Moon Over Andromeda

Christmas:

While not exactly the "holiday blues," I'm somewhat on the downside at the moment. Christmas was OK and Oh, I can smile about it now but at the time it was terrible. Then I realized, this is what I've been given. Make of it whatever you can to keep it interesting. Boy, did I try. I played melodies with my knife on several glasses of wine each filled to a certain level in their glasses.

Some things I've vocalized at the table:

"It's 'shaken not stirred, not stirred not shaken'"

"Martini is spelled with a 'i' at the end not 'y'"

"It's made with gin, not vodka, unless that's how you want it and yes it DOES have Vermouth! Don't tell me I'm wrong!"

And I thought "If I stick a fork in my eye, I might just be able to get out of this."

That sort of thing.

But that's all just funny now and nothing to be down about. And this type of thing happens all around the world.

Depeche Mode Interview:

Check out this fun Depeche Mode interview on YouTube. Kinda nice to see them in this way. I love Martin's responses. Listen to what Simon Lebon had to say when he first met Dave.

My Obsession:

It's all about getting this electric guitar lately. And you know that once you begin thinking about something and begin to obsess over it, it's everywhere. Not only that, but everyone around you seems to be thinking the same way and getting theirs. Just want one, that's all. And I'll get it too. Just watch me. It's about the music, man - it's not about having toys to play with or to show off with. I just want to make music.

Music (making of):

I was playing around with Apple's Logic Express and I might just start using this over Ableton Live. At the moment anyway. But I can do with a new Mac Pro though. Again, it's about the music. I need power. But that's thousands of dollars away from here. Sigh

Conclusion:

If you were celebrating or that you had time off to go see family and occasion to celebrate, I hope that it was all fun filled and joyous and everything good.

Picture above from the website Astronomy Picture of The Day.

The Keys to Attraction

Here's little clip of Dr. Chopra talking about how to be attractive to others. Not much mystery here. Easier said than done though. The more interesting thing here is what he says about negative traits. Someone too positive = unattractive. De we know these people?

It's a little dangerous that this is the sight I see every time I exit the train station to walk home. A Guitar Center walking distance from my apartment - not quite a good thing. I had actually planned on going there today. I wanted to buy a new audio interface. I wanted to look at guitars and basses. I plan on getting these instruments as I haven't touched any for years. And I'm afraid I'm going to have to learn to use them all over again. But the plan failed as I had one of those weekend long headaches again. What's up with that? Keeps happening more and more lately. I had to sleep it off. Now it's late in the evening and there's not much to do.

So Friday (I'm going backwards), I wanted to get off at Union Square and do a little CD shopping and get a hair-cut. But that didn't go either as I was having some awful pains coming from my left foot and legs.

So is this the pattern? Every time I think of shopping, I get all these pains keeping me from going. The result of the pains that came on my left foot was from hanging out at Toys R Us the previous evening, shopping for toys for Santa letters that we get in our office for underprivileged children and toy drive. I had stopped buying my niece and nephews gifts in favor of this sometime ago. They get plenty of stuff. I'd rather give to those that really need it, even though I don't know who they are.

I'm watching Cartoon Network right now. Assy McGee - That's some twisted shit, right there. Yeah, I'm laughing my ass off.

Lamb

I found Joshua* at the synagogue, listening to the Pharisees lecture on the Law. I stepped through the group of boys sitting on the floor and whispered to him.
"Bartholomew says that he knows you are the Messiah."
"The idiot? did you ask him how long he's known?"
"He says the village dogs told him"
"I never thought to ask the dogs."
"He says that we should live simply, like dogs, carry nothing, no affectations - whatever that means."
"Bartholomew said that? Sounds like an Essene. He's much smarter than he looks."
"He's trying to learn to lick his own balls."
"I'm sure there's something in the Law that forbids that. I'll ask the rabbi."
"I'm not sure you want to bring that up to the Pharisee."
"Did you tell your father about the angel?"
"No."
"Good. I've spoken to Joseph, he's going to let me learn to be a stonecutter with you. I don't want your father to change his mind about teaching me. I think the angel would frighten him." Joshua looked at me for the first time, turning from the Pharisee, who droned on in Hebrew. "Have you been crying?"
"Me? No, Bart's stench made my eyes water."
Joshua put his hand on my forehead and all the sadness and trepidation seemed to drain out of me in an instant. he smiled. "Better?"
"I'm jealous of you and Maggie."
"That can't be good for your neck."
"What?"
"Trying to lick your own balls. It's got to be hard on your neck."
"Did you hear me? I'm jealous of you and Maggie."
"I'm still learning, Biff. There are things I don't understand yet. The Lord said, 'I'm a jealous god.' So Jealousy should be a good thing."
"But it makes me feel so bad."
"You see the puzzle then? Jealousy makes you feel bad, but God is jealous, so it must be good, yet when a dog licks its balls it seems to enjoy it, but it must be bad under the Law."
Suddenly Joshua was yanked to his feet by the ear. The Pharisee glared at him. "Is the Law of Moses too boring for you, Joshua bar Joseph?"
"I have a question, Rabbi," Joshua said.
"Oh, jeez." I hid my head in my arms.

*Joshua = Christ

The preceding was from the book "Lamb" by Christopher Moore.

Christmas - Siouxsie style

You know how on YouTube you can post directly to your blog? Well, it didn't work on this one. Waited and waited and nothing happened.

This is Siouxsie & The Banshees singing a Christmas Carol in French called "Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant."

There was a much better version of this months ago on YouTube but didn't think to post it cause, you know, it wasn't the season. But then thinking back, it would have been perfect to post about Christmas in July.

This was around the time Robert Smith was with The Banshees for a short time around 1983/1984.

Jack Nasty! You didn't go up there to fish!

So during the weekend, I wanted to sit and get a little creative with the keyboards, but headaches prevented me from doing any concentrating of any kind. Kind of robbed of my Sunday. I get a headache from anything. Too much wind, too much sun, when I bend my head down, when I wear a hat and so on.

So I had nothing else to think of but to flip channels.

I have video on demand and HBO and I was looking to see if there was anything interesting to watch. And I figured I'd give this a try.

When this movie first came out, I admit that I couldn't really figure out what the hell the fuss was about. Everyone was saying how they watched it and cried and all that nonsense. I'm really not that big on Hollywood hype. But Mr. Lee did win a bunch of awards for it. Still, that doesn't say much to me. Especially a movie about lovers. I figure it's something I can't much relate to so I ignored this whole phenomena.

Ok, I have to say as I was watching this movie, I did feel for these guys and what they were going through. Forbidden love in 1963 where no love should go. And how so many lives get ruined because you can't share your love with the one you want.

The message I get from this movie is this. People, get over it and let humans be humans and let them love who they want. Otherwise they're going to do things that they don't want to really do. And in the process ruin lives. Or something to that effect.

I'm really the last person in the world to give opinion about the lifestyle since I don't really "live" much of it myself. But there are those that do but are so trapped in all this fire and brimstone world that they end up getting married and again ruin lives.

So as the movie finished, I thought "Damn! That was a good movie and I freakin hate all that cowboy crap!" But I didn't cry or anything. But it did do something. I felt something. I just thought it was very well made. The story was wonderfully put together in all its brutal honesty. It was the kind of movie that after you watch it, you don't really don't want to watch anything else.

So you can shoot me or throw me off a train, but I had to go back to Brokeback Mountain and watch it a second time.

A crow and a baby had an affair

If you know where the title of this post comes from than we should be the best of friends. But please don't run away if you don't think so.

I listened to that whole album the other night and thought how genius the whole thing still is. *

"Toyota City" indeed does make me think of cars. Driving on a lone highway with streetlamps glaring off the windshield. During the night off course when the stars are seen. And off to the left, on a mountain, a tiny house with one window lit. Perhaps the bathroom. One of those drives where it's all too quiet and very late at night and everyone is tired and dreaming of sleep.

The above is an actual memory from when I was just a mere child. In a land far away from here.

Here are lyrics to "Life Kills." Something I know you all can relate to.

When you fall into your seat, you know you feel you might be dying
As the breath rasps in and out of your burning throat
You can't control your lungs because you're so tired
You're half awake with one arm in your coat

Well thank God that there is someone there to drive you
You know you couldn't make it on your own

He helps you through the door
You sit down on the floor
And you're asleep before you are alone

Your life is like a schedule
You run to meet the bills
No one's awake to tell you
Life kills

For a while it seems exhaustion has subsided
The day is over and the moon is high
But your period of work is predecided
Funny how the hours of freedom seem to fly

Well thank God that there is someone there to drive you
You know you couldn't make it on your own

He helps you in the door
You sit down as before
Another shift to pay another loan

Your life is like a schedule
You run to meet the bills
No one's awake to tell you
Life kills

words and music by The Human League
published by Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd.

* I am speaking about The Human Leagues 2nd album Travelogue. Before they went all cute-sy.

Some music

Simply called "Thanks" cause I worked on it Thanksgiving evening using Abelton Live.

I used the sounds from within Ableton's Operator synth. I still have to learn to tinker with it to produce more original sounds. Anyway, it was just a quick thing with not much thought put into it. I plan on doing more stuff. It's just been a little hard as I don't have all the things I need to comfortably sit and record.

So I hope you like it and I'd appreciate any remarks.

Here's the link: Thanks

She got hungry and ate the wolf.

Thanks to This Twilight Garden blog, I was linked to this site where you can listen to many recorded concerts of such artists as The Cure, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Echo & The Bunnymen and more.

I listed to a Cure concert from 1984 and yesterday I listend to a Duran concert from 1982.

There was a time when some radio stations would broadcast these shows. I used to tape them. Among my tapes I've had concert recordings of Yaz, Duran Duran, Depeche Moe, Erasure, Thompson Twins. Can't remember if there were others. Some of these tapes have gone missing now but I remember listening to them over and over on my Walkman (remember those?).

It just seems like the Walkman is such an ancient piece of technology now in this age of mp3 players an phones that do everything. We can't call them "phones" anymore now can we? I mean, they take pictures, play music, they have video games, Internet, and don't forget the tip calculator. So I guess in the coming years, you will replace all gadgets with just one. At least there will be more space in your briefcase/purse/man-bag/man-purse/back-pack now.

I think I want to change my template again.

Ann Druyan & Carl Sagan

On Genesis:

"Their father is a terrifying, disembodied voice who is furious with them from the moment they first awaken. He doesn't say, "Welcome to the planet Earth, my beautiful children! Welcome to this paradise. Billions of years of evolution have shaped you to be happier here than anywhere else in the vast universe. This is your paradise." No, instead God places Adam and Eve in a place where there can be no love; only fear, and fear-based behavior, obedience. God threatens to kill Adam and Eve if they disobey his wishes. God tells them that the worst crime, a capital offense, is to ask a question; to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. What kind of father is this? As Diderot observed, the God of Genesis "loved his apples more than he did his children.""

And..

"Perhaps Genesis should be read as an ironic story. Here's a god who does not give us the knowledge of good and evil. He knows we don't know right from wrong. Yet he tells us not to do something anyway. How can someone who doesn't know right from wrong be expected to do the right thing? By disobeying god, we escape from his totalitarian prison where you cannot ask any questions, where you must never question authority. We become our human selves."

Read more here.

This coming December marks the 10 years since Carl Sagan's death. The weird thing is that the time he died was when I first acquired my first telescope (I did not know of his death until after the purchase). The owner of a small Astronomy shop in Phoenix Arizona where we would get our equipment from was surprised that there was suddenly a big boom in the interest in Astronomy and could not keep up with all the new orders he was getting.

So to commemorate this date, a new book is now available written by Carl Sagan. I'm very excited about it and can't wait to read it.

Based on the Gifford Lectures in Scotland, it is called "The Varieties of Scientific Experience - A Personal View of the Search for God." Edited by his longtime companion and collaborator Anne Druyan (pronounced Dreen).

Strangely enough, I *just* got done re-reading COSMOS. I think Carl Sagan's COSMOS ought to be on the required reading list of books in all schools.

Also, if you have cable, check out the Science Channel to see the Emmy award winning show COSMOS which is shown every Tuesday night. I watch it even if I've seen all the episodes. It's more than just "Billions and Billions."

Debbie Does Moby

Debbie Harry is featured on Moby's latest (Go - The Very Best Of), the song New York New York.

Below is the video which starts out being real funny but sadly, Debbie is not in the video. Though you do get to see "Moby" break dance.

Is there really a rumor that there will be a Blondie movie? Well check out this site and see the contenders. Who do you think should play Debbie's role? Gwen Steffani? I'm looking at a picture of Nadia Auerman and she seems dead-on.

The Myrmidons!

So I was completely surprised when I went to check out the Book of Love website to see if there was anything new going on. I was so happy to find out that Lauren and Ted have formed with vocalist Lori Lindsay the band THE MYRMIDONS. The name is based on Greek Mythology that basically means Ant People (?) And their sound is a treat! Check out their website and hear for yourself. The Book of Love signature "bellsy" sounds are all there and I can't wait to get my hands on their CD.

I'm just glad knowing that Ted and Lauren are working together and I hope there's a full length CD coming soon.

Clap (See The Stars) is their first single and I tell you it's the best pop song I've heard recently that took me back to the days of the first Book of Love release. The lyrics are fantastic:

Alcor Mizar Andromeda
Alpha Centauri
See the shapes in the sky
I never could
Cepheus Polaris Deneb
Eagle Arrow Dragon
...and understand their meaning
I never could
See myself and feel
My trepidation
Of the Earth against the sky
I never could
Pulsing our Crystal Blue persuasion
See the real yearly Motion
I never could

I LOVE it!

The Myrmidons MySpace site.

Marc & The Mambas - Black Heart

Marc Almond (Marc & The Mambas) performing Black Heart live. This may be one of my favorite songs that Marc has ever written. It speaks volumes to me. I was fortunate to have seen him perform live during the late 90s at a place called The Bowery Ballroom. As he performed this song I have to admit I got very emotional.

Did he notice?

I think so. While performing the song Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, Marc decided to come off the stage and walk into the crowd. He stood right in front of me and he gave me the opportunity to give him a big hug. Twice. Then he made his way back up the stage ignoring all other grabbers and huggers.

A moment I won't forget and at a time when I needed a hug so much, there couldn't have been a better person to do it with.

Marc recorded two double albums with the Mambas right after Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret. The insanity of fame caught up with him and because he was so young and inexperienced with such fame, could not handle it. These two double albums, Untitled and Torment & Torreros explain much of what he was going through. I remember one reviewer wrote for Torment that the album should have come with a razor blade to slash you wrists to. I know, a bit much, but you can feel it in a number of the songs how unhappy he was with the whole experience of being a pop star. He was also becoming addicted to a number of drugs. Imagine being high all the time and being the person Marc was with all the themes he was presenting, all the life of a seedy person living in an underworld of pain, sorrow and desperation - doing numerous TV show appearances in America performing Tainted Love. It just doesn't fit.

Both albunms have a certain feel to it. That being they're not so overly produced. He incorporates only accoustic instruments and very little keyboards. A complete departrue from Soft Cell.

It was during these two albums Marc introduced us to the world of Jacques Brel. Untitled contained the song If You Go Away while Torment included The Bulls. Also a cover version of The Velvet Underground's Caroline Says.

On this dreary and rainy day, this songs fits right in with the mood.

Classix Nouveaux - Guilty

Ah - Another great song of the early 80s New Romantic era. Don't know much about the history of Classix Neouveaux except that I've had their album on vinyl and the lead singer's name is Sal Solo. Love that whole vampire look and I guess I should have posted this yesterday.

But - A great song to go crazy and dance to. It has one of those great guitar beginings. When the keyboards come in, that's when you just start moving. Real crazy. It's got one of the great choruses of all time with:

Guilty, guilty you found me
Guilty, guilty you found me
(wooooooooooooo)

Sing along!

I'll have to look see if I can find their stuff on CD.

YouTube makes nostalgia so much more fun!

Well, it looks like this video has to be watched from the Youtube site, here's the url for it.

Blog hopping - and finding relevant stuff from my previous post.

Mars Rover Beginning To Hate Mars

PASADENA, CA—After nearly three years of nonstop data collection, Spirit has begun transmitting obscene gestures and confusing rants.

The article is pretty funny.

Opportunity of a lifetime.

Where could this be? It's a *little* cold. a lot of wind. Some dust storms. No trees or rattlesnakes to bite me. I would love to stand here a bit and meditate. Nobody would bother me. I'd like to lie down here and watch the wispy clouds go by. The air here is very thin. This is no desert on Earth.

This is actually a photo taken by Opportunity Robot. The luckiest machine that ever existed who just hangs around the red sands of Mars observing, making tests and taking pictures. Courtesy of the fantastic website Astronomy Picture of The Day.

Goldfrapp at Roseland Ballroom 10/18/06

I went to Roseland Ballroom Wednesday night to see Goldfrapp. I brought my camera with me, but I guess either I didn't have the right settings or I was a bit too far from the stage, I could not get good shots. This was the best I could do, which may not do justice, but here it is.

I thought the show was great. She sounded great and looked great. Allison's voice is excellent live. The most memorable parts were of the back-up dancers that seemed to appear out of nowhere. They all wore some pretty weird outfits. Often in skin tights and weird head coverings. Ride a White Horse is where the dancers were wearing horse-heads and horse tails.

It was great to see band members actually playing the keyboards live for a change and not see them standing behind it pretending to play. One member alternated between playing electric violin and keys. He wore this flowy gown thing which appeared real interesting as he moved around the stange.

I'm not familiar with Felt Mountain, so anything she did from that album was lost to me, except that it sounded great and I'm probably going to get it along with a million other CDs that I want to get.

But all the songs you'd expect were done from Black Cherry and Supernature. By the way, the intro to the show was the classic disco song Supernature. Fitting, I thought. The show ended with off course Strict Machine. So all those that showed up because they saw a cell phone commercial were all happy to hear it.

The place was packed! So I also need to remind myself that when I go to a general admission show to stay in the back rather than in the middle. I had to deal with a lot of short girls who wanted to step in front of me and there was hardly any room at all. It got claustrophobic and uncomfortable after a while. Because I'm a little taller than average, I'm not supposed to be standing where I was (according to some audience members). Well, I don't remember reading that sign when I came in. Universal law? I don't know. Enjoy the sucky pictures.

Later Tonight

So tonight will be all about Goldfrapp at the Roseland Ballroom.

Since I've been a fan of Goldfrapp, they have come to NYC twice before and both times I've missed out. Obviously, the Universe wants to me to go since they're here for the third time this year and I haven't seen them once.

It amazes me how much of their music is being used in commercials today. Most notably the Verizon cell phone commercials. Both "Ooh La La" and "Strict Machine" have been used and I'm sure they've been generating new fans in this way. But is the radio playing their songs at all? How about the clubs? Well, I don't listen to the radio so I don't know and as far as I know, the last bar I went to was playing the same trash they always play. That horrible repetitive unchanging and offensive beat with hardly and melodic content.

They are STILL the Pet Shop Boys (Live Radio City Music Hall 10/14/06) Edited

or "There are no more lovers left alive - No one has survived"

It was a night of nostalgia, camp, gayness and lots of hats.

This was the first concert that I went to that had a 20 minute intermission.

After the intro they went right into psychological. And there was a couch on the stage. The boys entered the stage through video screens made of cubes. During the show, they would be re-assembled to many different widths and arrangements. With just a couple of dancers and back up singers, the Boys put on a pretty good show.

I always thought Neil to be the kind of performer who just stood there and sang, but he was moving and dancing around quite a bit. When he told the audience how "fabulous" we were, I thought they would break into AbFab, but no dice. That would have been nice though, with Pattsy & Edina appearing as special guests. Or even some lookalikes.

I liked seeing the audience just sitting there during the first number, then when they got into the 2nd number - that being Left To My Own Devices, everyone stood and started shaking it up a bit.

I thought Minimal sounded a bit weak and I'm With Stupid didn't quite stir the crowd up as I thought it would. Neither did Integral. I think a lot of people went to this show for the nostalgia. You knew that right away when West End Girls was being performed.

If I can remember a moment of sadness during the show, I wouldn't say that it was when they performed Numb (right after intermission) but when they did the song Dreaming of The Queen off of Very. The backdrop was changed to show a video (on a loop) of Princess Diana's funeral.

Can't add anymore other than the fact that I enjoyed the show. It was the first time ever seeing them.

Here's the setlist:

- God Willing/Psychological/Left To My Own Devices
- I'm With Stupid
- Suburbia
- Can You Forgive Her?
- Minimal/Shopping
- Rent
- Dreaming Of The Queen
- Heart
- Opportunities(Let's Make Lots Of Money)/Integral

INTERMISSION

- Numb
- Se A Vide E/Domino Dancing
- Flamboyant
- Home And Dry
- Always On My Mind
- Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You)
- West End Girls
- The Sodom And Gomorrah Show

ENCORE

- So Hard/It's A Sin
- Go West

Interesting that nothing from the album Nightlife was performed. Not even New York City Boy.

Some songs I wished that had done:

I Want a Lover, Love Comes Quickly, Paninaro, I'm Not Scared, Miracles, Fugitive, The Resurrectionist, Tonight is Forever, Yesterday When I Was Mad.

I wanted to add that Tennant's voice was top notch and sounded real good live.

Someone asked me about the show today which made me go back and re-edit some of this post. Hoping that most of you are reading this for the first time!

It made me realize and think how much fun the whole experiance was. The colors, and the whole "party" type athmosphere that they presented. It was as if the Boys were having a party and you were invited to join.

Hay una discoteca por aqui?

Sound Waves

Lisa Gerrard's new album The Silver Tree is out and looks to be promising. Ms. Gerrard is the woman behind the duo Dead Can Dance. If you like atmospheric music with old world instruments, you might want to check it out. I checked out the samples and downloaded one song (cause I just had to have it right then). The song I got was in my opinion the best sounding, titled Space Weaver. Her voice is beautiful, haunting and spiritual. Most of the Dead Can Dance albums I own are on vinyl which I still need to replace. I have a few on CD. There is one massive collection of their work out now which I might just get.

Lisa Gerrard's website.

Dead Can Dance website.




Overlooked? I have been meaning to get Chris Corner's work. He's the man behind the band Sneaker Pimps. Their last album Bloodsport was less electro than previous releases (which I still enjoyed), but Chris kind of gets back to form in his two releases The Alternative and Kiss + Swallow. Both worth getting.

Chris Corner's Website.

Sneaker Pimps' Website.

So this is my wish list and I can't get them all at once. I have to consider Junior Boys too as well as Depeche Mode's Live in Milan.

plus good - doubleplus un-good

Rotten choices. Can someone guide me?

Well, that's all I'm going to say about it.

In the meantime .... The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight.



I think I've only known two people in my life that knew this song and the video. But more people should. It's fun, sexy and the music is pure mid-80s electro pop.

If you ever watched the movie "Parting Glances" with a very young Steve Buscemi, then you've heard a little bit of it. You've also heard some Bronski Beat in that movie as well.

I knew a boy named Randy. And when we met each other and were surrounded by the boring of the Arizona people, we would discuss these songs. He was from New Orleans. So we both knew the difference between being in a fun-filled city and a boring desert. Randy and I would simultaneously laugh at the same things. Instantly. We both "got" the joke at the same time without even saying it. I miss Randy. He's not with us anymore. Seems like a lot of people who "get" me is no longer with us. What's up with that anyway?

Randy passed away from AIDS back in the early 90s. Our last time together was spent going to a Book of Love concert where we had such a great time.

Sorry to bring it down and I wasn't supposed to do that here - But this song just reminds me of him so much.

Looking forward to this Saturday's show. The Pet Shop Boys. I will finally see them live. Plusgood - doubleplus good!

Re-Issue, Re-Package, Re-Spend spend spend.

Yesterday I picked up the new Delerium but not without noticing the new Depeche Mode re-releases. So everyone is doing them now. Well, all of my favorite bands. At first we bought them on vinyl, and then we got a walkman and sometimes instead of making tapes of vinyls, we bought the tapes as well. Well, I was doing both or either. Sometimes, instead of the vinyl, I'd by the tape of new releases. Then the CDs came out and we started re-stocking most of our vinyls and tapes. The same music being bought over and over again because we love them so much. Things really got downhill though because some us had to leave our vinyl collections behind because we kept moving from place to place. So we looked and looked for that one record on CD (Secession anyone?) and could not find it. So now we are deprived of some of the music we loved listening to because of this technology to digitize music. Not everything you once had on vinyl is being released on CD.

Now music is available for download. So you don't even have to go to the store. And people are fine with listening to their digital downloads on their iPods even though it's far less quality than that of the vinyl! And even though mass producing CDS cost a hell of a lot less to do, it costs twice as much as what the vinyl records used to cost which require more machinery to make.

So now you've got all the CDs of all your favorite bands that you once had on vinyl and tape. But now, they're being re-mastered. And re-packaged with extra stuff. So the record that you bought for maybe $5.99 brand new is now $25.00.

So how much money have you invested on one release? The vinyl, the tape, the CD and the re-mastered, re-packaged CD?

I'm so tempted though. I think that "A Broken Frame" and "Some Great Reward" are one of DM's finest releases, and I would include "Construction Time Again" as well. Those three alone are the best DM stuff out there and off course I'm going to have to get the re-mastered versions. A lot of people vote for "Violator" but I have to be truthful here. I kind of lost it after "Music for the Masses." When "Violator" came out, I immediately recognized the whole "rock star" attitude that they were striving for at the time. Though I've stayed loyal, I've always wished they'd move on forwards rather than be just another rock band.

At the Movies: The Science of Sleep

I made a suggestion to see this movie to a friend last Friday and it created a chain reaction where an entire group of people got involved. Well, the reason being is that one of our acquaintances has a small part in it. Not in acting, but in voice-over. So last night we all got together at the Angelika to watch this movie.

It's about a young man (Stephane) who lets his dreams control his life. Because lets face it, reality sucks sometimes. The film is full of some hilarious dream sequences. Things really pick up with Stephane meets Stephanie. She's not very attractive, but when Stephane sees the crafty side of Stephanie, sparks emerge. Stephanie makes things with her hands and so does Stephane (note his inventions, the 3d glasses which lets you view life in 3D, a time machine and bringing to "life" a horse made of felt wool.)

I recommend this movie to anyone who is bored with the everyday mundane and uses imagination to escape. Where fantasy rules and where reality is as far away as the moon. I guarantee a lot of laughs and maybe a tear or two (if you're not made of wood.)

Junior Boys (free download from iTunes)

You like electro-pop, right? Well, then you must get the new free download from iTunes. The track "In the Morning" from Junior Boy's latest album "So This is Goodbye." I'm probably going to get the entire album as I've listened to snippets of the rest and it sounds alright by me, especially the tracks "The Equalizer" and "Count souvenirs."

And check out their website.

Trance Atlantic Airwaves - Chase (remake of classic Giorgio Moroder)

Don't know why I never got the original version of Giorgio Moroder's "Chase." From the soundtrack to the movie "Midnight Express." The original takes me back to the times when my older brother would play this on the stereo. The movie itself is a classic and if you haven't seen it, you should. About a guy named Billy who gets caught carrying hashish at the Turkish airport and is sent to prison. The scene in which you hear "Chase" is when he's trying to escape from the Turkish police.

This here is the video of the remake by Trance Atlantic Airwaves, which is pretty good. The video itself is pretty interesting too, full of cool video effects.

Then check out Giorgio's website and look at the dicography and list of artists he's produced. You know him from Donna Summer's "Love to Love You/I Feel Love" that everyone from Blondie to Madonna has covered as well as Jimmy Summerville with Marc Almond.

He was also behind Blondie's "Call Me" and Phil Oakey's (The Human League) "Electric Dreams."

I S A T E L L I T E

Recently I did a search for I don't know what and came upon the site of this band I Satellite.

Quote:
I SATELLITE make retro futurist electronic pop music inspired by the music and sounds from the golden era of analog synthesizers, the late 70's and early 80's, using vintage analog synths and drum machines for all sounds and textures. No computers are used whatsoever.

So if you're into the whole "Electroclash" genre, this band is definitely a must. I sampled some of the tracks and I'll be getting their CD. They only seem to have one full length CD titled "AUTO:MATIC" which was released in 2003. But you should check out the website. I like the black & white imagery of space and fantasy fururistic pictures. Also an impressive list of the gear that they use. I use the term "they" but I think it's only the one guy, Rod. Living in Detroit. Read the blog entries where he sometimes gets personal like the death of his brother. His list of influences are quite the same as mine (and probably yours too since he's got quite a list.) He's really into John Foxx. I can't believe anyone mentioning Fruer, but there it is. (Fruer I think released only one album with the singles "Doot-Doot" and "Riders In The Night.") And he uses only analog gear to record with. No computers. I applaud that.

I don't know how he'd feel about me using the term "Electroclash" to describe the sound, but it's the best I can come up with describing his music.

Nitzer Ebb at Irving Plaza 9/17/06

This is a picture off the website. Once again, I didn't have a camera at the show so that I could take my own pictures. This time, I could not find the charger.

I'd been running around all weekend long. With my friend celebrating his birthday and another friend visiting from Scottsdale and me walking in the rain on Friday, I have developed a cold. So going to this show was a bit of work.

As for the show itself. I thought it was pretty good. It made sense that the only instruments on the stage were percussion and drums. Now, I guess, the laptop is what the keyboards were. Looks like everything else was being handled by two Apple laptops running Ableton Live. Nitzer Ebb's music is minimal at most so everything besides the drums have to be sequenced which is why they use laptops and the keyboards are now out of the picture.

Despite being tired, I did manage to move about to the music, because you really can't avoid that when you see this band perform. And the only time I've seen them live before was when they were warm-up band to Depeche Mode's Violator tour. Nitzer Ebb is all about Electronic Body Music with hard pounding drums and sequenced bass lines. So you move. The vocals are all these "military" type chants, so sometimes, you feel like you want to march rather than dance.

The setlist was pretty good. Most of their songs were pulled out of their first two releases. Songs like "Control, I'm here" and "Murderous" got a lot of reaction as well as "Join in The Chant." But my favorite is "Shame." Other songs, if I can remember them were:

Captivate
For Fun
Blood for Money
Lightning Man
Fun to be Had
Getting Closer
Hearts & Minds (my other favorite)

I wished they had done "Violent Playground." But they didn't. They didn't do too much in the encores either. One song each encore.

so It was a good show for me. It was familiar and I'm glad some of these guys are still around to keep me interested in going out to see them. It still sounds fresh and new to me.

Some Great Videos - David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes"

I was only 13 when this song came out. From the album "Scary Monsters.. And Super Creeps," in the year 1980. It was the No. 1 hit at the time. I love this video. Bowie looks like a clown from outer space. And who are those behind him? One of them is Steve Strange and the other, non other than Boy George. These guys at the time were total Bowie groupies and they began a movement in England at that time called "The New Romantics" which gave birth to such bands as Visage (whom Steve Strange fronted), Duran Duran, Culture Club, Ultravox (with Midge Ure), Spandau Ballet. And I'm sure there are couple of readers that can name a slew of others. Depeche Mode and The Human League I believe were also among them, though I think they were more labeled as "Futurists."

I remember when I first saw this video. It was late night on one of those late night shows that sometimes aired videos. I remember my oldest brother was watching as well. He was chuckling at all the scenes. I myself had my mouth open and was transfixed at all the imagery that Bowie was presenting.

The song references "Major Tom." from "an early song.." Later on, a singer by the name of Pete Shilling wrote a song called "Major Tom" which was a pretty big hit.

"Ashes to Ashes" incorporated a lot of keyboards. This was a time when most rock bands treated the synthesizer as a novelty, but for such performers with imagination like Bowie, the synthesizer was a godsend. Chuck Hammer, I believe lending his hand for this track. I think Bowie also worked with Brian Eno and Philip Glass on several of his other albums.

"Ashes to Ashes" is by far my all time favorite Bowie song. Other favorites include "Golden Years", "Fashion" and off course "Space Oddity."

What's Cooking?

This is a first for me.

For the first time I went into a bookstore and headed for the cooking section. Last weekend I went to Macy's and bought one of those 10 piece cooking sets because now that I have a decent kitchen, I can cook in comfort. I never really did much cooking and the only things I made were the usual pasta and rice dishes and sometimes stir-fry. But I'm painfully making a transition from vegetarian to vegan. That's where the books come in. It's incredibly difficult to be vegan. Giving up dairy is a major step. Think of life without cheese! It's nearly impossible. But there are alternatives to most dairy products and the books will help put it together because I have no idea. These are some of the recipes from "The New Vegetarian": Soba with Green Soybeans, Cumin-roasted Sweet Potatoes and Moroccan Chickpea Casserole. Sounds great.

So the idea is to stop eating out ALL the time. Bring to work my lunch that I've prepared because all that stuff you eat out there has way too many additives and that's just not healthy. I don't know that we can cut back 100% but cutting half of all that crap is good to.

Like my tablecloth? Kinda foofy, isn't it.

Hydrostatic Equilibrium

It's a "working" template. I'm not sure if I'll stick to it but this will do for now.

The title: Basically it is what keeps the sun "together." Gravity pulls everything in while the fusion of hydrogen to helium releases energy. Without gravity, the sun pulls apart. Without fusion we have no energy. Something to that effect.

I'm not in any way an expert on Astrophysics. The study of the Cosmos is a continuing interest of mine beginning with a fascination to Astronomy. It's just my adventure in understand where we come from and how everything works even at the subatomic level.

But this blog is not just about that. My main interests are at music, art, culture and science. So it's a little of everything.

Additional info will be added as time goes by such a links to other blogs and sites.

Anyway, glad you're here.