"I love Jesus but...."

A little funny for you. I don't usually watch Ellen, but I saw this one on youtube and thought I'd share.

88 year old Gladys kills on the Ellen show. Really, watch this through. You'll laugh! Listen to her as she takes on the local weather news and so on...

I love Gladys!

NIN

New 15 track Nine Inch Nails to come out soon. According to Side Line, the ablum was recorded mostly with laptops in various hotel rooms around the world. Guest vocalists and such.

I'm interested but not holding my breath. Can't remember the last time I bought into any of his stuff. For me "Pretty Hate Machine" was the only great NIN album ever made considering who was involved with the making of that album.

I'm Your Karma

I'm the voices in your head
I'm in everyone you've said
In every step you tread
I'm the news you'll always dread

I'm your karma
I'm' your karma
I'm your karma

I'm the terror in your eyes
A demon you despise
I'm the rain on your parade
I'm all the mistakes you made

I'm the door that always slams
The window when it jams
I'm the heaven in your head
The hell you choose instead

I'm your karma
I'm your karma

For what goes around
It comes around
My love you've been around
Now it's time to bring you down

I'm the motorcycle wreck
The death card in your deck
I'm the loss of a close friend
The grief that never ends

I'll be your heart attack
The sense you'll always lack
The phone that never rings
A clip upon your wings

Your world that falls apart
Your heaviness of heart
The judgement from above
A final lack of love

The only tear you shed
The last thought in your head
I'll be the one beside your grave
who cries
When you are dead

I'm your Karma
I'm your Karma

But who will be
my karma?

Maybe you will be
My karma

For what goes around
It comes around
My love you've been around

Is it time to bring me down?
It's time to bring me down
It's time to bring me down
like I brought you down

You're my karma
You're my karma

like I was your karma

And the clock ticks on
And the clock ticks on

I'm your karma

Marc Almond

I was felling awfully low this Saturday. I decided to check out Marc Almond's MySpace and he had up four songs. All of them good. This one especially. I had to make up the lyrics as there weren't any available on the net. So I hope I got it right. It's just him and Martin Watkins on piano.

Addition: Looks like the songs have been taken down except for one. I guess I got there just in time. Just when I needed it. And then, poof. Sorry if you wanted to hear it.

Listen

Junior Boys - so this is goodbye

I finally got my hands on this. It is an electro treat to the ears full of clean beats and single sounds. Lots of great tracks here. "When No One Cares" is so Morrissey. Fantastic bass lines as in "The Equalizer." This I think is the second release from the Canadian duo. I imagine more great things coming from these new artists.

Simple Minds - Early Gold

Handpicked by the artists themselves. This is a collection of some pretty good Simple Minds songs covering their first five releases. Some great tracks like "I Travel" and "Love Song" are among my favorites. But their last four is among the best Simple Minds songs ever: "Promised You a Miracle," "Glittering Prize," "Someone Somewhere in Summertime," and "New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)."

Everything But The Girl - like the deserts miss the rain

Another collection of songs (I think) chosen by the artists. I have to say I've only owned a couple of their albums. One was their self titled album which included the great track "Native Land" which is the reason I bought it. I bought it for a $1 from some guy selling used records on the street downtown New York. Sadly, this song is not included in this collection but does include "Each and Every One." Another great track from that first album. Off course, every one remembers the over played "Missing" definitely included here.


Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here

I grew up in a household where this is the music my older brothers were playing all the time. Among other artists like The Doors, The Police, The Clash, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Van Halen and some southern rock bands as well as heavy metal bands like Judas Priest. These two Pink Floyd albums were released over 30 years ago. While growing up, there was in the back of my head a certain liking for these songs but at the time I was probably thinking something like "How could I like the same things THEY do. It's not possible." Though one of my brothers was also a Clash fan and I had found some Ramones in their collection as well. I was strictly a Blondie fan at the time. Also, I was talking to a close friend of mine recently who said I would really appreciate their recordings and that I should take a closer listen.

It's when you get nearer the cash register - as there are a couple of people left in front of you as you begin counting up the damage in your wallet. And you just know you have to let go a couple of them. But which ones? You want all of them but you also have to be sensible. I hate making that last minute decision. I had to put away Christian Death's "The Decomposition of Violets" which was originally only released on tape and a collection of songs from The Chameleons. I have most of the Chameleons albums on CD but thing with them is that they recorded so many versions of the same song. So I was just curious as to which ones they were and if there was a version I hadn't heard. I know that the one CD I can't find from them is "Here Today ... Gone Tomorrow" which includes better versions of songs that I already have and some songs not found on their other recordings. I shouldn't say their better, rather than different. Depends on the mood I guess.

R.I.P. Lily

Yvonne De Carlo also known as "Lily" has passed away.

Girl, You were the Munster in that family. You played that harp and sang that really cool dark song that I dug at such a young age. I thought you were cool. You wore a hooded cape made out of coffin linings. You always went to bed placing a lily on your chest as if you were dead.

Their phone booth was a coffin. They had a pet dinasour named "Spike" that would breathe fire. Always funny seeing people running away (in fast motion) at the sight of Herman Munster. And what kind of car was that anyway?

Anyway, Yvonne (Margaret Midleton) was 84 and died of natural causes on Monday, January 8.

Playlist by way of YouTube.

Echo & The Bunnynmen - The Cutter



The Eurythmics - Sex Crime 1984 (with scenes from the move of same)




The Jesus & Mary Chain - Just Like Honey



The Smiths - The Boy With The Thorn In His Side



The Chameleons - Don't Fall



The Chameleons - In Shreds (wish more people knew this great 80s band)



Killing Joke - A New Day (never available on any of their compilations)



Laurie Anderson - Sharkey's Day



This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren



Propaganda - P Machinery



Some songs seem out of place with the rest. They clash. But so am I and so do I.

Men's Synchronized Swimming - SNL classic favorite

Again, I gotta thank YouTube for being able to find these clips.

One of the best skits SNL had done during their greater days when they had Martin Short, Christopher Guest & Billy Cristal as some of their players.

Enjoy this. It doesn't get any funnier.

What happened to skit commedy these days anyway? In my opinion, SNL has got nothing funny going on anymore. I started watching MAD TV for a while and even that show went into the un-funny category.

With your mascara and your Fender guitar/And you think you can arouse us?

I don't know that I have a good grasp or a good concept of reality. All I know is I need a few little crutches to get through life sometimes. So what if I'm making up for the last 20 years. True, there were other things I needed more and probably my priorities aren't that straight right now. Or is it? I'm not sure. I just know that I can't let something eat at me and me not do something about it.

I'm rationalizing and justifying my need for material things. You know all the things you'll tell yourself when you're about to embark on a new something or other. Things like: "Life's too short" or "I've always wanted one but was never able to get it until now." and "It's about time." True, I'm a little late in the game but it's the soul talking. It wants this so I gave it. Who are you to judge me?

I went middle of the road with this. I didn't want something so cheap that it wouldn't last and I could not afford the Standard Strat which would cost about $300 more.
This is the Fender Stratocaster HSS otherwise known as "Highway 1." It's an upgrade from the previous version they had out before. For those that know about guitars and Fender brands, this not a "Made in Mexico" model. I suppose if I was 16 and had all that time to learn and then get something better afterwards, a MIM strat would have done well. But like I said, I'm a little late. The only guitar I've owned was an old acoustic bought second hand from some guy in Arizona. So I went with a USA model that would serve me well for a long time.

I'm happy with it. Love looking at it and learning on it. I won't be doing any recordings with it for a while. But just to test it out, I hooked it up to my computer to hear how it would sound with all those effects. It sounds pretty good, except that I was picking up radio stations!

That's probably because it was too close to my computer. I bought a direct box so that might solve the problem.


Ok, back to practice.

*Title of post from Morrissey's "Get Off The Stage."

Oh, I know that you say
How age has no meaning
Oh, but here is your audience now
And they're screaming :


"Get off the stage"
Oh, get off the stage
Because I've given you enough of my time
And the money that wasn't even mine
Have you seen yourself recently ?

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.