black friends. Also, where's Buckwheat's birth certificate? (via)
• Aladdin: Swarthy thief flees jail, abducts princess, kills trusted advisor & performs coup d'etat. (via)
• Black men stole the rock and roll sound from Marty McFly!!! (via)
• MLK's famous speech: "I have a dream that my nation will not be judged by character." (via)
• Inglorious Basterds: Deranged Jewish woman murders innocent moviegoers (via)
• The Lord of the Rings: Through grit, working class Hobbits take back 'their' Middle America from colored Orcs (via)

Octet Electronico

This is a Scopitone video of a live performance by Astor Piazzolla and his early 70's ensemble, Octet Electronico. Piazolla died a few years ago, he was born in New York City of Italian Immigrant Parents. They moved to Argentina. Piazzolla went on to become a master of the bandoneon or the button accordion and compose. He revolutionized the idea of Tango and composed for symphonies as well as seamlessly merging the tango style with jazz. In this group, he uses electric guitars and effects as part of his orchestration. The piece is compelling in its mutilayered time signatures and how it seems to be lush romantically traditional tango and angular avant garde at the same time.

note: I have obviously survived my barn door building and hanging experience. One side is built and hung and beautiful. No tractor was needed, just two crazy guys who figured out how to make gravity obey. The most satisfying sound I have heard in a long time was the sond of the bottom post clicking into place and the door swinging freely.

These Boots Was made For Stompin'

1973, Ann Arbor, MI...The Band, Destroy All Monsters does a pretty good job of wreaking terror, havoc and destruction with Nancy Sinatra's 60's Kitsch Classic.

The Musicians include the Asheton Brothers and the Painter Niagra on vocals. I have some of their 45's, but not this! Simply Smashing!

My mind is out to lunch today...I just put 16 bales of hay in my barn and the 50 year old doors are self destructing. We have to rebuild them now!

Update: did I say rebuild the doors?...nay, not so simple. I am building new doors.

The metal hinge anchor thingy on the bottom of one came out of the stone completely. The door fell over and it is severely damaged...the other one is ready to go as well...

These are huge! each side is 2,85m by 1,58m. I'm recycling all the hardware, but I had to cut the rusted bolts off and buy new ones. I got 2 huge pine beams and I'm using recycled poplar planks with an oak frame. I reset the iron post holder with quick set cement. I think I got the hinges correctly aligned...tomorrow, we will assemble them. Can any of you guys come over and help me lift these suckers into place?

Actually, we are going to use a tractor. Maybe if I don't severely injure myself, I will take some pictures.

Misty Lane

1967, The Chocolate Watch Band...A San Jose, California band, to some they define the roots of American Garage rock, but they were one of the few bands that could give the Stones serious competition style wise. They blew the bands they opened for off the stage. Singer Dave Aguillar was a great American punk blues stylist. One of their first hits was a definitive cover of Dylan's, It's All Over Now Baby Blue. This version of the Watch Band released 2 albums in 1966 and 67. They appeared in the period classic movie, Riot On Sunset Strip. One of my very favorite songs of all time is the Ray Davies penned, Not Like Anybody Else. For quite a few years, the only version I was familiar with was The Chociolate Watch Bands, it wasn't until around 1990 that I discovered it was the B Side of a Kinks single! I like Davies Version, but for me Dave Aguillar defined the song.

The original line up reunited around 2000 and has been playing shows looking and sounding remarkably unaffected by an almost 40 year hiatus. The 1966-68 verion of the Watch Band is one of my all time favorite bands!

Everybody Knows the Hound!

So many serious things to think about and I just want to listen to Hound Dog Taylor.

Sure, Ernie Isely is a slick player, but Hound Dog was the man!

This is probably from 1972, rotten quality, lousy sound, Hound Dog's playing his bargain Teisco electric guitar, but that's part of what makes this so damn good!

Marvin Isely

I cannot figure out why the Isely Brothers Band have not gotten the acclaim and the place in World Music they so honestly deserve. I always felt they were one of the most original forces in pop...true outsiders is a world of slickness.

The Isley Brothers created many of the most definitive cross over R&B Rock Classics of the last 50 years. Everybody knows Twist and Shout, or from the same period...SHOUT!

YOU KNOW YOU MAKE WANNA SHOUT!

As the family band moved into the 60's they evolved and the younger members of the family pushed the music ahead. In the mid 60's, the Classic Isely line up included Jimi Hendrix on guitar. A young teen, Ernie was profoundly influenced and became the guitarist for the later day Iselys and created his own sonic signature. Ernie remains one of the most under appreciated and influential guitarists of all time...everybody loves his sound, but nobody knows who he is.

Around the same time, the youngest member of the family, Marvin began to play bass with the band in the mid 70's. They created a new sound, the song everybody knows is Who's That Lady?

The Brothers kind of broke up and retied in the early 80's, but Ernie released some incredible records on his own and Marvin, Ernie and Jasper had a few international hits, the biggest was Caravan of Love...they played together and in solo projects for years, but Marvin became diabetic and eventually became an invalid and lost his legs.

Marvin died yesterday at age 56. I posted this piece because it was the dawn of the new Isely Brothers in the early 70's. The older brothers and the younger musicians redefining funk, R&B and rock for a brave new world!

This is for you Marvin.....

Architecture In Motion

About 3 years ago, Jazz visionary, Ornette Coleman premiered his first ballet, Architecture In Motion...

He was 77 at the time, he recently turned 80 and is still breaking the rules and creating new ones. One of my real heroes.

Crack Maniac

Here is a piece by the French Artist, BabX. 

A gifted young pianist, composer and poet.

I saw him do a piece last night called Sous Surveillance which defied categorization.

It was all at once jazz, classicism and hip hop with intelligent political poetic content.

This, Crack Maniac, gives a hint of the style and the crossover genre he creates.

The Classics

So, I don't post serious, classical music, by serious classical musicians, eh?

Where here are a few serious, classical musicians having a serious classical musical discussion. Actually, this is pretty cool, Anton Rubenstein and Peter Tchaikovsky goofing around with an early Edison Cylinder recording device like kids who are playing with their new computer back in 1993....

This Edison phonograph cylinder recording from 1890 was made by Julius Block, a Russian Businessman of German descent (The Old Man with the Umbrella in this video) who became fascinated with the phonograph (and even convinced Tchaikovsky to sign an endorsement). The recording was re-discovered in the Pushkin archive of St.Petersburg, Russia in 1997, and was labelled with the names of the participants: Anton Rubinstein (composer), Elizaveta Lavrovskaya (singer), Peter Tchaikovsky (composer), Vassily Safonov (pianist and conductor), Alexandra Hubert (pianist), Julius Block (the host himself). One can imagine the scene - a group of eminent musicians each standing around this new 'wonderful invention', being gently encouraged to say something. So there are a few words of banter, some musical scales, whistles, etc., much of which is only just audible.

Here is the translated contents of this recording:

A. Rubinstein: What a wonderful thing [the phonograph].

J. Block: Finally.

E. Lawrowskaja: A disgusting...how he dares slyly to name me.

W. Safonov : (Sings a scale incorrectly).

P. Tchaikovsky: This trill could be better.

E. Lawrowskaja: (sings).

P. Tchaikovsky: Block is good, but Edison is even better.

E. Lawrowskaja: (sings) A-o, a-o.

W. Safonow: (In German) Peter Jurgenson in Moskau.

P. Tchaikovsky: Who just spoke? It seems to have been Safonow. (Whistles)

Ronald Reagans Secret History Of America

As Ronald Reagan drifted into the haze of Alzheimers during his presidency, it was no secret that both he and Nancy consulted astrologers daily. Nancy became more and more protective of access to the president and was active in pushing policies and deciding who was in or out. Reagan Administration Secretary of State,Jim Baker was just one victim of Nancy's vindicativeness.

Reagans involvement with the occult started early and he was well versed in the writings of occult scholar, Manly P. Hall. Hall is most noted for his book, " The Secret Teachings Of All Ages". This is from Mitch Horowitz's book, "Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation". An interesting counterpoint to the conservative christians who insist that the christian religion is the guiding force behind the formation of The United States.

Hall's concise volume ("The Secret Destiny of America") described how America was the product of a "Great Plan" for religious liberty and self-governance, launched by a hidden order of ancient philosophers and secret societies. In one chapter, Hall described a rousing speech delivered by a mysterious "unknown speaker" before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The "strange man," wrote Hall, invisibly entered and exited the locked doors of the Philadelphia statehouse on July 4th, 1776, delivering an oration that bolstered the wavering spirits of the delegates. "God has given America to be free!" commanded the mysterious speaker, urging the men to overcome their fears of the noose, axe, or gibbet, and to seal destiny by signing the great document. Newly emboldened, the delegates rushed forward to add their names. They looked to thank the stranger only to discover that he had vanished from the locked room. Was this, Hall wondered, "one of the agents of the secret Order, guarding and directing the destiny of America?" At a 1957 commencement address at his alma mater Eureka College, Reagan, then a corporate spokesman for GE, sought to inspire students with this leaf from occult history. "This is a land of destiny," Reagan said, "and our forefathers found their way here by some Divine system of selective service gathered here to fulfill a mission to advance man a further step in his climb from the swamps."
Reagan then retold (without naming a source) the tale of Hall's unknown speaker. "When they turned to thank the speaker for his timely words," Reagan concluded, "he couldn't be found and to this day no one knows who he was or how he entered or left the guarded room."
Reagan revived the story in 1981, when Parade magazine asked the president for a personal essay on what July 4th meant to him. Presidential aide Michael Deaver delivered the piece with a note saying, "This Fourth of July message is the president's own words and written initially in the president's hand," on a yellow pad at Camp David. Reagan retold the legend of the unknown speaker - this time using language very close to Hall's own: "When they turned to thank him for his timely oratory, he was not to be found, nor could any be found who knew who he was or how had come in or gone out through the locked and guarded doors."

Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation (Amazon)

The Secret Destiny of America (Amazon)

How To Build A Time Machine

Last week, Stephen Hawking warned us all about taking candy from strange aliens.

This week in The Daily Mail, he tells us how a time machine might be made and how you could perhaps meet Marilyn Monroe....

"Time travel was once considered scientific heresy. I used to avoid talking about it for fear of being labelled a crank. But these days I'm not so cautious. In fact, I'm more like the people who built Stonehenge. I'm obsessed by time. If I had a time machine I'd visit Marilyn Monroe in her prime or drop in on Galileo as he turned his telescope to the heavens. Perhaps I'd even travel to the end of the universe to find out how our whole cosmic story ends.

To see how this might be possible, we need to look at time as physicists do - at the fourth dimension. It's not as hard as it sounds. Every attentive schoolchild knows that all physical objects, even me in my chair, exist in three dimensions. Everything has a width and a height and a length.

But there is another kind of length, a length in time. While a human may survive for 80 years, the stones at Stonehenge, for instance, have stood around for thousands of years. And the solar system will last for billions of years. Everything has a length in time as well as space. Travelling in time means travelling through this fourth dimension."

I'm Glad

I had to post this. The soundtrack is "I'm Glad" by Captain Beefheart and His Magic band from his 1965 record, Safe As Milk. The images are from the early German Expressionist Film, The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari.

Is this not perfection?

Caution

This graphic was created by a guy named Kai and was posted on BoingBoing. In a post on December 11, 2009, I wrote about the experience of Dr. Peter Watts, the Canadian science fiction writer who made the mistake of getting out of his car when being questioned by US Customs agents at the Blue Water Bridge Crossing between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.

Dr. Watts was brutally beaten, gassed, charged with a felony and kept in an unheated cell over night without legal counsel. The next morning, he was released but his car was impounded and he had to wolak over the bridge in a snowstorm.

The charges should have been dropped, but instead, Peter made the mistake of challenging them and is now awaiting sentencing, though he is safe at home in Canada.

If yopu are crossing at The Blue water Bridge and a surly US Customs official wants to seize your laptop, USB Key, tear apart your luggage, for your own safety...Just shut up. pretend you just aren't there and it isn't happening to you. Just try to be a mindless
happy android but most of all.... 
BEWARE!

The Last Hand Gun On Earth

I still don't have fully functioning internet yet. Another day of waiting for the electrician, or somebody like him. Appropriately, here's a somehow timely piece by the Firesign Theater.

La Difference

Salif Keita is one of the grand voices of our time. He is a Malian, descended from the royal family of Mali, but ostracized at an early age because of his albinism. Being an albino is considered bad luck in much of western Africa, even more so, albinos are in real danger of being killed for their "magic".

He was born in 1949 and started performing in 1973. He moved to Europe in the early 80's and has been writing, singing and composing songs ever since. He is a grand composer and unique virtuoso instrumentalist, but his voice is a gift to humanity.

Keita's latest album, La Différence, was produced around the year end of 2009. The work is dedicated to the struggle of the world albino community(victims of human sacrifice), for which Keita has been crusading all his life. In one of the album's tracks, the singer calls others to understand that "difference" does not mean "bad" and to show love and compassion towards albinos like everyone else:"I am black/ my skin is white/ so I am white and my blood is black [albino]/... I love that because it is a difference that's beautiful..", "some of us are beautiful some are not/some are black some are white/all that difference was on purpose.. for us to complete each other/let everyone gets his love and dignity/the world will be beautiful."

Mantra

Repeat after me:

I will not say the Fox rodeo clowns name...

I will not mention the Fox rodeo clowns name...

I will not utter the Fox rodeo clowns name...

Repeat....

Because, as we all know, everytime you say his name, he gets a dollar.

Regarding the Fox rodeo clown:

The Fox News hate-talk show host and practicing Mormon Rodeo Clown told his listeners to “run as fast as you can” if they find their church preaching “social justice,” claiming it is a “perversion of the Gospel.” In 1967, Michigan Gov. George Romney — father of Mitt — was the most prominent Mormon politician in the land, seeking the Republican nomination for president. Unlike The Fox Rodeo Clown, Romney considered social justice a core tenet of his faith. In 1967, Jet reported that Romney was willing to choose social justice over the Church of Latter-Day Saints, which then barred blacks from becoming priests:

Michigan Gov. George Romney said he would leave his church if it ever tried to prevent him from working for the elimination of social injustices and racial discrimination

Creeps Or Consequences

You are listen! Really Big News On Republican Planet! Chief Brain write book make all progressive Earthlings crazy! You Buy Book Now! Creeps Or Consequences! Buy Now and Learn Stupid!

Karl say, "Terrorists like waterboard better than Sea World, plus no crazy whale bite head off!"

Karl say, "Bush Pay For Iraq War with Green Stamps, plus you get free bonus microwave oven!"

Karl say, "Gore big stupid internet liar full of hot air make global warming so he can discover Love Canal Story!"

Karl say this and more good smart you stupid! 

All hail chief brain of Rove World. Listen 27 hours everyday on Bizarro News Channel!

(to find out what Karl really said check out this link at mediamatters)

Take A Good Look 3/3

Part 3 of take A Good Look...It gets really silly!

I had a pretty silly afternoon in the forest. I was crossing the creek on a log and ended up in the creek. I got soaked and it was below freezing! My dog thought it was pretty funny. It was a almost a kilometer walk home. So, I'm going to bed early tonight.

"Trust me, after taxes, a million dollars is not a lot of money"

Chairman Michael Steele, Febuary 5, 2010