50 ways to lose your liver.

Absolute Dilettante

2011-08-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

I recently described myself as a professional dilettante (or something similar) to a friend during a passionate discussion about creativity, over popsicles. I was informed that this was impossible...and I suppose that I agree, but at the same time I truly believe that the word dilettante, and it's meaning in Western culture, has been the unfortunate victim of some form of "smear campaign" of sorts. I'm not implying that this is part of some kind of cabalistic conspiracy (though ironically that word itself has been demonized to the point that it's mere utterance renders the one using it virtually incredible), but I do feel that specialization is so encouraged in our society that the concept of being well-rounded is like the preverbial baby thrown out with the bathwater. (I'll save my rant on the beauty-of and proper use-of cliche's/truisims/axioms later!)

Robert Heinlein is one of a handful of Sci-Fi Authors that have much more to offer us in the field of literature and social criticism than most will allow credit to a genre that has largely been ghettoized and ridiculed. This quote sums up my own philosophy on the subject quite well:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

-Robert Heinlein (from Time Enough for Love)

My opinion is that absolutes don't exist outside of theory and faith. I'm also of the opinion that it is preferrable to be known as a dilettante (common/derogatory meaning being dabbler) rather than a one-trick pony regardless of the perceived importance of any one particular skill. I feel we should by all means have one or two specialties but not at the exclusion of being well-rounded and open minded. This concept was highly valued in the past. The common phrase used to describe this type of person would be "Renaissance Man" but I prefer the term Polymath.

One more from Heinlein before I go. It's as if I've been reading his past-mind:

"Expertise in one field does not carry over into other fields, But experts often think so. The narrower their field of knowledge the more likely they are to think so."

Been running into that problem a lot in recent years....More Polymaths and Less arrogant Piss Ants, please!

(Above image: Pythagoras of Crotana - J. Augustus Knapp)

Cause and Effect

2011-07-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

Howdy Folks! 'Member me?....Odd to look back at the history of my blog (if you could even call it that at this point) and compare the frequency of new posts with what was happening in my life. It's been a bit of a roller-coaster for quite a while and I look forward to a long period of relative calm.

I'm a firm believer in attempting to strike that balance between the zen-like attitude of 'everything happens for a reason at it's own rate, etc.', and the more proactive approach that might be summed up as carpe diem. I think I've always been like that to some degree, but when I was younger I wrongly believed that I was just lazy, and irresponsible for relying too much on the former approach. With a bit of experience I've come to realize the importance of picking ones battles carefully...learning to whittle issues down to their essential elements and then choosing which ones are most important to me personally.

At this point in our country's history it's encouraging that so many among us seem to want to return to what might be called the 'simple life'. I've dreamed of this myself for many years now, but for a variety of reasons including societal expectations, perceived expectations from friends, relatives and significant others (or insignificant for that matter) and mostly my own fear of making a living with my own talents that dream has been postponed seemingly indefinitely. Recently, my employer (who I will refer to as THE STATE OF TEXAS) has thrown a monkeywrench into my life in the form of a layoff...

The timing seems to be the work of fate, though I suspect it also has a lot to do with the sad state of politics/business in this state, the country and much of the civilized world. Greed and FEAR seem to be behind many of the important decisions that affect our very way of life, and the division between the haves and have-nots grows daily. The very concept of a middle class is literally being destroyed and I often wonder if this is not all by design, but that is a topic for another day.

Life/The Universe/My higher self/My subconcious (or really consistent random chance) has been slapping me upside the head with the fact that I need to not only assert myself much more but I also need to make much better use of the creative talents that I have. All signs indicate that the more community-based, creatively satisfying and in some ways 'simpler' life I've always wanted has a strong possibility of exisiting if I can only put into practice what I've always believed: Everything we'll ever need is already inside each of us. Embrace the fact that you will fail on occasion. Work hard doing something that you love and you will achieve success on your own terms....And eat Mexican food at least once a week.

Goode Tymes at Thee Sons of Hermann Hall

2010-12-07T12:43:00.001-08:00

Our second "Garage Rock" Super Show at the Sons of Hermann Hall was a great success by all accounts. If we could ever get the groups from the various waves of this non-movement on the same page we could have a festival kinda thing on our hands (but I'm not sure how that would go over here in Dallas anyway).

Narrowly avoided having it high-jacked as a benefit at the last minute for the local community radio station (who shall remain nameless but they've been here for well over 10 years)....but at least we got some free radio spots out of it. But what's important is PEOPLE CAME OUT, AND STAYED ALL NIGHT....And the bands could not have been better. I think our band (the Bipolar Express) had a pretty good show but the Ugly Beats, the Mullens, and the Sons of Hercules were life-affirming rock and roll at it's best.

Sons of Hermann Hall and the folks that run the place are a true natural resource in Dallas, Texas and I'm proud as hell to play shows there...Not to be unappreciated!

"Garage Rock" and other delights!

2010-06-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

What IS "Garage Rock"? Or "Garage Punk" for that matter? Some say that neither have ever really existed at all, and some seem to filter everything else through them. The first group might say that it's a non-genre that was only really "created" when certain types of rock and roll were seen in a different context with the hindsight that only years of over-analyzation can provide. (American teens with often somewhat limited technical mastery of their instruments aping their heros the Rolling Stones, Kinks, Animals, Pretty Things, Yardbirds, Them and others of the hard-edged side of the British Invasion primarily.) The second group tends to favor simple, raw, loud, three-chord blues-guitar based music played by small combos with a never-ending supply of teen angst and frustration sometimes dabbling in old country, blues, jazz and what some might call psychedelic and/or noise rock to oversimplify things. They sound pretty similar, huh?

Garage music has gone through multiple waves of popularity/resurgence to the point where the first camp is mostly made up of borderline nostalgia acts (with some amazing exceptions) much-like the "rockabilly" scene but with different clothing, and the second camp is mostly made up of ex-hardcore punk rockers who've expanded their interests with age. The music of the first camp has practically become it's own sub-genre of classic rock and is often pointed-to as one of the precursors to punk rock, and the music of the others is less strict in style but still relys on the traditions of abrasive rock and roll with a punk influence often burying their sound in overblown distortion, reverb and noise. The "Garage-Punks" have even begun to introduce elements of post-punk and other innovations of the underground of the 80s and 90s into the mix to great effect.

This has all been written about countless times in more detail by better writers but it all leads up to this...

Our band, The Bipolar Express has deep roots in the Dallas/Austin Garage Rock Scene (one of the world's best in my opinion) but please don't try to stick us in the Garage!

It's a bit of a cop-out to call us "Garage Rock" or even "Garage Punk"....not that I wouldn't be proud to be labeled as such, esp. as a shorthand means of description. It's just that we all listen to quite a large variety of music and we work hard to incorporate elements of it into our sound. Rather than your standard 3-chord Troggs riff over a farfisa (which I LOVE!) you might just hear a little bit of soul, r&b, psychedelia, spaced-out noise, blues (both jump and otherwise), 70s and 80s Punk, Tex-Mex, art-rock (if Captain Beefheart is art-rock that is!) and whatever the heck the Butthole Surfers were up to when they were still great.

Of course you might just call this delicious stew "noisy rock AND roll" like I do but come out to the show on June 26th and find out for yourself!

Mo Developminks...

2010-04-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

Life. Sure we've all heard a lot about it...but how many of us how really experienced it? I'm beginning to believe that number is smaller than you'd imagine.

I've gone through long periods where I was but a spectator amongst a sea of participants but in recent years I've been trying to make up for lost time. It hasn't always been easy but the rewards (mostly milestones and personal development as opposed to "success" or "wealth") far outweigh any hardships or difficulty I might have experienced.

I've recently run into some major problems with life-long friends that have made me question the very nature of friendship among other things. If nothing else it's reinforced my growing belief that the opinions of others are only worth listening to up-to-a-point, and they are always tainted by the agendas of that individual...hidden or not as well as the ever growing misinformation present in the so-called information age. I consider myself much wiser because of cherry-picking relevant (and often brilliant) concepts from any source that resonates with me, but I think we'd all be better off listening to our inner wisdom or intuition more often. I can't count the number of times I've assumed someone else to be the authority on a subject only to regret not going with my gut instead.

Our band (The Bipolar Express) is playing it's first show outside the DFW area soon and I couldn't be more excited....well maybe a little bit more stoked by the fact that we're getting regular airplay on one of the only good radio stations in town as well. Weird...

KXT (91.7) is the new all-music station from KERA and though I can't say I love everything they play I can say that they are a very welcome presence in the bleak landscape of local radio. Check 'em out! (And sometimes they are amazing...and I thought that before they played us!)

http://kxt.org/

The above image is a nearly-complete relief print (a woodcut in this case) that I was working on with a friend but was shelved due to unforeseen difficulties. I really like the way it's turning out, even if I look like a deranged beaver-boy or something.

~SXSW 2010~

2010-03-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

I hadn't been to South-By-Southwest in a few years (and I was a little apprehensive about dealing with the crowds down in beautiful Austin, Texas this year) but I went down for the weekend and I'm really glad I did. Matt Powers, his better-half (Mckenzie) and I strapped our bikes to the car and headed down after work on Friday. We'd been parked for about 5 minutes and were stopped in our tracks by the sound we heard coming over the fence at the Mess With Texas Showcase....Man or Astroman?!?...Yes, please! We got to see the last song-anna-half and their traditional feedback/Tesla Coil finale in all it's glory (from just over the fence). Off to a good start? I'll say...

I never go to SXSW with the intention of trying too hard to see a million bands all over town...especially the really big shows because I don't like looong lines or fighting people for a show (or a beer...and I've never had a wristband/laminate/whatever) We proceeded to Beerland which would serve as home base for most of the weekend, and they were kind enough to book tons of great bands and provide free Frito Pie. Friday night we saw Wounded Lions, Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds, and The Spits (In the Red Records showcase). WL was like Beat Happening if they all switched instruments and were better musicians and dancers, Kid Congo (of legends Nick Cave/Gun Club/Cramps) put on one hell of a diverse performance, and the Spits just had to close the show with their mutant/new-wavish/skate-punk take on the Ramones because....who could go on after that....they always deliver. (Spits below)

We ended up at some place called the Omlettry (good food/not sure about the name) for breakfast Saturday morning which was pretty great despite the expected long line. Wandered around on the bikes a bit after that; Mckenzie and Adrienne met up for some shopping on S. Congress while Matt and I checked out the Yard Dog Party which had cheap imported beer. Saw London-based bluegrass from the Coal Porters which made me feel pretty good about being in Saddle Tramp and eventually ended up back at Beerland for Rounds II and III.

(Goner Records showcase) Cococomas have apparently morphed into a 4-piece which filled-out their songs quite a bit compared to the former 2-piece version...Great live/need to hear more recordings. The Baths were an interesting time with their early-psych sound but even with the guys Sonny Bono-like appearance (complete with cape) I found my attention wandering a bit. (Better on record? We'll see.) Up next were up-and-coming Memphis youngsters The Magic Kids who offered up refreshing sunshine-pop referencing 50s-60s, and 80s teen hearthrob sounds and stage presence as well as some British stuff I haven't wrapped my head around yet (maybe New Romantic). Potential mass-market appeal there for sure. Another Bluff City resident rounded out the day show, Harlan T. Bobo, who's last album got quite a few plays from this fella in the last few years. It was a bit anti-climactic seeing him do his show solo (no band) after all the others but he sounded really good and the performance and his ultra-dry sense of humor made up for the lack of accompaniment. How do you describe his music? Uh....kinda like a Southern take on Lou Reed/Leonard Cohen mixed with something else much less pretensious...(Sorry to Harlan for saying "I liked your Bobo set!", but I think he was cool with it!) (Magic Kids above)

We wandered over to see Th' Legendary Shack Shakers at the Camel Headquarters (I think) and though I'm not their biggest fan they always put on a high energy roots-punk show and between the fact that Duane Dennison (Jesus Lizard) plays guitar and their frontman the Colonel is bat-sh*t crazy how can you go wrong? The biggest mis-step of the whole trip came when we decided to watch Austin band Lions play on some backyard stage in an alley we were riding down. Left after the first song....like the worst parts of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden 20 years too late. Yuck!!! (We also saw 2 seconds of the Gwar show as well as Andrew W.K. over the fence while riding by....Can't believe either one of them is still at it.)

Ate lots of great street vendor food (esp. the Brats!) and ended up back at Beerland for the Cheap Time who I'd been hearing about for so long that they fell slightly-below the hype. Solid Power-poppish 70s punk 3 piece action though! Thomas Function was up next and surpassed the hype with their 3-piece fragmented pop (or something). I'm buying their records asap! Destruction Unit was up next and they appear to be some some of post-apocalyptic super group of sorts with Ryan Wong (Tokyo Electron and many others) on vocals. A bit chaotic for my tastes at this point in history but in the right setting they could change your life. Thee Oh Sees were the obvious choice to close out the show (and my SXSW as well as theirs) as they are pretty hard to beat as far as live acts (hell even records) are concerned currently. It was also a nice change of pace that they set-up on the floor for maximum close-range viewing/audience partcipation. THEY ROCKED!!! 2nd time and hopefully not my last to see them...(That's them down there)

In goofy celeb-sighting news we spotted Thrasher Magazine editor Jake Phelps (he was kinda dissappointing) in line at Beerland and Fat Mike (NoFx) and Andrew W.K. inside (the who cares twins), and ran into the Sons of Hercules at Casino El Camino. I could have met Bill Murray at my friend Mandon's show (Lil Cap'n Travis) but as usual there was too much too see and do for one weekend and I think everyone else already hung out with him there anyway. See him telling Mandon a secret below...

(Mediocre and late review I know but who's gonna read this crap anyway? All photos by Matt Powers except for the Bill Murray pic...probably by someone in Lil Cap'n Travis)

Last Bipolar Express show for a bit this Saturday...

2010-02-25T07:44:00.000-08:00

This Saturday (2/27) the BPE will make it's Oak Cliff debut at the ultra-cozy Tradewinds Social Club and we're pretty excited about it. This will be our last show for a little while as we're taking some time off to focus on recording some songs which will make up a 7-inch single (at least!). And then later we'll be invading the State Capital to aid in their efforts to "Keep Austin Weird" (sorry!)when we play the Scoot Inn on April 17th with Scrabble Robot, and Black Panda....This will be one for the history books, folks!!!

~Tradewinds Two-fer~

2010-02-17T10:26:00.000-08:00

Due to seredipity, dumb-luck, or some kind of magick I'm unaware of both of the bands that Hank Tosh and I play in are having shows at the same bar (not at the same time) the next two Saturdays. This Sat. (2/20) will feature DJ Mojo Workout spinning some classic country and possibly some country-blues, followed by an acoustic performance by our friend Noah Bailey (of the Naptime Shake), Saddle Tramp will then play 2 sets with a break by DJ M-Wo.

Then on Saturday 2/27 DJ M-Wo will do much the same but this time he'll be playing soul, r&b, punk, garage and noisier-fare followed by (and in between) 2 sets by the Bipolar Express. I'm not sure if I'll ever have an occurence like this again so I did the hand-drawn poster for both shows combined. I'm really looking forward to all of this as I already liked the Tradewinds, their laid-back staff and regulars, as well as the living room-like performance area. Come see us....and don't forget your pipe and slippers....

Bipolar Express this Saturday...

2010-01-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

Should be a Hoot....that Justin's a nutty guy and he's got a lot of rabid friends and fans that will surely come out for this one. The BPE takes the stage about 10:30 and the Aquaholics will play after a set by the mysterious DJ Mojo Workout.

In other news Jay Reatard has departed this earth at the far-too-young age of 29, and at the peak of his popularity thus far. Sad and unnecessary especially for someone as interesting, controversial and talented as he was. Sure he was an acquired taste in many ways but he won't soon be forgotten. I regret not catching him as a solo act, though I did see the Lost Sounds at Rubber Gloves in Denton years ago and it was a great show. (R.I.P. Jay.)

BPE....BPE....BPE...

2009-09-04T09:59:00.001-07:00

First appearance of The BPE....

2009-09-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well....we went and did it...

The first Bipolar Express show was a lot of fun, and from the reports we received we sounded pretty good too. We regret that Stoogephilia had to cancel but we're playing a show w/them at a place called the Moon Bar in Fort Worth on October 10th (right next to Fuzzy's Tacos) so it's going to happen, dear friends.

Thanks to Muddy Waters, DJ Mojo Workout, everyone who came out, and Matt Powers (our man on the low end) who did the majority of the work that night....including the amazing, and authentic psychedelic light show! Extra-special thanks to Matt Bagley for lending his artistic skills and Matt B. and Chadillac for their blooming light-show abilitites. (I think Pink Floyd has an opening, gentlemen!)

Looking forward to playing more shows with these cats, for sure! Hank is also playing drums with the other band I'm in (Saddle Tramp) so things are getting veddy, veddy interesting....

Poster posting!

2009-07-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

The Bipolar Express!

2009-07-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

www.myspace.com/thebipolarexpresstexas

By the time you read this we should have a demo or two up at the above link; That way you'll have some idea what you're "in for" when you show up all-ready to let your backbone slip with us at the new band's first show.

We're really fortunate to be able to open for Fort Worth's Stoogephilia, as well as having DJ Mojo Workout spinning records to set the mood for the evening. There's no cover, the drinks are cheap, and the stage at the new Muddy Waters (also known as VeVe) makes the shows a great experience as there is seating on 3 sides of the stage and it's a pretty comfortable space, esp. after it's full of folks that have been properly socially-lubricated.

Hope to see you there!

-The Pickin' Polack

Saddle Tramp/Dragna @ Kats in Tyler, Texas 042409!

2009-04-22T06:10:00.000-07:00

Yes....it's true. We return to (surprisingly)the only place someone's ever yelled "Ya'll suck! We wanna hear some rock & rolllll!!!" and this time we're bringing a good old-fashioned rock and roll band to mix it up so everybody's happy. We're playing a 45 minute set and then Dragna will do the same; rinse and repeat and your done.

Inspiration comes in many forms...

2008-12-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

Developminks!

2008-12-16T13:21:00.001-08:00

Things have really been happening at Casa de Polack lately! Not sure if I've used that name on the blog yet but that's what I'm using as an "umbrella" name for any creative projects that I'm in charge of or at least that's how I've been referring to the place where I live in-lieu of any actual output...until now that is. We've been working hard behind-the-scenes at a various projects that are starting to come together. I've been working on some preperatory tests and drawings for a series of woodcut prints based on the lives of Texas musicians and I'm about to pull a small edition of the first print. It's just a small test-print but I like the way it turned out.

And on the music-front Saddle Tramp has been playing more shows including one last Saturday at the Goat with Los Lonesome Losers, and Dragna for Chadillac's birthday (and a farewell to Tennessee George). The show went over well and all the bands sounded really great. We packed the place and I was even inspired to show off my rarely-seen dancing skills.

And then there's the Top-Secret garage-rock project that I'm not at liberty to discuss just yet but I can say without a doubt that it's going to be awesome and unlike anything else I've ever done. We started practicing recently before the keystone of the band got sidelined by an injury...but you just wait!

It's all TOO real!!!

2008-08-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

A Polack Evolves...

2008-08-07T13:19:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to find myself. Well not really....I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing with this whole "Pickin' Polack" project/comedy routine/trainwreck. It started innocently enough; Matt Powers and I thought it would be cool to fill-in for Saddle Tramp opening a show at the late RedBlood Club. We were just serious enough to present some semblance of a musical performance with minimal practice and familiarity with the material. In my twisted view of reality I wanted to believe we could be some kind of crappy version of the greatness that is Memphis' supreme duo, Jeff Evans and Ross Johnson but without the coolness, cred, ability , or sense of humor.

We've played four shows now to varying degrees of success, and with that experience under my belt I'm attempting to decide how to proceed. I started out with the idea that we had to "kind of fit in" with the bands we were playing with but now I'm not so sure. I hate limitations but there's actually a form of freedom in placing restrictions on yourself...sort of limiting your palette if you will. Too many options confuse the creative-process and sometimes the initial inspiration gets lost along the way. I want to keep it simple but I also want to be able to do different styles (at least half-ass), play with a variety of bands, and most importantly entertain myself and others. That being said I think we might find a bass player(possibly bass/drums rotation) and if someone I know wants to sit-in on keys, or some other instrument now and then that's nice too. (Zither anyone?)

It's a really weird time in the history of music to throw ones hat into the ring but a big part of my inspiration to do this has been my attitude about live music which can be summed up with the phrases "I can't believe they're getting away with that crap up there!" or "This is what I live for!". Yeah, it's pretty much all been done, but my lyrics are slightly-different ( than the first ten bands using the same chord progressions) and rock and roll/country/folk/punk/popular music in any form, etc, etc, is a folk-tradition well worth continuing relevant, innovative or not. -Love , The Pickin' Polack

Probably our last show at the RBC!

2008-06-03T13:35:00.001-07:00

Looks to be a fun weekend...

2008-06-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

Band Practice on Friday night, my niece and nephew are graduating from high school on Sunday( party for them at my folks on Saturday ), and playing a free BBQ at the Redblood Club on Sunday afternoon/evening. Great line-up for what will most-likey be our last show at the RBC as they're shutting down after the 14th or so. Sad but true...I didn't go to a whole lot of shows at the place but I always enjoyed the ones I did go to or the ones I played there and it was nice to know there was at least one all-ages venue that didn't have a Christian theme. And it was fun to drink there on the slow nights too. Brad, April, and Justin put their hearts and souls into that place after taking it over and it showed.

The show will be opened by a young lady I don't know much about other than the fact that she is a very talented 12 year old (?), by the name of Caroline Danielson. I think we're playing next followed by Tennessee George and Wagontrash, and then The Truckstop Junkies. The whole deal's free (except for beer and liquor) and there will be food, raffles, and door-prizes. What more could you want?

Walking to New Orleans. (well, driving real slow at least...)

2008-04-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

What's that blurry thing before my eyes?

2008-04-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

Oh, yeah...My life for as long as I can remember. There are scientists that theorize that time is actually speeding-up, and I for one think they may be onto something. I don't believe everything that "those in positions of power and authority" tell "us", less-and-less to tell the truth, but that's one theory that seems accurate to me. And my recent mystery-ailment isn't helping any. Seems to be a cross between allergies and an upper-respiratory kinda thing with a little spacey-ness thrown in just for kicks. The wacky part is that I didn't think I had allergies. Damn Chemtrails! (oh, but I kid...)

I often struggle with the content of my blog; More often than actually posting it seems. I just feel so restless and creatively stifled, and I'm NOT going to bore you with what I had for breakfast, or any number of inanities. Two things would help alleviate this condition: Becoming a Sunday painter in the tradition of Rousseau (in my case it would be prints/painting/drawing), and starting a new band. Now I don't want to stop playing with the cats in Saddle Tramp but I'd like to do something totally different. The Pickin' Polack stuff is fun but the whole point of that is to play songs I barely know with very little practice and it's sloppy-as-hell (in a good way we think). I need to recruit some folks that are pretty competent, and very open to different styles of music. I just haven't been able to bring myself to placing some kind of ad because I know so many great musicians. What a conundrum!

But Candie and I are going to the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans at the end of this month so I'm pretty stoked...And yes, I'm going to EAT MY HEAD OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Oh, and if anyone actually still reads this tripe I apologize for the broken audio-player to the right. Not quite sure what happened...guess I'll fix it.)

Bad collage of good folks...

2008-01-16T08:16:00.000-08:00

Exciting Times in Dallas Music!

2008-01-16T06:33:00.000-08:00

Bear in mind that I have a skewed perspective on music, both local and otherwise, but dang-me if there aren't exciting things going on these days in the Dallas music scene. I'd be lying if said I wasn't a midly-reclusive, music snob with artistic leanings that only intermittently checks in on said scene beyond slavishly perusing the Observer and various blogs but I'm still a big supporter in my own way.
While I still have to make the trip up to Denton for most of the really great shows, our fair city seems to be having yet-another musical and artistic rennaissance of sorts. The galleries seem to be out-numbering the progressive music venues for now but with the appearance of Sloppyworld, John Freeman's Swiss-Army knife of a cultural outpost and a recently revitalized (out of necessity) Bar of Soap and a remodeled RedBlood Club under new management to name a few, things are looking up. I'm sure I've left plenty others off the list...but Hey, I said I was a bit out-of-the-loop.
And then there are the numerous interesting new(ish) bands/performers such as Dovehunter, The Strange Boys, Tree Wave, Naptime Shake, Doug Burr, and The Lonesome Losers among others. Other than Tree Wave, about whom I've only read so I can't rightly say, all these folks play great, vital, live-shows that make going out worth it. However, I get extra-happy when I think about all the bands that are re-uniting every time I turn around such as Dallas' favorite sons of Garage- Rock(proper), The Blackouts (who just happen to be kicking-ass) and everybody's tequila-fueled band the Loco Gringos. Makes me pine for the days of a show like that one in someones cattle-corral in Gainesville back around '95 featuring the stellar line-up of Cornhole, Jet Screamer, Electric Freestyle Fantasy, the Dooms U.K., and Slobberbone.

http://www.sloppyworld.com/
http://www.myspace.com/theblackoutstx
http://www.myspace.com/locogringos
http://www.myspace.com/barofsoapdallas

Not Again...

2007-12-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

What?? Another solo-ish gig?

2007-12-19T10:17:00.000-08:00

Yes...it's true, Matt Powers and I are returning to the stage at the RedBlood Club in Soon-to-be-a-Memory....I mean Deep Ellum. In case you don't live in the Metroplex area or you're more out of touch with the news than me - Deep Ellum, the largest and longest running "Arts District" in Dallas is in danger of being bulldozed to make room for upscale, urban-living and shopping areas in addition to other things we already have enough of in this town. In 5 years it will no longer exist, at least in any recognizable form.

But enough with the belly-aching; something needs to change down there, and I'm here to tell you that Voiceless Youth is opening the show some time between 6 and 7 (I guess), and the The Pickin' Polack and his Little Drummer Boy will then slaughter some cover-songs before being joined by that rounder Chadillac for the never-before-seen perfomance of Saddle Tramp songs with a drummer (and no mandolin/accordian, or bass for those playing at home). The headliners are local cats called The Battle Band playing some kind of Dub/Reggae mutant hybrid so it's an eclectic bill to say the least. It's a Free show and they have cheap beer & no dress-code at this joint so cobble together the dough you didn't spend on Aunt Trudie's Lotto tickets for Christmas this year and gather the freaks-with-nothing-better-to-do on X-mas Eve-Eve and head on down.

http://www.myspace.com/redbloodclub

King Khan & BBQ show changed my life (again)!

2007-11-13T14:12:00.000-08:00

Photo by R. Otazo.

Real Rock and Roll isn't dead...

2007-11-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

I know this isn't news to some of you, and there are still more of you that either don't care or have been blissfully listening to a neutered, watered-down version of what was once a genuine force of nature. I was lucky enough to attend another of those all-too-rare life-changing shows last Friday night in beautiful Denton, Texas. The King Khan & BBQ show are among a growing number of musical acts that appear to be making music for themselves first with the knowledge that doing so is the only way to produce "art" or at least kick-ass music that will find it's own audience. In a perfect world (and yes, that would be MY vision of a Utopia) their song "Waddlin' Around" (from their first, self-titled album recorded in 2004 and issued by Goner Records in the U.S.A.) would have been a number one, chart-topping single.

It's strange world we live in that loves nothing more than to forget the past. I'm often reminded of this phenomenom when people are unable to get into an artist(visual, musical, literary ot otherwise) that was clearly the template for one of their favorites seemingly for the reason that they aren't current. That would be a real shame in the case of this duo as they combine elements of primitive/early rock and roll with doo-wop and early punk and garage rock(with touches of psychedlia no less) to create a style that is both timeless and forward-thinking. This has been said about many bands before but it needs to said again. The music in itself is really great but with the addition of a truly spectacular stage-show they are NOT TO BE MISSED!

I won't go into great detail about them as there are plenty of other articles on the net that do so but here are the basics: Two guys. One plays the drums with his feet while playing guitar and singing. The other plays guitar and sings while dancing around and staring into the crowd with an expression that is hard to describe. They often wear costumes including dresses and wigs, Nazi helmets, and Swami turbans and/or capes. For a close-up look at the set-up you can consult this site:

http://www.valladolidwebmusical.org/cronicas/07/bbq/

I have loved their music for years now and had heard tales of amazing shows but nothing prepared me for this one.

http://www.myspace.com/thekingkhanbbqshow

Mr. Boom Boom and Treble Boy on stage.

2007-10-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

The Pickin' Polack "Sings"!

2007-10-30T08:51:00.001-07:00

Saddle Tramp is the band I play guitar in and provide some vocals for. Chadillac wrote all the original songs minus 'Clear Syrup' which William wrote. To this date I have only written one song that was anything other than a goofy little ditty but for various reasons I still haven't felt like I could perform it live. This hasn't stopped me from wanting to play more shows, and music in general, than has been possible for some time now.

The band was booked to open for what was being referred to as a Czech Bluegrass band at the RedBlood Club in Deep Ellum, which contrary to popular belief isn't entirely dead yet, but still many are wondering "Who cares?". That's another story all-together. We had to cancel, and in a moment of madness I told my friend Justin who books at the club that I'd come up with something in our place. I figured I could whip up some cover songs to play with whomever I could coerce into doing so with me.

In typical fashion I waited until the last minute before putting much thought into the set. I had a handful of what I considered to be classics in a variety of genres that seemed to go together in my often-non-linear mind. There were selections from Tom T. Hall, the Yardbirds, Hank Williams, Townes Van Zandt, the Compulsive Gamblers, Blue Mountain, and Doug Sahm; some I knew well, some I thought I knew, and some I had no business attempting at such a late date. So two days before the show I called up Matt Powers who has a practice space and a bunch of instruments including a drum-kit which he can keep a beat on at least as well as Meg White; he was stoked.

We met the night before the show and with the aid of some Tecate hammered out the set. We were scared at first but things began to gell quickly...either that or the beer kicked in but we were making progress. We decided we'd better meet there again the next night before the show to run through it one more time which we did. There was a respectable crowd for a Tuesday night gig in barely-breathing Ellum which I credit to loyal friends(whom I wanted to keep this secret from initially) and the headliners Austin Lucas and the Pressmen. After a little Irish courage we took to the stage and it was fun and apparently "a lot better than we thought it would be" so I'm happy.

Voiceless Youth was next and he was a train-hopping young man with an acoustic guitar singing what I would call punk-folk. (really folk in style but a punky look and spirit if you will). He was pretty entertaining! The headliners were up next and I could tell be their warm-up/tune-up that they were REALLY professional. Turns out that Austin is an American living in the Czech Republic and his band is mostly Scottish but hey close enough, right? I guess some of those cats are from hardcore(or something similar) band Oi Polloi. I could only stay to hear the first few songs but they play soulful, melodic, passionate and beautiful traditional bluegrass that is slower than what one would typically think of as bluegrass. These guys are good and I even bought a cd and a 45. I feel lucky to have been on the bill with these guys and I hope they come back.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present my father...

2007-07-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

Long Over-due in many ways...

2007-07-04T12:44:00.001-07:00

Well, in typical style I'm too late on this one but I wanted the world to know how proud I am of my Dad, Grant Krakowski, for being selected as Razorbackoutfitter.com's Hog Thumper of the Month last month. He's a man of many passions, but he's primarily into hunting with a growing focus on archery in it's various forms including primitive archery which I find fascinating. He's the guy on the right and though it might be hard to tell from this photo my "mug" is largely derivative of his; could be a lot worse, right?! Most of my best qualities come from him so I feel pretty lucky. (Don't worry Mom, your times a'comin'.)

In other news, I've considered doing away with this blog as I don't really have the time to make it anywhere near as cool as most of the ones I peruse regularly. I guess it gets me writing a little bit so depending on how things go it might change dramatically. There's a lot of change going on right now, both in my personal life and in my creative pursuits. Too early to comment on this too much, but I can tell you that one of my oldest friends and I are starting a fine art press/studio kind of thing but despite the way this sounds it's not going to be boring, pretentious or typical so LOOK OUT WOILD!!!(mispelling intentional to imply pronunciation like some East Coast character of days- gone-by. Possibly Jewish.)

Oh yeah...HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYBODY!! The Weather sucks, but my wish for you is that you spend it with friends, and/or family with good food, the beverage of your choice, and hopefully some truly great music; you know like "Insert Name of This Weeks Disposable Pop Fabrication". "They/He/She"'s got soul, baby!

It's like ART, man!

2007-04-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

Drawing, related, and unrelated matters.

2007-04-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

I used to draw a lot as a younger man. I often wonder how I managed to sit for hours on end happily drawing when I find it so difficult to do so now. A diminished attention span is certainly one factor to consider. After graduating from college my interest in creating art seemed to diminish somewhat...we'll not really my interest but my actual output. Art school was a lot of fun, and I produced a fair amount of work but for a variety of reasons I became disillusioned with the "art" world, whatever that is. Apparently things have changed a bit since then but when I was taking art classes the focus seemed to be on conceptual work, and abstract expressionism, which were basically the polar-opposite of what I was interested in producing. In many ways I am a traditionalist, an old-schooler, a luddite - call it what you will. I value drafting ability, and a well-composed and rendered image, though many would be surprised to hear this based on my love of lowbrow, kitcshy and often "ugly" art and cartoons.

Upon entering the workforce and dealing with a full-time plus job and leaving behind my cozy, liberal-arts college with all it's inspiring denizens I found it difficult to stay motivated creatively on my own. Coming from a small town with an amazing music scene like Denton back to Dallas I re-discovered the guitar and without the intimidation factor of the brilliant players I knew I started to progress and play for enjoyment again. One thing I enjoyed about playing the guitar was that it seemed so spontaneous and non-committal - meaning that unless it was being recorded the tones just kind of floated away into the ether. This was so different than the relationship I'd had with visual art. With art you had a permanent record of every success, or failure you produced. Well, I suppose you could destroy the stuff as you go along but it's difficult to part with something you've invested so much time in.

For better or worse the common perception that life's hardships, and trying times foster a nurturing environment for the production of great works doesn't seem to ring true for me. I tend to shut down creatively under that kind of pressure, or perhaps I just feel justified in not living up to my potential. The image at the top of this post is a cheesy collage depicting a quick sketch I did today, and the cover of a new sketchbook I bought recently with a thrown together vinyl image I emblazoned upon it. I gave myself permission to draw anything, regardless of quality or meaning within it's pages. I'm trying to get back to the freedom I once felt in creating art, that is so similar to how I often feel about playing the guitar. Yeah, I know there's a war on - Boo Hoo.

Saddle Tramp at Fred's Texas Cafe 3-10-07.

2007-03-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

Creativity comes full circle.

2007-03-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

Hi you two! Did you miss me? Yeah, I know...we've all been busy. It's so hard in this work-a-day world to keep up with the things that matter, or even my attempt at a blog. Heck, I still haven't made it to the point where I'm comfortable posting an Mp3 on my site or tucking in my shirt. Oh well, there are plenty of great music blogs out there if that's what you want. And in my defense I've been pretty distracted by recent events that I won't go into right now.

It's been months since my last post but a lotttttt of stuff has happened during this transitional time in my life. That picture at the top isn't just to show off the rugged good looks of our band Saddle Tramp; It also serves to illustrate the completion of a great circle(cycle?) that began when I met some friends, and one stranger for what I thought would be the first practice of a new punk/garage/rock and roll band. In what I thought was a typical result of this meeting the band never did practice or even get together again but we did go to a cool place called Fred's Texas Cafe for burgers, and beers afterwards. That's when Jeremy Diaz gave me my first decent amp just for the promise of getting it fixed and then using that to play some tunes. Thanks again for your generosity Jeremy, and for those of you that have ever seen the Riverboat Gamblers, Dead Sexy, or his newest band the Strange Attractors he's been instrumental in the sound and formation of all of them. Sure it was a smallish, solid-state Fender Deluxe 85, but it was LOUD and it had a springer-reverb so I was happy. In fact I still play through that amp and last Saturday night we played at Fred's, where the photo was taken by J.T. Deadbones , thus the circle was completed. In fact just by playing some fun, little shows and getting a decent response I feel that I've accomplished a life-long goal that I was beginning to think was impossible.

I've always been a creative type of person, and I've gone through many different stages, and phases in the expression of my creativity which usually manifests itself in the form of art and music. I've always felt more qualified to say that I'm a visual artist than a musician but in recent years I've tried to even up the score a bit. I play guitar and do some vocals in a simple, Country/Folk/Roots/Americana/Texas Music band but compared to most professional musicians I'm pretty untrained in technical terms. Still, I feel like I've come a long way from the bedroom recordings I used to make with friends that were little more than musical comedy for the sole purpose of entertaining ourselves. I've always been a big music fan but for a variety of reasons including: the fact that I was disillusioned with the "art" world (I wasn't sure where my place was between that and the advertising/illustration world), I needed a change of pace, and I was plagued by personal hang-ups/copping-out I pretty much blew off art for music. I'm ready to strike a balance once again.

I'm excited about not only making art, but also checking out what's going on in the art world once again. My niece Lauren has been doing some incredible paintings and it's been very inspiring to me and there are more interesting galleries and alternative art-spaces around the Metroplex than ever so the time feels right. I have this sick fantasy that the years of back-logged creativity will just pour out of me to produce interesting results but one thing I've learned is that most of the "romantic" notions of the artist/poet/musician, etc. are nothing more than justifications for one thing or another and are not based in truth. You have to create and maintain your own muse because creativity is like a muscle that needs to be used and strengthened or it will wither and die.

We recorded six songs for an e.p. thingy and the rough mixes sound pretty nice. You can listen to three of them here:

http://www.myspace.com/saddletramp

and here's a link to the fabulous Fred's:

http://www.fredstexascafe.com/

Rockin' Enocki by default!

2006-10-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

'Member Me?!

2006-10-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

I realize that even at my best I wasn't exactly lighting the blogosphere on fire, but I still feel a bit guilty about not posting for a looooooong time now. Sorry imaginary audience...and sorry to Andy, my older brother, and a huge influence on my life. How so you ask? Well, Andy was the one that set me on my path of obsession with art, music, and other forms of expression and/or pop-culture. Damn him!! But seriously, if it weren't for him I'm not sure what I'd be into today. It could have been ugly, though I don't think so. In the age-old nature vs. nurture debate( or most debates for that matter) I think that most of the time the truth is somewhere in the middle ; neither black nor white. I feel that I would have eventually gravitated towards what I now consider to be my primary interests even without the strong, and diverse influence that Andy had on my formative years, but I might have made a few more wrong turns along the way. While maintaining straight-A's in school, as well as being involved in numerous extra-curricular activities Andy still found time to indulge his other passions of music, comic books, theatre, movies, technology, and women. I received a fine education via an egalitarian gumbo of the golden-era of mainstream and underground comic books, horror/sci-fi/B-movies and television, and "pop" music ranging from Spike Jones, and Al Jolson to Plastic Bertrand, and Pink Floyd along with musical and movie soundtracks amongst other oddities. Thanks Andy! You are very appreciated for that reason and many more.

While my brother Charles was also an influence, primarily in the form of a surreal sense of humour, and his hard rock, and occasional new-wave records (Devo, Talking Heads), Andy was without a doubt the one that ended up making the most indelible mark on my soul. Just for exposing me to the Church of the Subgenius he should be either celebrated or damned depending on your perspective. After Andy I'd have to say that Scott Franzke and Colin Bolinger were the biggest influences, and later a revolving cast of characters from what would be called the punk/new wave/skateboarding scene, and of course Bob Hudspeth; David Breihan, and Mandon Maloney certainly get honorable mentions for the skatepunk trip. College brought a whole other cast of characters that will have to wait for now. But enough about people from my past that you don't know, let's talk about people from the present that you don't know either.

I can't go any further without acknowledging the life and passing of Freddy Fender who was part of the soundtrack of my childhood, and one of my musical heroes along with the rest of the Texas Tornadoes in my adulthood. Joe Belock of WFMU has put together a brief but effective tribute to Freddy on his Three Chord Monte program which can be found here(scroll down): http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/20755. Music has become an even bigger part of my life in recent months primarily due to the fact that my band is playing shows more regularly now with the new, solidified line-up. Saddle Tramp now consists of Chad Bennet on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Anthony Hernandez on lead-mandolin/accordion/bajo sexto/backing vocals, William "The Finger" Pollard on bass, and yours truly, the Pickin' Polack on lead guitar/backing vocals. It's really getting to be a lot of fun, and I believe we sound better than ever. William, and Anthony are both exceptionally good musicians and quite personable as well. They are the glue that allows Chad and I to justify having a band at all. Anthony plays in another band called Mule Dixon, that happened to be one of the bands we opened for at our recent show at Club Dada, and William is a veteran of many Denton-related bands ranging from the infamous Cornhole, to the recently defunct Budapest One. Mule Dixon is a very polished act comprised primarily of acoustic guitar, mandolin, hand percussion and of course vocals provided by Nick Ippolilitti and Anthony. Cool, gritty and folkish with a narrative bent. Definitely worth checking out. There were two other bands that played that night but for some reason the Places, which were scheduled to go on third ended up playing last but that seemed to work out for the best as they didn't quite fit in with the decidedly roots/folk/country/hillbilly vibe that seemed to be the common thread between the rest of us. Garland's Fish Fry Bingo rounded out the rural portion of the evening nicely with their stripped down, old-timey/bluegrass/folk sound. Stand-up bass, acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo and vocals were all they needed to win over the sparse crowd( hey it's Tuesday night!) at Dada. That along with their infectious energy, quirky stage presence, and in some cases appearance (but hey look at me!) made for a memorable performance. Apparently they enjoyed our set as much as we enjoyed theirs as they invited us to play with them at Muddy Waters next month. The lead singer, whose name I believe is Daniel paid us a huge compliment by saying we reminded him of Doug Sahm, as well as the Flying Burrito Brothers. Now I'm going to take that with a grain of salt, but I did tell him that I could die peacefully after hearing it. Sadly, the Places came on to a very small crowd that had just been bombarded with three rootsy acts and though they were interesting and inventive I doubt it was one of their best shows. They would have faired far better in Denton, but they may already know that.

Almost forgot to mention that we played with a cool band from Arkansas(Fayetteville I think) called the Saddle Burrs couple of weeks back at the Bar of Soap. It was supposed to be the Dallas premiere of a movie made by a friend, or indirect friend of both bands but due to technical difficulties the movie wasn't happening, but that didn't stop the "Saddle Gang" from making a ruckus. We might do it again but for real so I'll keep you posted. And now for some pathetic complaints to round out the post...I missed yet another Gonerfest in Memphis last month. This was the third multi-day concert put on by Goner Records, which might be the epicenter for the modern underground rock and roll/garage/punk scene. The best thing about these guys is that they don't forget their roots so local Memphis musicians, and international musicians that are only loosely related in style all share the same stage. I hear that much like the Ponderosa Stomp, Rockin' Enocki the one-man band from Japan was the star of the show in the opinion of many. This would be the reason that he is pictured at the top of the page. Well, that and the fact that it's one of my favorites from my trip to Memphis in May, and it prevents me from the shameless self-promotion of putting a picture of Saddle Tramp up there. But you just wait...
http://www.myspace.com/muledixon
http://www.myspace.com/fishfrybingo
http://www.myspace.com/saddleburrs
http://www.myspace.com/saddletramp

"Tardy" Ponderosa Stomp Report

2006-05-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

Lazy Lester, Lil' Buck Sinegal, and Barbara Lynn(above)!

2006-05-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

I need to say that I don't consider myself to be (TOO big of) an expert on "popular" music by any definition. However, I am a somewhat obessive fan of that nebulous genre and in recent years my tastes have gravitated even more so towards what might be called "roots music". This would be the seminal stuff that is now considered to be the template for rock and roll. I say this to distinguish myself from the true authorities, some of which I met recently during an eye-opening set of performances. I got back from Memphis weeks ago now so I think my brain has had time to process the whole trip; particularly the 3 nights of incredible music known as The Stomp. I'm glad I went on this vacation all by my lonesome for multiple reasons, but the main benefit was only being accountable to myself. I'm the kinda guy that worries whether my friends are having a good time at a show, and that can hinder my enjoyment at times. As the only people I had ever approached some semblance of communication with previously were folks from the Garagepunk.com forums I was free of any interruption in my music-watching regiment. It was very nice to meet this group in three-dimensions, as opposed to a reconfigured batch of 1's and 0's. We seemed to have a bit of an instant kinship, or maybe they were just very cool and friendly people with somewhat similar interests. I guess I just don't meet people like this in Dallas much.

I'm a pretty open-minded fella when it comes to music but at the same time I do tend to filter things through punk if you catch my drift. What I mean is that I tend to like a live performance to be upbeat or at least heartfelt, and passionate. If you leave the edges slightly ragged and try to remember that fire in your belly, even better. With this in mind, and with the large amount of legendary perfomers on the bill I will attempt to mention the highlights of the show. Ironically, the first night of the three was in my opinion the best over-all, and the hands-down showstopper of the evening was Tammy Lynn's extended version of "Mojo Hana". If you witnessed this and were able to control your body then you might already be dead. Lil' Buck Sinegal and the Topcats, with Stanley "Buckwheat Zydeco" Dural on Hammond B3( with Leslie speakers) were the backing band I saw and enjoyed the most over the course of all the nights. They backed a rotating cast of front men and women that would make most records geeks shivver in their Beatle-boots. It was impressive to watch them jump right into songs they may or may not even know with the most minimal of instruction, and no rehearsal. Deke Dickerson and the Eccofonics were the second most active backing band of the event and they did a great job too.

Al "Carnival Time" Johnson's signature song seemed to get people in good spirits, and Texas' own Roy Head was a particularly dynamic, and charismatic performer. I heard that after his Ballroom set he walked straight up to perhaps the only black dude in that audience and said "Pretty good for a white boy, huh?" Jay Chevalier, and what little I witnessed of vocal group The Climates were terriffic as well but the other first night performance that will stand out the most after Tammy Lynns's will be The Alarm Clocks. This probably had a lot to do with the fact that they were the only "Garage" group of the evening, but they did not dissappoint. Of all the garage bands on the bill they seemed to "get it" the most. The fact that they did some new numbers didn't distract from their blast of primal '60's punk. I might even buy the new album! The Bad Roads were in a tough spot following up the Clocks performance, and their standard bar-band set made me head to the Lounge stage to see what I was missing.

I decided to show up late the 2nd night to conserve energy, and that turned out to be a mistake. I got there in time to see B.B. Cunningham backed by James (Telecaster-whiz) Burton which was very cool, but I had missed what was apparently a pretty smokin' set by Dallas' own Kenny and the Kasuals. Well Kenny and the boys are playing around the corner at their usual haunt tonight so I guess I finally need to go check them out. Lady Bo(to right), who was the female counterpart and partner to Bo Diddley was fun if not a bit reliant on the novelty people seem to enjoy when a woman plays guitar. She did look extremely cool! Novelty seemed to be the motivating factor behind the inclusion of Arch Hall, Jr. as well but I wasn't complaining. Arch is most famous for a handful of B-movies from the '60's, one of which was immortalized by the TV show Mystery Science Theatre 3000...EEGAH!! The stars of the night had to be Travis "Scratchy" Wammack(below left), and The Fabulous Wailers without question. Travis was a child prodigy guitarist from Memphis who started out a little bit Link Wray and ended up a lot badass. He looks like Kenny Rogers now but that didn't stop him from backing up many an artist at Muscle Shoals and many other fine recording studios, or from ripping it up at the Stomp. The crowd went nuts when we did his instrumentals, and even seemed to enjoy most of his stuff with vocals. The addition of his son "Monkey" on drums was a nice touch. William Bell was a veritable "how to" on stage presence and what a great singer. I nearly had tears in my eyes when he did "You don't miss your water." The Wailers headlined the main stage that night and I feel lucky to have seen these living legends. They were the inspiration for what many consider to be the first proper "Garage" group, the Sonics. The Wailers were known across the Pacific Northwest for their amped up shows and the young Sonics were inspired to take that energy to the next level in turn creating a template for future raw, rock and roll, and punk. That Hammond really paid for itself by the end of the night, and I was a bit jealous that I didn't get to see these cats in their youth, because if they rocked this hard as "senior citizens" I can only imagine the shows they used to put on.

On the 3rd night I was dissappointed to learn that Barrence Whitfield, and The Rebirth Brass Band had cancelled for various reasons but not to fear, Rockin' Enoki was near. I had actually already seen this wonderful man from Japan play twice in the past couple of days at in-store performances at Goner Records, and Shangri-La Records respectively so I didn't check out much of his last minute, fill-in lobby set at the Stomp. I guess I missed one of the highlights of the show but there was just to much going on so I headed off to check out what else was happenin'. I do think it was very cool for everyone, Enoki included, that he came to the event as an observer and ended up playing to a very receptive crowd. He's primarily known for his own band Jackie and the Cedrics, and stayed two doors down from me at the hotel...cool! Memphis' own (Monsieur)Jeffrey Evans was a lot of fun at Shangri-La as well. Backed by wisecracking Ross Johnson on drums he held the small, ethusiastic crowd captive. Corpus Christi's Zakary Thaks were a cool blast of '60's garage, but their singer seems to have forgotten that it's encouraged to move around in rock and roll. Still sounded great, though. Sleepy LaBeef, The Tennessee Three, and Fillmore Slim were enjoyable as well but the real standouts as expected on this evening were the sets by Barbara Lynn, Clarence "Frogman" Henry and Dallas' own Bobby Patterson. Corpus Christi's Barbara Lynn was only able to do a few songs due to arthritis but don't let that influence your mental picture of her appearance, abilities, or performance that night. I'm not sure how old she is but she looks great and I can only wish that I was half the guitarist that she is. I won't try to pretend that I could write or sing like her either. I'll go see her again anytime if it's within a couple hundred miles or so. It's really hard to describe the magic feeling that this type of performer brings so I'll just say she kicked ass. Lazy Lester( whose song Ponderosa Stomp was the inspiration for the events moniker)even sat-in with Barbara despite cancelling for mysterious reasons. The Frogman was literally infectious with his big, genuine smile and fun, friendly demeanor. He's getting up in years, needing the assistance of a walker but when he took to his feet for certain songs you would never know it. He almost looks younger than I do now, and he is one hell of an entertainer. Like at many moments during this show I felt like I was living a piece of history. I mean how often do you get to see the original artists do their own hit songs? He treated the crowd to wonderful version of "I ain't got a home" complete with his patented "baby-girl" voice and "Frogman" voice. Lots of Fun! Bobby Patterson closed the show with a very engaging performance and lots of down home asides and hilarious anecdotes. The guy was at home in his element and looking very dapper with his embroidered Tweety Bird vest. I hope he plays around here sometime, as he's a dj at local AM station Soul 730 KKDA (You've got a friend.)

The whole experience was too much, and certainly beyond description. Bonus photos of The Fabulous Wailers, Arch "Wild Guitar" Hall, and Jeffrey Evans with Ross Johnson at Shangri La Records, ...more to come!

The Gris Gris are real good!!!

2006-04-05T10:17:00.000-07:00

Micro SXSW Review, and more...

2006-03-24T06:58:00.000-08:00

If you're the obsessive music-freak that I am (and I can only pray that you aren't) then you're probably glad that people have stopped writing about the infamous South by Southwest Music conference/party/debacle. In that case I'll take it easy on you with my econo-review. I knew that I wouldn't get to see most of the bands I wanted to see, or even most of the bands that it would have been so convenient to see that it was stupid, due to the nature of the trip. I went with my bandmate and friend Chad and his wife Anne for the Roller Derby bout, so any live music would just be an added bonus. I'll admit that I was actually more interested in the music part but I think I was preparing myself for the inevitable dissappointment of being in proximity to SO many legendary, and future legendary performers without being able to see them. This was after all a casual affair.

The Derby itself was entertaining. It was held at the Austin Music Hall, and featured live performances by The Spits (Seattle), and The Motels (Hollywood?) with original singer Martha Davis. I pretty much predicted the way the Spits would come across in this setting...poorly. But that was through no fault of their own. They need to be seen in a cramped, sweaty, beer-soaked club or house to get it done right. They were on a fairly high stage at one end of the makeshift roller-derby track in a relatively empty, medium-sized venue, during the day with bad sound. Most punk(or other) bands would not have faired well under these conditions. I got as close as I could, swilling beer and trying to get into it. I thought to myself that I was lucky to be seeing them at all and consoled myself with the prospect of checking out more bands at Beerland later that day. The Motels played their two and-a-half hits(Eighties light-rock/alternative staples, "Suddenly, Last Summer" and "Only the lonlely can play..." I believe they're called) to a warmer reception after the competition was over. Her voice sounded good but I can't say the same for her band of young, hired-guns with the cliched modern, hard-rock, alternative sound.

I made it to Beerland in time to see the last two bands of the Contaminated Records showcase. I believe the label is run by Memphis musician Alicja Trout of the Lost Sounds and other dark, well-liked bands. I walked in to find out that Human Eye was about to take the stage. I really enjoyed the Clone Defects album but hadn't heard much of the new band, though I knew they were quite a bit more experimental. Timmy Vulgar came out and began to decorate the stage with tropical plants and other items, even hanging some from the rafters above him and the band. They then launched into a set of futuristic, oddly psychedelic, garage-punk, with nods to jazz and all kinds of explorers that would melt your brain under the right circumstances. This is pop-music in some alternate universe...heavily, analog-effects laden rock and roll, with lots of unexpected changes and an extra helping of angst. You'd have to hear it, and for those who might be unaware Timmy looks like a much cooler psych-punk Clint Howard. (Chad seemed to think he looked like a shaved Chewbacca...fair enough)

The Gris Gris came on to headline and even though I was even less familar with them, they( an obviously less-rockin' band in style) had no problem playing after and matching the intensity of Human Eye, albeit in a very different manner. Essentially a psych band with nods to progessive and garage rock, as well as the spooky feel of old scratchy, lonesome blues records the Gris Gris seem to be enjoyable by a diverse group of music fans. Obvious touchstones include the Velvet Underground, and The Thirteenth Floor Elevators but the instrumentation went beyond both of those fine, fine groups in a way. It's interesting to me that the two best bands I saw at SXSW both made use of a vocal effects, and other guitar-effects, and electronics as I have shyed away from that quite a bit in recent years...But the pendulum does swing. The Gris Gris's main accomplishment would seem to be overcoming the faults of many of their predecessors in this well-mined genre. Oh, and they DO rock, and will be performing 4/27 at Rubber Gloves in Denton. (above photo stolen from the Goner Message Board/posted by "Windy"/edited by me...)

One of the main reasons for the delay of this post has been my inability to decide just how personal to get with it. The past few weeks have been stressful, painful, and transitional in nature for my family as well as the families of others in my thoughts. I'll only say that our lives will never be the same but in the end peace and love shall triumph.

...lame links for (and by) the lazy:
Gris Gris
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=44768578
Human Eye
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=10468971
The Spits
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=2602386

SXSW Madness!

2006-03-15T13:20:00.000-08:00

The ebb and flow of insanity...

2006-03-15T12:49:00.000-08:00

I've been even more neglectful of my blog lately. The two rules I try to adhere to are 1) Give the folks a purty picture to look at along with the post, and 2) Don't post unless you have something interesting to share. I would love to add more rules involving posting Mp3's and other tidbits, but I'm not there yet. Needless to say there hasn't been much going on lately that I've felt like sharing. I do feel myself moving into a new, and better phase of my life and that in itself is a double-edged sword. I'm ready to jump in with both feet but there are those pesky "loose ends" that need to be tied-up, and put behind me. I'm having a great time playing with Saddle Tramp, and hanging out with those guys, and it's nice to have some cool new friends with similar interests, and diverse personalities. In fact I feel like I'm getting a much needed creative boost that I plan to channel into my artwork. I can't begin to tell you how guilty I feel about not using my "gift". I hope that doesn't sound cocky, but I just know deep down that I am supposed to be doing some form of artwork. I just need to make it a part of my routine again.

In an odd turn-of-fate, all the members of the band will be in Austin for SXSW this week. Noah is probably already on his way, as he will be attending as a representative of the Dallas Observer, for which he writes about music (lucky bastard). Matt also works for the Observer but he's just going for the reasons's most folks are; to drink beer and watch great, live music. Chad and I are going to accompany his wife Anne to the big Roller-Derby competition which she is competing in. This should be a good one. The Spits are playing for pete's sake! We're going to try to go to a bunch of free shows (no armband/no problem) and be stupid in general. I've always been a little hesitant about attending this monster music conference, but as it grows in size the free shows seem to multiply like viagra-fueled bunnies. I just hope I don't get trampled by the requisite flocks of hipsters from across the globe. I'll let you know what happens...

POISON 13!

2006-02-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

Off to a good start...

2006-02-23T14:52:00.000-08:00

I really can't remember a year that has shown so much promise. It's a bit deceiving as most of the good things that are happening to me were set in motion long ago. But that does emphasize the fact that instant gratification is generally fleeting. But enough with the dimestore philosophy, let me elaborate. I played my first gig ever a couple of weeks ago at the Bar of Soap and I'm a little surprised I haven't blabbed about it sooner. It might have something to do with the fact that I didn't freak out like I thought I would. That's not to say it wasn't exciting, or that I wasn't nervous but it went well without any major flubs and people seemed to dig it. We (Saddle Tramp) did get asked to open again next month by Donny Ray Ford, so I take that as a good sign.

I was the first one there, and I'm not big on going to clubs, or bars by myself but I have spent more than my share of time at this notorious Dallas dive so I was pretty comfortable. I should have brought some laundry. (For those of you that might be unaware, the BOS is a bar/venue/laundromat that used to book really great bands and they are starting to again.) It's the place where people like The Reverend Horton Heat cut their teeth back in the dark ages, so even though I couldn't care less about him now it's still a pretty cool factoid in my book. Some of the best shows I've ever seen have been at this festering, watering hole, including: Gasoline (Japanese, soul-inspired garagepunk), The Briefs, The Riverboat Gamblers, The Marked Men, The Deadites, The Deadly Snakes, and a slew of others. I missed some great ones there too, like: The Spits, The Epoxies, and The Mooney Suzuki when they still seemed relevant. If I never play another gig at least I can say I played this one.

There have been a whole bunch of great lesser-known local bands that have played there over the years as well including (but not limited to): The Loco Gringos, The Potatoes, Stickmen with Rayguns, The Necrotonz, The Kickz, Power Squid (Austin), and many more I should probably remember. Speaking of criminally overlooked bands, I'm going to Austin to see the legendary Austin band Poison 13 in that wonderful town this weekend. They were just another great band featuring modern-day renaissance man Tim Kerr of The Big Boys, Lord High Fixers, and even Bad Mutha Goose fame among others. Tim is Austin punk, and soul incarnate and a real inspiration. From the beginning the Big Boys (R.I.P. Randy "Biscuit" Turner) sought to break down the wall between audience and peformer encouraging extreme examples of audience participation and a "We're the band/You're the band" attitude. They would end every show by yelling, "Now go start your own band!" at the sweat-drenched crowd. Poison 13 was a departure musically from the punk-funk of the Big Boys, and they couldn't have been more different than the other punk bands of the time with their slower pace and obvious blues influence. With covers ranging from Willie Dixon, to The Troggs, and The Animals they created the template for the many garage, and few mis-labled "grunge" bands to come. They obviously influenced a young man named Mark Arm, who would go on to form Mudhoney, and later play with Tim in The Monkeywrench. Keep in mind that this was the mid-eighties, not exactly a hot time for the currently en-vogue garage rock sound. They play a reunion show about every six years and this is the first one I've been able to attend so I'm stoked. The Austin premiere of Pot Zombies is earlier the same night, so I might try to swing by there too.

...I also bought my first decent guitar; a Fender Telecaster, but I won't get all guitar geek on you about it. However, I am extra twangy now!

Cornman Motion Picture Soundtrack!

2006-02-06T13:54:00.000-08:00

Life Intrudes...

2006-02-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

You know that quote about how "life" is what happens to you while your making other plans? Well, if that's the case then I've been doing a whole lot of "living" lately. This might buy me back some points with you, my "readers", while I've been neglecting my blog. Sh*ts been crazy lately, but not all in a negative way...I'll focus on the goodness. And speaking of goodness, how about the one-two punch of beer and great music which is what I'm enjoying right now. I'm listening to my FAVORITE radio program, on my FAVORITE radio station, MUSIC TO SPAZZ BY with Dave the Spazz on WFMU.( I'm drinking Rolling Rock because it was on sale for those playing at home). Dave is an over-the-top DJ but in the best way, not like those schmucks you hate on the top 40 station with the "radio" voice. He's got a thing for chimps and the best "popular" music ever recorded. Everything from doo-wop, jump-blues, rock AND roll, vintage pop, old country, garage, punk and the occasional novelty tune plus some stuff I'm surely leaving out are represented. Check it out! You should also check out the podcasts at Garagepunk.com as they seem to be taking off like wildfire. They're even doing one that's available starting Thursday Feb. 9th for The UNDER THE COVERS comp. I'm on!

I'm thinking about changing the name of the blog to THINGS I MISSED since a re-occurring theme seems to be my complaining about all the great shows and stuff I somehow didn't, or couldn't make it to. Case in point, I'm not at the Texas Frightmare Weekend right now so I missed the world premiere of POT ZOMBIES in which I appear. Now I saw a rough cut of the thing recently so it's not like I really would have been missing anything other than the intense, gut-wrenching laughter of the crowd but I'll get my chance this Wednesday at the Red Blood Club. Another thing I missed this weekend was one of my only chances to see the Denton/Austin/Ft. Worth based "supergroup" THE HIGH TENSION WIRES at Rubber Gloves. They are a side project for members of The Riverboat Gamblers, The Marked Men, and some other extra-rocking bands. You can probably imagine what they sound like if you have heard the other bands they're in.

I did actually manage to make it MR. PEPPERMINT'S 79TH BIRTHDAY at the Granada Theatre the other night despite being sick. There was a semi-entertaining band called Merry and the Widowmakers or something onstage when I got there. They had been billed as "Soccer Moms do Ramones' Covers" and were comprised of women that looked like real-live Soccer Moms. The only problem was that I didn't hear one Ramones song. They did a couple of White Stripes songs, and some originals that all sounded better than I would have imagined but no Ramones!? Well, the unintentionally funny/lame stage show and banter helped make up for it I suppose, what with the singer throwing a laundry basket full of tube socks on the audience and other shennanigans. The performance by Mr. Peppermint and Muffin, and the Bloopers from his Dallas based children's show PEPPERMINT PLACE were worth the price of admission alone. For those unenlightened to the world of Mr P. he's basically the local Mr. Rogers, and the father of BUTTHOLE SURFER Gibby Haynes, whom helped fulfill a dream I've had since I was barely a teen...meeting him. He was very nice and not particularly frightening either even if he was a little more interested in talking to Kara than myself. But this seems to be the usual routine. The same thing happened when we met Jonathan Richman of The Modern Lovers, and Mick Collins of The Dirtbombs. Mr. P, aka Jerry Haynes, has had a long and successful career in both theatre, television, and the movies since the fifties..not to mention his cool trademark red and white stiped suit, hat and striped cane. The bloopers were a real revelation in that they were mostly off-color often with a sexual element to them. As this show is one of my earliest memories of Dallas you can imagine those seminal viewings contrasting with hearing Muffin, the buck-toothed, backwoods stuffed-bear sidekick say that someone told him that if he ate too much ice cream then his DICK would fall off. Great stuff!

I've also been playing some country music with the fine fellers of SADDLETRAMP, as well as trying to learn the songs in time for next Saturday's show opening for Donnie Ray Ford on February 11th at the Bar of Soap. (Friday night they're showing Pot Zombies...so I'm totally RULING the BOS this weekend!)They play old-school country with a little bluesy influence thrown in comprised of originals written by singer and acoustic guitarist Chad Bennett and some cover songs by the likes of Billie Joe Shaver, Johnny Cash, and Neil Young as well as a few standards. Noah Bailey is on banjo, and lap-steel, Matt Powers plays the electrified bass, and I play the electrified six string. Everybody sings back-up vocals, but I'm just getting started with all that...

Here's the Myspace page for the band.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=47896432

Oh yeah, I also managed to make some use of artwork I've done for the LOOONG delayed Cornman Comic Book for the cover of the 7-inch Justin is putting out. (see top) And for the record that's me and Gibby Haynes to the left. Until next time, take care my fellow cretins...

Here tis!

2006-01-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

Psychotic Infractions and Zombie Dung!

2006-01-14T13:49:00.000-08:00

I'm listening to the completed "Psychotic Infractions Volume 1: Under the Covers" disc, that I just happen to appear on, for the first time... fresh from the mailman's hands. I'm about 2/3 through, and I can honestly say that this is a pretty great compilation, especially considering the way it all came together. (for details see previous posts) I'll admit that I've been checking the mailbox, and the thread this whole thing originated in on Garagepunk.com all morning, but morning is relative isn't it? Track 17, by Sir Maggot's band The Maggots is "Tomato Juice", a song originally by The Cardinals, and it's rocking my socks off right this second. The timing for the next song to appear (W.B. Vaughan's countryish take on Bo Diddley's "Roadrunner")is perfect to illustate the variety of musical styles represented here. There's everything from traditional, organ-driven garage-rock, to country/rockabilly, straight-up rock and roll, garagepunk, boogie, and the hard-to-categorize. Sprinkle in some soul, punk and mod-influence and you're pretty close. All done with the spark that's what made us all love this stuff in the first place. Now this isn't to say that every song on here is great, or in a lot of cases, listenable( to most average music fans). But since musical taste is so subjective I'll clarify this by saying that IN MY OPINION this disc holds it's own against many other established comps, and I can listen to this thing straight through and dig it all.

I'd like to eventually do a track-by-track review of the album but for now I'll just say it speaks for itself. The fact that I'm still unable to post audio on this here blog is frustrating since I'd love to share this with anyone who's interested. I'll go ahead and post this link to the thread on Kopper's site so that, if anybody gets the gumption to, a podcast or some other way to get the songs may soon be available...

http://www.garagepunk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18835&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=225

Kudos to those who went for an "authentic" '60's garage sound. Some of these could pass for the real thing( from way back when). First-impression standouts include tracks by : atvff (atvff), jprackets (Morey & The Amsterdams), MalThursday (Mal Thursday & the Cheetahs), Carpet Donkey (Trash Stranglers), K.F. (Daytonas), vonghouls (Von Ghouls), Spacerich66 (Spacerich66), Sir Maggot (Maggots), W.B. Vaughan (W.B. Vaughan), and Mr Pharmacist (Betty & the ID). An honorable mention goes to the ultra-raw cover of the Sonics' "Psycho" by rumblemoney (Damn Dirty Apes). Be sure to listen to the one by krakhaus( The Mahow Mahows) just because it's me, and please feel free to comment, complain or say "That only sucked a little!".

And while I'm tooting my own horn you can check out my big(ish) screen debut in Justin Powers' POT ZOMBIES at the Texas Frightmare Weekend horror convention coming up on February 4th and 5th in majestic Grapevine, Texas. My buddy Justin has been crafting this labor of love for a few years now and we finally get to see the results. In addition to portraying a redneck hunter with a weed-jones, and a pot-belly( hey, it was three years ago/no pun intended) in the film, I did some artwork for, and provided some props for this beauty. The convention sounds pretty cool too with appearances from special effects legend Tom Savini, legendary director Herschell Gordon Lewis, movie critic Joe Bob Briggs, Troma's Lloyd Kaufman, scream-queen Linnea Quigley, and a performance from reunited local speed- metal heroes Rigor Mortis among many other notables.

http://texasfrightmareweekend.com/index.html

Here's the Pot Zombies Myspace page...

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=2942537

Oh yes, and DVDs are available!

F**k-in' Freeman!!

2005-12-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

John Freeman. One-man Rock Assault!

2005-12-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

An extremely late Merry Freakin' Christmas to all you unwashed masses! And Happy New Year while I'm at it. It's about time I paid tribute to a man that you are probably famliar with if you live in the DFW area, and pay attention to local undergound music. If you don't live here you might have heard of some of his bands, and since relocating to New York a few years back he's taken to spreading his disease there as well. He's had a buncha these "groups" but some include: The Dooms U.K., The Dutch Treats, The Meat Helmets, The Cockouts, The Psychos, Duck Duck Annihilation, Telethon, Danza, Alan Parson's Projectile, The Delicious Bulls, Pink Mistake, The Golden Vipers, and The Thrilling Chilling Sounds of the Haunted House. John Freeman (also known as Johnny Murder, Uncle Sloppy, etc.) started out as simply "The Dooms" when he wrote a set of songs about Emmanuel Lewis, Patrick Swayze, Chewbacca, and other noteable subjects to be performed with his own guitar accompaniment at a friends's party in Denton, Texas. He soon had a band that seemed to start out with the intention of being a "rap and roll" band (mind you this was the early '90's). They quickly evolved into a more experimental beast that came to full fruition with the release of the now classic album Greasy Listening. Though truly a band, it is widely accepted that John was the "brains" behind the group, writing the lyrics and forging the direction in which they would head. His songs inhabit a world I can truly relate to; equal parts Bad T.V. and Pop Culture, Dungeons and Dragons, Punk/Metal, Extreme Sarcasm, Ernest Borgnine and a encyclopedic knowledge of Rock and Roll both good and bad. The word genius gets tossed around a lot these days so let me throw this fools name into the ring. (Robert Wilonksy said nearly the same thing in this weeks Dallas Observer, but I wrote this before I saw that rag.)

In addition to making music this Super-Nova is a cartoonist, writer, actor/voice over dude and Nanny to the stars. His comics are really funny, and drawn in his trademark jittery style, and though I'm most familiar with his writing via his song lyrics, what little else I've read was very well done. I have witnessed a "performance" of one of his plays, and the name escapes me but it took place at a science fiction/comic book convention in the '80's. Needless to say...It was a gut-blasting riot. Watching him perform live is the best way to get a feel (if you know what I mean) for his whole shtick, as he is an amazing improvisational comedian. I guess a large part of his appeal is that he is literally one of the funniest people ever to grace this world, and I can't undertand why he isn't at least as well known as any of those Blue Collar Comedy tour guys or Ruth Buzzie. I didn't make it up to Dan's Silverleaf in Denton for his only DFW appearance this year last night but I can only imagine there were smiles, and lots of bodily fluids all around.

I'll never forget the time I was treated to a very intimate solo performance of "Waterfalls" by TLC in my truck during a run I took John on to retrieve his guitar to play some keg party, or the time he scared an army of zoned-out hippies by opening the Fry Street Fair with the song "Hippies". (basically a rallying cry for the death of that type of hairy person.) The Dooms U.K. realeased one more album enititled Art Rock Explosion which documents the later Dooms fairly well. I love both discs for different reasons, but if you want a little taste you can check out some of these links:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=11841340
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=9543087
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=40928900

Some of his comix, as well as those by other local peeps can be found here:

http://www.polypop.com/index.htm

O.M.F.G.!!! Birthday Suits, Hideo of B.S., Rubber Gloves Grafitti, Marked Men

2005-12-09T19:06:00.000-08:00

A homecoming of sorts...

2005-12-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

Bob and I made the treck up to lovely Denton, Tx. to the Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio to see The Apeshits, Birthday Suits, and Marked Men ply their punk, and/or rock wares Friday night. It turned out to be one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. Having seen the Men only once before their year-long break I was ready for them to move my ass, and they have only gotten better. One of the tightest bands of the rock and roll underground in my opinion, with the added bonus of power-pop hooks played with punk intensity. But you've heard about them before. When we got to the club Austins' Apeshits were on and based on the couple of songs I managed to check out I'd love to see more. They had the same kind of intensity but a wilder , noiseier, and more playful/sloppy attack. I was jealous of the fun they seemed to be having up there. At least one of these cats was in the Carpetbaggers, and since my good buddy "Wild Bill" Ivy digs em I need to delve deeper. (The mans got taste!)

But the guys who blew me away that night were The Birthday Suits. Comprised of two former members of Sweet J.A.P. the Suits have a very full sound when you consider it's just a drumset, a guitar, and an amp turned up really loud for that "natural" distortion we all know and love. I can see how garage and/or punk purists might cringe at what these guys are doing but let them. It's their loss. I was trying to categorize them somehow (I hate labels but they are an excellent shorthand for describing music), and phrases like "jammy-garage" and "space punk/punk space" didn't seem to be sufficient but you might get a vague idea. The drummer did and amazing job of laying a strong foundation(not your typical punk beats but very rocking) for guitarist and vocalist Hideo to alternate between short bursts of structured pop-like intensity, and leg-kicking punk rock and roll swagger. He was flying all over the stage, even running up to the wall and kicking off in a 180 turn all the while continuing to bring the noise. I wish Bobs camera-phone had managed some better pics of any of these bands but we'll have to settle for the really blurry one of Hideo (top/right) and the grafitti from Rubber Gloves restroom( bottom/left) for now. We think it says "I f***ed your Dog" under the tag. I stole the other two pics from various sites.

This night made me remember why I loved living in Denton. I hadn't been there for a show in a couple of years at least and I talked to a bunch of old friends, most of whom weren't even there for the show, and some of whom live here in Dallas. There's this crazy Extreme Wrestling League in Denton that I've got to check out...

Wasted Days and Wasted Nights

2005-11-28T10:43:00.000-08:00

Still wasted but now with focus!

2005-11-28T09:46:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken a few months back during my trip to Corpus Christi. I include it now because I like the photo, and I'm having a bit of deja vu relating to that period of my life again. And let's not forget Freddy, who loomed large over popular radio when I was a tot. My folks were way into him, and it saddens me that he would never make it in pop music today. His big songs were Wasted Days and Wasted Nights and (I'll be there) Before the Last Teardrop Falls for those of you that might be unfamiliar. His brand of Tex-Mex rock and roll meshed perfectly with that of Doug Sahm when they teamed up for The Texas Tornadoes. I saw him on an endless-loop type infomercial for a Classic-Country cd set on cable at Kara's grandma Judy's place in Claremore, Oklahoma last night so it all ties together somehow.

I basically drove the nearly six-hundred mile round trip to drop her off for about three weeks to help her granny run her gift-basket shop during this busy holiday season. That and the fact that we are both losing our minds due to our nebulous realtionship made this "vacation" necessary . It's hard for me to decide how much to comment on about this so I'll err on the side of caution and just say we'll see what happens. No need to bore you, my imagined audience, with such matters. This ain't no EMO-journal. I did get to listen to some great music on the trip back including a bunch of great, random punk I downloaded off of various Mp3 blogs, and some Sir Douglass Quintet cds, and pretty much the whole Reigning Sound discography in order. Greg Cartwright never ceases to amaze me. He'll fool you with some song you think is kind of a throwaway, and then on a subsequent listening it kicks you in the head with its kickassitude!

I'll probably be posting more regularly as I have much more time on my hands now. And if you happen to pass Buford's Fun and Nut Company in Sherman, Texas (right on I-75 North) stop in and pick me up a post-card. (There was a mildly disturbing mural featuring a "mad hatter" type character out front and the whole thing made me ruminate over the thought process involved in such a venture. "Well, people love FUN and people love NUTS, right?")

Link Wray R.I.P.

2005-11-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

The originals are quickly leaving us

2005-11-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

As I come to consciousness this morning I am listening to Joe Belock's excellent THREE CHORD MONTE radio show on WFMU via the world-wide-web. The music he's playing is the inspiration for this post. He's doing a well-deserved tribute to the father of the power-chord, and perhaps the father of all raw, aggressive electric guitar-playing as well...LINK WRAY. He was buried on November 18th in Copenhagen, Denmark to little fanfare per his request, and most likely due at least in part to the obliviousness of most critics and fans of popular music. Hell, CNN didn't pick up on it until he had been in the ground for 4 days!!!...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/21/obit.wray.ap/index.html

I won't go into detail about this great loss( even if he was only 76 years old for pete's sake!). I will say that Link was influencing my life path before I was even aware of him though. It's common knowledge that Link was the inspiration for Pete Townshend to pick up a guitar, and The Who were in competition only with Van Halen for the title of my favorite band as a kid. Neil Young was also quoted as saying that if he could go back in time to see any band it would be Link Wray and his Raymen. It was inevitable that I was later drawn to the punk rock that Link hinted at with his deceptively simple, beautifully distorted guitar work, and attitude. It's hard to imagine a world in which Mr. Wray never existed, and I don't even want to try. I regret that I just missed getting to see him at last year. I guess I thought he'd be around forever. With that in mind here's the part where I put the link to the second petition to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that I've posted( The first being Doug Sahm/Sir Douglass Quintet)...

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?linkwray&851

If you have ever enjoyed a "dirty" guitar tone or believe in any kind of justice take a minute to sign the petition. And then proceed to poke pencil holes through the speaker-cones of every guitar amp that you are in proximity to...

Shake the hand of the man with a hand full of LOVE...

2005-11-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

...The one and only Jimmy Carter!

2005-11-15T20:58:00.000-08:00

Well, now I've done it. I managed to get my little blog here listed amongst many other blogs that in general seem to kick-ass, especially in comparison to this 'un. Kopper, of Garagepunk.com fame has turned that site into a blog with the requisite large number of links(one of which leads this way). Don't fret though, he still manages the Herculean task of doing a radio show, running a garagepunk and related forum, and probably a bunch of other projects that he's either too modest or busy to gab about. I need some of his focus and energy. It's time to step up to the plate. I'd feel that I had more to offer if I only knew how to post an Mp3 on my site( hint..hint!). I have tried to find out for myself but as I am mostly HTML illiterate I haven't found anything that spells it out well enough. And Blogger.coms own podcast/audio section won't let me register, so for now I will just have to try to dazzle you with bullshit, so here goes...

"This isn't the real America" is the title of a suprising article by former president Jimmy Carter in the most recent LA times. It was suprising to me at least, as it closely echoed my own feelings about the general direction our country has taken, especially in regards to the war. Carter was the first president that I was conciously aware of being in office and his presence was felt strongly even in pop culture at the time. He was a colorful character, with the whole peanut-farmer, big-toothed smile, and drunken brother thing. My Dad still proudly displays his lone surviving can of Billy Beer in his hunting room. I think Jimmy gets a bad rap today, though it's no surprise, just look what they've done to Clinton's image. Check it out, it's a short read and it might give you some glimmer of hope for American politics.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-carter14nov14,0,7164514.story

On a side note the title of the photo and text posts from today are a line from a song called "Jimmy Carter" by the sadly defunct "insurgent country" band Blue Mountain. If you like what is known as Alt-Country, Americana, Ya'llternative, Cowpunk, etc. etc. pick up some of their stuff. I can't recommend the album Dog Days enough, but they are all above average.

It's finally getting cold here, and I'm excited about it. I like cold weather, and snow more than I should for someone that calls the Lone Star state his home. One day I may migrate further North but I would either have to become an expert Mexican-style chef or convince some Amigos to go with me. Yes, I live for Mexican food. Speaking of Tex-Mex, this Friday, November 18th has been declared ( unofficially I assume) Doug Sahm Day in Dallas. What this means other than the fact that Shawn Sahm & His Tex Mex Experience featuring Augie Miers with special guest Eleven Hundred Springs will be playing at The Sons of Hermann Hall in Deep Ellum, I don't know. Shawn is the son of Doug( R.I.P. ), Augie was in some of Doug's bands, and 1100 Springs are as close to old-school country as you can get as well as owing a great musical debt to Doug(this in common with any band that has a twang and is any good) , so the show should be great.

Men of a thousand faces, and as many talents...

2005-10-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

Paul Slavens and Lon Chaney

2005-10-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

I'm slowly emerging from my zombie-like haze and it feels very nice. I've been getting out and socializing more and more, like last nights trip to The Dallas museum of Art, and a couple of other spots. Mark Sharon (who happens to have been my college roommate) and I went to the DMA for a showing of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME starring Lon Chaney, but with the added bonus of having a live soundtrack performed by a group of local musicians. This film was originally silent and the new score written by the versatile Paul Slavens made the already amazing even more so. Paul played piano, and did some vocal sound-effects I believe while backed by a "super-group" of primarily Denton-related musicians that are mostly known for their work in various punk/rock/indie/experimentalish bands that I have seen many times over the years. Bands represented include Baboon, Mission Giant, Ten Hands, The Dooms U.K., March Arc, Brutal Juice, The Banes, and others I might be unaware of. The added touch of a talented female vocalist that employed the subtle use of an effects processor along with other analog keyboards, and equipment complimented the piano and rock-oriented instrumentation. I'd love to see this kind of thing catch on.

Lon Chaney has always been somewhat of a hero to me and this might be his masterpiece. I had never actually seen the film but I knew the stories of Chaney suffering the 40-pound hump strapped to his back while performing his own death-defying stunts. Sure he's an amazing stuntman, and special effects make-up artist but you don't hear much about his acting ability. He somehow managed to take what could be a very one-dimensional cartoon of a character and make him multi-faceted, and likeable despite his gruesome appearance. He actually gets you to empathise with the deformed, and surreal hunchback primarily through the use of body language and facial expression. I don't think I could ever watch this again without some type of musical accompaniment and that would still never come close to the soundtrack I heard last night.

I was coerced into going to The Tom Tom Noodle house in the West Village, which is a part of town I usually avoid like the plague for a late meal after the show. The lure was 1$ sushi and we missed the mark by a couple of hours but still managed to avoid doing the dishes in lieu of payment. Though it was chilly on the patio the warm sake and excellent food worked together to keep us happy. I had an amazing dish that is supposedly the most popular dish in Malaysia called Beef Rendang. It was basically a curried-beef dish served over a large portion of jasmine rice and garnished with bits of mango. I highly recommend it. I even managed to run by Stout on Greenville Avenue to catch a few songs by my friend Jeff Hill's band The Sutcliffe's. Jeff was rocking the key-tar(keyboard worn like a guitar), vocals, harmonica, washboard, and Fisher-Price xylophone in fine form. I slept eventually...

Mimus...

2005-10-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

...Latest victim of "art" filters.

2005-10-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

Mimus is one of the first, if not the first character that my best friend and I created together. Colin and I met when we were just about to enter junior high. We bonded over a love of rock and roll, comic books, movies, and general lunacy. We both had older brothers that were quite influential to our interests but when we got together those interests grew exponentially. We were both aspiring artists of roughly the same ability, but Colin was also quickly becoming an accomplished guitar-player. Even before we began to create our own comics we were in the habit of creating characters for as yet unnamed projects. I remember many a conversation that began, "We could have a guy that...", and went on to describe some unusual character. The concepts discussed were often visual in nature so it's only natural that we both gravitated to being cartoonists. Ironically the first project we ever worked on together was a "film" entitled THE BATTLE OF ZENON, which was named by Scott Franzke, who along with his brother Bobby, Colin and myself comprised the film crew. We never got further than the creation of a miniature set which was comprised of dirt, and Star Wars toys painted to reflect battle scars all placed on a card table.

Colin and I progressed as artists, and unintentionally as writers as well. Encouraged by local small-press publishers, and cartoonists we met at The Dallas Fantasy Fair we created Milk Vampire Babies which was a magazine sized, and fairly ambitious project for a couple of teenagers. The final product, which was put together with help from my brother Andy under the Permanent Press imprint, was a bit rough but the experience gained was indispensable. Next we did the mini-comic MIMUS which got published by Starhead Graphics in Seattle. Starhead was a small-press comics label that was started by a couple of guys that used to live in Dallas, and I've since forgotten how we hooked up with them. As cool as that seems now we decided that we could easily self-publish our own stuff in exisiting formats we became familiar with through the mini-comics scene and so Permenant Press was reborn. We got reviewed in a few related publications and began to get orders from all over the country to our amazement. This was by no means a lot of interest but to us it was the coolest thing in the world.

Colin and I started doing more comics on our own, as opposed to as a team, but we continued to record our silly, and sometimes disturbing music under the name THE SONS OF GRAVITY. The name is laughable now, but to my addled teenage mind it was perfectly appropriate. As time went by Colin went away to college at The University of North Texas in Denton, while I stayed at home to complete my senior year in high school before going to North Texas after two years of community college. We rarely spoke during this period, and by the time we met again we had changed in unexpected ways. I had grown up a bit and become invloved in a serious, but ill-fated relationship, all the while partying with old high school friends. Colin had immersed himself in bohemian college life with all that comes with it. Without going into too much detail, Colin had a mysterious, life-changing experience that would permanently alter his behavior and life. It was years before we had a "normal" conversation but we eventually began to speak farily regularly.

Recently Colin has been putting together a new mini-comic called PERMANENT PRESS PRESENTS, which showcases many of our characters in new stories, some old sketchbook pages, and other loosely related comics. He has asked me to contribute but up until now I have been extremely lazy about producing artwork. The reasons for this are numerous but I am attempting to break the cycle. It's not much, but the drawing of Mimus is one sketch on a page I'm working on of our old characters. This is just the beginning.

2005-10-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

These guys are cooler than we'll ever be.

GANG OF FOUR!

2005-10-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

If you've been living under a rock for awhile you may not have heard that the incredible Gang of Four are back together and playing shows, in addition to putting out a new record of re-recorded versions of their classics. To this you might say, "Yeah, and...?", and I would in turn reply with the order, "Go see them play live immediately!". Seriously, if you have any kind of appreciation for live music, do yourself a big favor and check 'em out if you can. I dragged Bob along to the show, and even though he was unfamiliar with the songs, he enjoyed it quite a bit, and that says a lot. You know, the kind of show where after the first few notes, or beats of a new song the venue is littered with groups of friends giving each other the "Dude, it's this one!" look.

I'm going to rip-off some other reviewer of this particular tour and say that Andy Gill prowled the stage like a panther, or some sh*t, and was the first to take the stage, staring with a convincingly menacing look into the crowd. He did this as he played the first few jagged notes to one of their best songs. You'll have to take my word for that as I can't for the life of me remember which one it was. I CAN say that it's on Entertainment, and if you like I can try to recall which ones I'm sure it wasn't. That's easy because nearly all the songs they played where from that album, which is rightfully considered to be their best work, with Solid Gold right behind it.

Aside from being really tight, really rocking, really punk, and really funky these elder statemen of punk( sorry, I hate that phrase too...forget it ever happened.) were suprisingly hip, and energetic too. Vocalist John King prowled the stage like...uh, ran all over the place, did a lot of "hands in the air" disco contortions, did the crouching-froggy sideways leaping thing, and generally sang his ass off while often glaring over the upturned lights under each microphone. This dramatic lighting was among many of the effective elements forming the minimal aesthetic of the stage presentation that would go un-noticed if you didn't really pay attention. In an odd, couple of psychic moments Bob and I each got flashes of both Bauhaus, and Cheap Trick which surprises me in more ways than I can describe. And since they are so integral to the sound of the band I have to mention bass-player Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham. They were cool too...

2005-10-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

Drawing with a dried-up Sharpie kinda sucks!

Zee moment of truth...

2005-10-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

Who knew that the hardest part of the whole "seat-of-my-pants" recording project I've been yammering about would be deciding which mix to use?....And it's dri-ving me cray-zee! Matt sent me two final mixes to choose from, and in the simplest terms one of them is kind of rough, and the other is a bit overblown. I was ready to go with the latter until I played it for my friend Bob and he preferred the stripped-down version. I'm usually all for a less is more aesthetic when it comes to music and many other things but somehow this case is different. Maybe it's because I can't really look at the song objectively any more, who knows? I'm sure you've had the experience of being so close to a project that you can't get back far enough to look at it, well that's what I'm going through here. So what did I go and do? I sent both versions of the song to 5 friends and/or relatives to get their opinions. This accomplishes two things: I get to show off, or perhaps show how truly stupid I can be, as well as getting the feedback I need from a group whose opinons on music I respect.

It's going to be really interesting to see what kind of a response I get. Not only from the folks I've mentioned but from other friends, family, and fellow contributors to this project. I can't wait to see my parents faces when they hear this thing. My Dad listens to light alternative or something on the radio, while my Mother is into horrible young country, Celine Dion and other mind-rot. They won't really have a context to judge this in so it could go in any direction. Most likely they will smile, and nod with some sort of vaguely positive, obligatory response. I'm looking forward to hearing what my nephew has to say. Jonathan is a very cool fifteen year old with good taste in music. He's also an aspiring musician amongst many other talents.

The best thing is that I'm finally starting to feel like I'm using my creativity again. In addition to the music thing I've been slowly getting back into working on my more natural aptitude; drawing. I've been completing a two-page story I did most of a few years back for a comic my old friend Colin is putting together. Colin is an extremely talented artist and guitar-player, as well as being very influential to me in my youth, which I'm almost completely in favor of. It's like a Garagepunk forum dork-out month around here but I wanted to mention that the image above is what I drew today to label the excellent cd I recieved from rontokyo a few months back. Yeah, I'm kinda slow...

2005-09-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Soon these worlds collide!

I've just returned from Mecca...

2005-09-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

...no not actually the holy land but a holy land amongst Dallas' diners, The Mecca. It's been around for at least 20 years (I'm guessing), and despite the fact that it's basically in the neighborhood I grew up in I've somehow avoided it until now. It's in a cool, two-story building on a slightly disreputable street known as a good place to run into ladies of the night, Harry Hines Blvd. It's your typical diner/greasy spoon, maybe a bit cleaner but with great food and a decent ambience, if you will. I had the stuffed bell pepper, with whipped potatoes, green beans almondine, rolls, cornbread and iced tea...TASTY!

In other culturally significant news it seems that THE ROCKENING will be held in Memphis this year, rather than New Orleans for obvious reasons. Here' the scoop via Eric Oblivian on the Goner board:

at the risk of blowing scott's thing... (it's now SCOTT'S THING!), here's what he's working on (THIS MAY CHANGE, and BANDS ARE NOT PLAYING IN THIS ORDER necessarily... )

Thursday Oct 27 @ Buccaneer TearJerkers ,River City Tanlines ,Dutch Masters ,Die Rotzz, Redondo Beat Friday Oct 28 @ Hi Tone King Louie One Man Band, Carbonas,Tough & Lovely, Jenny Jeans ,Live Fast Die Saturday Oct 29 @ Hi Tone Quintron, King Khan & BBQ Show ,Black Lips, Kajun SS

maybe after parties, goner instores tba. stay tuna.

And for those of you keeping score at home I should be able to post an Mp3 of my song for the UNDER THE COVERS comp. by early this week. (Anybody know how to?...e-mail me PLEASE!) Matt's too busy to finish the mixing right now. Coincidentally, Sundazed Records has just released a 45 rpm/7- inch single featuring songs by the 1960's incarnation of West Texas' own Sparkles and wouldn't you know it but the song I'm covering (HIPSVILLE 29 B.C) is on the sucker. I gots to get it...

2005-09-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

Relevant picture won't work...Gratuitous Dobbsheads for you!!

Losin' It

2005-09-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

...is the title of a cheesy, "coming-of-age" movie from the early-eighties that starred Shelly Long, and Tom Cruise before they were very well known. For some reason certain scenes from this film have been etched on my brain. The plot involves a small group of high school buddies that make a trip to Tijuana to lose their virginity. They somehow run into Long's character and one of the guys actually ends up "losin' it" to her instead of the obligatory hooker. Various memories include a rather racy song performed by the dj guy at a strip club/whorehouse that cleverly uses the word "Tijuana" in place of the phrase "Do you wanna?"(as in "Tijuana take your mother to the gang bang? Yes you do, it's been a long time since she had a screw..") and a scene in which some thugs have hoisted one of the kids into the air with a crane at a junkyard, and while preparing to fry his genitals with a blowtorch exclaims, "You are huugge!!" in an exaggerated Mexican accent(this was in response to the fact that said teen had stuffed his pants). It's one of those movies I'm not sure if I'd enjoy today, but I sure loved it as a youngster. The title also describes my current mental state pretty accurately.

Matt and I got the drums recorded last weekend but we haven't had a chance to do the final mix. He's got his wifes' whole family from Houston at his place right now to wait out Hurricane Rita. We had to haul all his recording equipment over to a friends place to use his drum kit. I managed to bang out the rhythm without too much trouble, and I'm anxious to see what it sounds like with the other tracks. There was one casualty in the form of Matt's monitor. He clipped the corner of the driveway when we pulled in after the recording and the base of his clear, plastic Mac monitor was broken. This was slightly ironic as Matt had stated earlier that Mac products are quite durable. I still think the Mac cult is mostly an image/ aesthetic thing. They make some cool stuff but the cultists are usually a bit snobbish in my opinion. That doesn't mean I wouldn't mind having one of those I-Pod Nanos though...

2005-09-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

Under-rated Geniuses of Rock and Roll!

"Things Are Getting Better"

2005-09-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

Things ARE getting better, and that is also the name of a song on the Kinks, self-titled first album.I've got a Kinks sticker on my car that I made at work( I do that kind of thing for a living so it looks berry professional, thank you!), so you could say they are one of my top five bands. I feel like a bit of a poseur about it though as I only have like three of their albums. This is something I plan to remedy just as soon as the finances permit though. Despite the lack of Davies-penned albums in my collection I feel that I am entitled to display his bands logo on my vehicle. The only other stickers presently on my car are an "anti-Bush" sticker a friend made, and a Riverboat Gamblers sticker. I have two of the three Gamblaz' albums and I have seen them a gazillion times so I feel fine about that one, and I want the world to know that I hate GWB so that's great too. I'm at that crucial point in stickering ones car where I might start to become one of those guys with a lot of stickers on their (insert car synonym here). I'm trying to keep it minimal you see.

I've really been getting into other peoples blogs as of late and it makes me feel that mine is little more than an online diary. So be it, besides I really only look at mp3 blogs, and I shamelessly download a ton of great music off of them. There are actually too many to realistically see them all(or list them), and there are very few that I can say that I read with any amount of retension of information. I have recently run into a little trouble, however. At first I was playing Russian Roulette with the mp3's I would download, burning them to disc without so much as one listening in many cases. This was done based on band name/song title/ and style, and I had great initial results. There's not much that can go wrong when you have The Wipers, The Big Boys, The Angry Samoans and other relatively well-established artists to work with. It was when I began to get cocky, and/or greedy that I set myself up for a WHOLE lot of song-skipping. It's fun to have a mystery cd to some extent but those little slabs-o-digital fun aren't free, and I guess I'll have to start being a bit more selective.

This Sunday Matt Louis and I really are going to finish up the recording project. Last Sunday got cancelled as the fellow with the drum kit was holed-up watching what I consider to be the equivalent of watching paint dry, The Dallas Cowboys. YECHHHH!!!

2005-09-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

Sacred ground now underwater. Soul great Ernie K-Doe's(1936 - 2001) world famous Mother-in-Law Lounge.

For what it's worth...

2005-09-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

This was originally posted by Kopper, the fine fellow that runs the Garagepunk.com forum, and is also the host of The Wayback Machine radio show in St. Louis. Like a lot of these online petition/letter sending campaigns I'm not sure what effect it will really have but if it has ANY effect at all than it has served a purpose:

IS IT TIME TO BRING THE NATIONAL GUARD HOME FROM IRAQ? (take action now) After 5 years of laughing off or suppressing sound policy advice, the criminal neglect of our REAL homeland security by the Bush administration has now resulted in the total loss of a major American city. And where is our National Guard and all their equipment that are supposed to be here to protect and save us? They are being ground up in the sand half a planet away for absolutely nothing but the arrogant, uncaring and obstinate pride of our chief executive, who is mentally incapable of admitting or correcting any mistake ever. We must DEMAND that our national guard come home now. http://www.usalone.net/nationalguard.htm The form above will send your personal message to all your members of Congress, and now you can send a letter also to the editor of your nearest daily newspaper at the SAME time, all with one click. Our troops in Iraq need to come home immediately. Not a year from now, not a month from now, NOW now. Is there not a SINGLE politician with the courage to stand up and speak the truth? When enough of US speak up it will happen. We must take PERSONAL responsibility for our government and what it does. Is it the destiny of our country to be utterly destroyed in pursuit of vain foreign conquests, as was Rome so many centuries ago, to where they could no longer protect their own homeland? Is that what is meant by the words "finish the job"? What insanity misled us to this terrible PREVENTABLE tragedy, where pleas for critically needed levee repairs were ignored to finance war profits and tax cuts for this administration's personal cronies. They can't even recruit for the National Guard anymore because it's nothing but a ticket straight to a desert hellhole. Bring the guard home now. We must reach out to our fellow citizens every way we can. Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this message to everyone else you know.

And if you don't think you should care about the people of New Orleans out of compassion for your fellow man, then read this (which I also snatched off of a post made by Don Julio Blanco on Garagepunk.com)...

Mop Top Mike mentioned that he has friends in New Orleans. Anybody who's ever enjoyed jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul has friends in New Orleans. Anybody who thinks of music beyond symphonies or elevators has friends in New Orleans. That music was created by and for the same people who are now homeless, dazed, hungry, and sick. They shared their homegrown music with the rest of us. For that alone the residents of New Orleans deserve our eternal gratitude. The world is a better place because of New Orleans music and musicians. I can't think of another city anywhere that I could make that statement about. Other cities' music histories can usually be summarized neatly in a book or two, if that. New Orleans music history requires its own bookcase.

People today don't realize that 100 years ago, there was no such thing as an improvised solo in band music. That was a New Orleans concept. A group or orchestra playing from head arrangements instead of written ones was a New Orleans concept. Incredibly important, innovative ideas that we now take for granted were not created at the great centers of western culture by comfortable, trained white musicians but rather the sons of slaves and prostitutes in the back alleys and disreputable dance halls in the same neighborhoods that are now underwater. Millions of words have been written attempting to understand how that happened. Nobody has successfully answered that yet. Classically trained musicians in Chicago called this music jazz as a put-down to discourage people from listening to this horrible new sound when it first came there. New Orleanians got the last laugh. They always did. New Orleans has been fighting for its individuality against the ever increasing onslaught of rigid Anglo-American orthodoxy for 200 years.

In the end it was the water, not conformity, that did them in. They will rebuild. The levees will finally be reinforced, new power lines will go up, shiny prefab houses will replace the 19th Century plantation and shotgun houses out in the West End. Students will file into Layola and Tulane like they once did. But the soul of the city will never be rebuilt. Who in their right mind would want to go drink a 'Hurricane' on Bourbon Street ever again, knowing the horrors and devastation that occured in 2005? The city went from a place of celebration to a place of mourning in 24 hours. This is an irreplacable loss for America.

2005-09-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

Priorities: Unsure...Giant Tub of Beer: Check!

Obligatory post!

2005-09-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

That's right kids, this is that "oh-so-special" blog entry that comes when it's been a while since my last one. Expect little, and you might enjoy it. Which brings me to a bit of advice I think would benefit many of you(this is primarily directed at people that probably don't read this tripe). It seems that there is an ever-growing trend out there, particularly among the young( by young I mean below middle-age...and what IS middle age now?) of feeling unjustly entitled. In other words, everybody wants something for nothing. Well, all I have to say about that is unless you've got dirt on someone, a sugar-mama/daddy, or just a rich daddy, it AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. Oh, and if you think I'm going to put up with the behavior that this mindset inspires you can think again. This is where all these "30 thousand-dollar a year millionaires" are sprouting up from. I don't know about anywhere else, but Dallas is literally crawling with them. You might have noted that I've been a little bitter lately. I'm hoping it will subside soon.

In more important matters my deepest sympathies go out to those who have been effected by hurricane Katrina. I don't personally know anyone that currently lives there but it's overwhelming to think about what has happened nonetheless. On the purely selfish side I noticed that on the Goner Records message board that they are thinking about relocating The Rockening from New Orleans to either Jackson, Miss. or Atlanta, Ga. I mention this because I'm really looking forward to it and it would be really cool to meet some of these folks, many of which are going through a very difficult time. This may be a good time for them to blow off some of this tremendous stress and celebrate life with some great music. I'll admit I haven't been watching any of the flood footage on TV but I've seen some photos on the web, and the most connected to the event that I've felt has been from reading personal accounts from the many musicians, and fans on the Goner board. It has been very inspiring to see how generous people have been with offers of accomodations, food, and job leads. For someone who only a few years ago was anti-internet, and particularly anti-forum/chat room (still hate IM/chatrooms) I have learned not to citicize things I don't know about once again. I have this recurring trend where I end up fully embracing the very things I was adamantly against at some earlier point. I don't think of this as a lack of conviction, or flakiness, but as the talent to recognize my ability to be wrong, as well as the need for personal evolution. How you say PSYCHO-BABBLE!?

2005-08-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

The Kings of Budget Rock!

I can SING! (sort of)

2005-08-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

Well, Matt Louis and I wrapped up the majority of the recording last night, and if I do say so myself it sounds pretty durn good. We basically started from scratch as I had my head planted firmly in me arse the previous night but it worked out better this time anyway. We even finally got that "fuzzy" tone I wanted for the overdub of the main guitar riff. But the most suprising part of the whole process was recording the vocals. As far as I know I had never done any kind of decent recording of any of my "music" let alone documented my attempts at serious vocals. If I hadn't been in on all the action I wouldn't have known the voice that emerged was mine. This isn't to say that I sang in an overly affected manner, or that Matt put some kind of crazy effect on my voice, it's just that the sound you get from a decent microphone when singing over your own music somehow sounds better. Of course I'm biased, but it sounds pretty cool.

The only things we need to do at this point are replace the sampled drums with real ones and do the final mix. What's even greater is that Matt says he'd like to do more of this in the future. He's used to playing and recording at the same time so this has been a good way for him to get more experience with recording. I've been really lucky to have friends like I do that can allow me this type of experience. Thanks to Randy Parker and Matt Louis! I can't wait to get the comp. cd and listen to my song amongst all the other contributions.

In more exciting rock and roll news my buddy "Wild Bill" Ivy just hipped me to the fact that the legendary Mummies are supposed to be playing at the Rockening in New Orleans, La. just before Halloween. I'd sell a kidney to be there, but I may be able to avoid that.

2005-08-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

I do not know the nice lady with the SCARY clown paintings.

People still freak me out!

2005-08-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

You know how things will be going along just swimmingly and then all of a sudden some (I hesitate to use the word)...PERSON has to go and do something to remind you that not everyone thinks, or behaves the way you do or would like them to. Why does this have to happen? I'm just constantly amazed at the oblivious and thoughtless behavior exhibited by many of my peers. (and by some of those well above, or below me on the social heirarchy... oh yeah, sometimes by me too!) I guess the reason I mention this is that a friend of mine that I have known for over two years casually asked me what I did for a living during a conversation recently. Now I realize that I don't talk about work much, but unless you have a really interesting job then I'd suggest you don't either. It just kind of sends a signal to me that this person might be a bit more self-centered than I thought. I already knew he was absent-minded with a tendency to drone on about his every activity. Maybe it's just me.

A few random thoughts...

This weekend Matt Louis and I are going to record my opus...a mind-bending version of Hipsville 29 B.C. by The Sparkles. We plan to use anything we can get our hands on for percussion and to keep it really crude. I plan to channel the spirit of the seemingly more-alive-than ever Roky Erickson( of Thirteenth Floor Elevators fame) when I let loose with my patented demented, white boy vocals. Roky has been more lucid in the last few years due to taking his medication, and he's been performing more and more around the Austin area. I must see him at all costs.

I'm ready for summer to be over. Bring on the Nordic Frost, post haste.

What was going on in the 1970's that made scary clown paintings, big-eyed kid/Margaret Keane paintings, and depressing music so popular? I mean I love them all, but I'm a little odd. It seems like there was some kind of hazy, yellow melancholy that blanketed most pop culture of that era. What's popular in the mainstream today couldn't be more different. Gordon Lightfoot could only exist as some kind of college/indie/Drag City recordsish character. If for no other reason than the fact that an attention span, a capacity for abstract thought and the ability to appreciate music with real human emotion are required to enjoy this type of expression it couldn't happen today. I still can't explain how anything other than ironic humor is gained from that weird ass artwork though.

2005-08-05T14:43:00.000-07:00

Old Ink Drawing with NEW cheesy color.

Hipsville 29 B.C...

2005-08-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

...is the title of a song originally recorded by a West Texas band called THE SPARKLES that was active in the '50's and '60's. They seem to have started out like most groups of the time playing early rock and roll, which was an mix of country(and western), and blues that sometimes careened into rockabilly. They stayed together long enough to change with the times and this song in particular is the only one I'm actually that familiar with. It sounds like a lot of "garage" type songs with simple fuzzed out guitar, and the singer channels a little James Brown to great effect, but the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts as they say.

I'm going to record my own version of it with the help of some friends in the next few weeks and I'm getting pretty amped about it. I haven't recorded music in any form since college and never in a manner approaching professionalism. I may end up playing a majority of the instruments but I will at least play rhythm guitar and sing lead. The motivation into these largely uncharted waters came in the form of a call for entries in the Shakin' Street forum on Garagepunk.com. They are asking for '60's covers focusing on garage rock. They seem to be pretty lax in their standards though I think they're expecting people to suprise themselves which I hope is the case. I remember the reference to something like "a guy with a tape recorder and an out-of-tune guitar" and this can be a beautiful asethetic if you are at all familiar with tastes that run toward the LO-FI or RAW/PRIMITIVE. This is not to say that there aren't some certifiable "legends" of various eras involved, like Tom Kirby of TONTO AND THE RENEGADES fame whose song "Little Boy Blue" is a very well known example of the genre. The tentative title for the compilation is Under the Covers, and I like it.

I also wanted to mention the fact that my big screen debut occured on Wednesday night at of all places The Studio Movie Grill in Plano, Tx. I had a walk-on in my friend Justin's short film THE HISTORY OF THE LURKERS which is going to be part of an anthology of shorts based on H.P. Lovecraft stories. This is just a warm up for the debut of his feature length POT ZOMBIES in which I have a larger role. This should come out in the next few months.

http://www.thesparkles.net/

(Check out Pot Zombies at Myspace!)

2005-07-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

Kind of...

BLOGdundancy!

2005-07-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, I have this blog thing. I've been lost in the sauce for a while, but one thing I'm pretty sure of is the fact that most blogs truly suck. Add that to the fact that there are so dang many of them and you've got one big, nasty mess. The worst of them all are the ones that document the minutiae of some (usually boring) fools life, and I guess the second worst are the ones that simply parrot other sites for news, or links in lieu of any real content. I won't even touch on the half-assed attempts by teens, children, businessmen, or religious zealots. About the only ones I've been able to tolerate are the cream of the crop of the underground music blogs, and photo blogs. Some folks seem to view their blog as the new milennium's answer to the "family newsletter". Every family has at least one relative(usually that oddly chipper aunt) that compiles an all-encompassing list of the activities and major events in their clan, right? Blogs and this type of document share the following attributes:

1. They often blather on and on about insignificant information.(Lil' Timmy took his first poo today, etc.)
2. They gloat about personal accomplishments.
3. The information is generally about people and activities that
are either unknown or irrelevant.

That being said here are some links to a few blogs that seem to have some merit. At least they post easily downloadable mp3's of music I actually enjoy...

http://blog.wfmu.org/
http://www.sexkittenscratches.blogspot.com/
http://vinyljourney.blogspot.com/
http://somethingilearned.blogspot.com/
http://strangereaction.com/
http://www.spoiltvictorianchild.co.uk/

2005-07-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

Musklat Rove...

Willis Alan Ramsey, and Jim Lauderdale.

2005-07-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

I had a lucky birthday yesterday. It started off well when I awoke to a lovely hand made card ftom Kara, and then received a free breakfast-pizza(?) from some poor Papa John's guy when I was getting gas on the way to work.(?) I then proceeded to get a free lunch consisiting of a steak, baked potato, green beans, Texas toast, and iced tea. The best part was getting free tickets to see two of the most talented singer-songwriter's alive today at the Granada Theatre. The Granada is one of the nicest, if not THE nicest venue in Dallas and if they would book a more diverse group of bands I'd gladly go there more often.

Bob and I walked in just after Jim Lauderdale's set had begun and though I was familiar with the name from KHYI (95.3-The Range) and the paper I was hesitant at first. I was completely mesmerized within minutes. This Nashville based(go figure) musician is extremely talented and has a long list of accomplishments including having songs recorded by George Jones, and making records with bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley(made really famous by the O' Brother Where Art Though? soundtrack.) As I listened I realized that I already really liked a few of these songs as I had heard them repeatedly on The Range and I had no idea who they were done by. If you like Gram Parsons, Gene Clark, George Jones, Johhny Cash and others I suggest checking him out. I need to buy some of this stuff.

http://www.jimlauderdale.com/

Willis Alan Ramsey took the stage with all the stage prescence of somebodys stoned uncle wipping out his guitar at a barbecue to play some Skynnard, Dylan or some such fare. But after a bit of a rough start he proceeded to blow minds. I won't go into too much detail here but Willis Alan Ramsey(WAR) is one of those legendary artists that is very well known, and loved amongst Americana/Country/Folk/Blues musicians and the die-hard fans but otherwise completely unknown. He released ONE self-titled album in 1972 that was met with much acclaim. Apparently it was too much acclaim for the young WAR to handle so he backed off from the whole affair, WAY off. As far as I know he hadn't performed at all until the last year or so since the mid-seventies but that didn't stop him from influencing virtually every artist that could fall under the nebulous Progressive Country/Americana/Alt-Country(eww!)/Outlaw/yadda,yadda umbrella. Lyle Lovett is perhaps the most obvious example of this and WAR even co-wrote some of Lyle's songs including "That's right you're not from Texas". The crowd of mostly grey-haired folks knew all the words and get very excited when WAR played the hits, so it made for a great time.

I'll have to admit that I was a bit let down that he didn't play his best known song "Muskrat Candlight", renamed "Muskrat Love" and made famous by The Captain and Tennille, but at the same time I can undertand his aversion to the song. WAR is releasing a new album and I hope for his sake that it catapults him to the level of fame and fortune he so greatly deserves.

http://www.willisalanramsey.com/

http://www.khyi.com/

2005-07-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

Shriners. NOT Oddfellows.

I.O.O.F. and the proposed Freedom Tower.

2005-07-08T19:29:00.000-07:00

I don't believe I've mentioned this before but I am a member of a secret society. That's right, it's SO secret that I'll tell you (almost) all about it and our members are proud to display related emblems, and symbols on their bodies, cars, and clothing among other things. There are secret rituals, signs, and grips that can't be revealed to a non-member but the wacky, mystical incantations and human/animal sacrifice are kept to a minimum. I've been a member of the International Order of Oddfellows(I.O.O.F) , Waxahachie Lodge # 80 for more than a year now and I'm currently trying to interest a few friends in the group.

The Oddfellows are referred to as "a friendly society" meaning that membership is open to anyone, and this goes along with the strong themes of socialization and helping one another out. The motto is Fellowship( or Friendship), Love, and Truth or F.L.T. for short and is most often represented within three links of chain. In some ways it is not so different from the Mason's parody on the Simpson's where the "Stonecutters" are wearing cloaks and other ritualistic garb and then someone screams, "Now let's get drunk and play ping-pong!!", but it's more serious than that and we do more than our share of charity work.

This might sound like something your grandpa would be into, and if it weren't for the extremely diverse make-up of our lodge you might be right. There is a core group of gentlemen in their 60's and above that have been members for many years but there is a larger group of younger men that have such disparate professions as gallery owner, artist( tattoo, fine art, graphic-design, etc.), software developer, contractor, teacher, musician, etc. Many of these individuals own their own successful businesses as well. It's been a worthwhile experience and I plan to get more involved as time permits.

http://www.oddfellows.co.uk/history.htm

The following is from David Byrnes journal NOT blog. It's about the proposed replacement for the Twin Towers and I thought it was pretty dead-on:

"The new proposal is a glass tower on a massive fortified concrete base. 20 stories (!!) high almost windowless concrete. Basically, a fortress. Or a prison. It wouldn’t look out of place to have a gun turret or anti-aircraft weaponry on the roof. My daddy’s reaction was, “this says: ‘we have no faith in the future.’” I think he’s right. The site could have stood for all that is good and open and innovative about the United States. The can-do spirit, the possibility of re-invention, tolerance of all kinds of weirdos, mixtures of a multitude of races and creeds, all living together. Sometimes the U.S. is like that anyway. And the site could be a way of saying THIS is what we believe in and what we stand for.
This instead is a big fuck you to the rest of the world at the entrance of NY harbor, it says we are isolationist, protectionist and closed. As dad suggests it says we don’t think things will get better, we don’t believe good will triumph; instead we think things will get a lot worse. It’s back to medieval days for us..."

"On a purely practical level, what kind of attack are the people who thought of this expecting? A car bomb that could somehow get across a well-protected plaza? Didn’t the previous attack come from the air?
I think it’s not really about the practicalities of security or protection, but about symbolizing an attitude, a climate of fear and of a walled-in nation."

http://www.davidbyrne.com/journal/current.php

I couldn't agree more with Mr. Big Suit. This sums up the overall mood that hangs over our lives right now, one of apprehension, fear, and confusion. But what's with a grown man referring to his father as "daddy"? Creepy! The challenge is balancing awareness of the trouble in the world with a complete disregard for the same. It seems that distancing ones self, or desensitizing to some degree is appropriate. I plan to immerse myself even further in my obsessions.

2005-07-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

The namesake of one of my favorite breakfast sandwiches.

Juan Epstein...Ubu...Wiki-Wiki-Wiki!

2005-07-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

That might be the most non-sensical title for one of these here posts yet but it is based in reality, and here's how. Kara and I are switching gears yet again but I'll get into that soon enough. We made our traditional weekend breakfast of scrambled eggs, cheese, and salsa on a bagel a couple of times over the holiday. I decided that as they are a sort of combination of two very different cultures cuisines a fitting name was in order, and from now on they shall be known as Juan Epsteins after the character from the TV show WELCOME BACK KOTTER. For those of you not in the know he was the self-described "Puerto Rican Jew".

The UBU part refers to the web site Ubuweb.com( which is temporarily down except for the bit I'm about to talk about). From what I remember the site usually covers avant-garde and experimental music leaning towards performance art. I believe they had some footage of Joseph Beuys, and Michael Peppe among others and the Ubu may refer to the band Pere Ubu but I digress. In 2003 they embarked on the ambitious project of posting one mp3 by an Outsider Musican a day for a year, thus THE 356 DAYS PROJECT.

http://www.ubu.com/outsiders/365/

I've only scratched the surface with these songs but I can say that the version of Kenny Roger's "Lady" by Wooshie Spkamoto now ranks among my all-time favorite songs. Even those familiar with the genre known as Outsider Music will find a lot to take in. The conspicuous absence of the usual suspects (Wesley Willis, Hasil Adkins, Mrs. Miller, Daniel Johnston, etc, etc.) makes one realize that we are in the midst of the TRUE devotees and obsessives of this stuff. WFMU dj Irwin Chusid is represented along with The Hoof & Mouth Sinfonia and the track "Next", and the selections were curated by a looong list of folks including musician R. Stevie Moore. RSM brings me to my next subject, the website WIKIPEDIA.COM the free and interactive encyclopedia. Here's the entry I made for him yesterday which some kind soul already took the time to expand, and improve upon...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Stevie_Moore

I found the site when it kept popping up while I was Googling various subjects. I finally gave in and it's pretty amazing just for the sheer amount of information it contains and for the revolutionary hands on feel. I felt honored that my entry wasn't just automatically deleted, and I just felt Mr. Moore deserved a mention.

2005-06-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

Stolen from somewhere..."The Symbolic Lotus of a Thousand Colonels."

More Wacky Social Commentary!

2005-06-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

"This is the real battle occurring on planet Earth. The winners and losers of this battle are what truly determine the "evolution" of societies and the world. Now, and in the past, most of what is being sold is trash, as it usually denies and oppresses that which is capable of believing and attaching meaning - you and your mind. Your mind and everyone else's minds are the true source of any quality of life that will ever exist. Solely and completely. Recognition, education into the functions, and empowerment of minds results in success, decency, morality, strength, sanity and greatness. Denial and suppression of these things results in failure, perversions, immorality, weakness, insanity and mediocrity. Materialism as a belief system has the effect of denying these things."

"This is not an argument of materialism versus spirituality. Almost all historical periods, even when characterized by "religious" or "spiritual" influences, have been actually "materialistic" because Man's mind was largely neglected and oppressed in favor of arbitrary belief systems about the physical universe and man's relationship to it. The history of this planet has been mainly characterized by the use of force against Man and his mind to alter belief and behavior, whether these forces were "religious", "political", "economic" or "social". Any perceived dichotomy of "materialism" versus "spirituality" is an illusion and is not part of this discussion. Materialism here means the viewing of everything as inherently physical, with the neglect of man's mind a usual by-product of such a view. Religions have done this as much as any modern "scientific" materialism. "

...uh, cool. I wish I knew where I got the above quotes from because I think it's good food for thought(no pun intended). Since I'm getting all quote-crazy (or lazy) here's a great, and much shorter one from a formerly brilliant comedian...

"The Theory:

The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends up. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death. What's that, a bonus? I think the whole life cycle is backwards.

You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating.........you finish off as an orgasm."

-George Carlin

Yes you guessed it...I have nothing to say right now but I didn't want ya'll to think I forgot about you. I'm greatly looking forward to this weekend for many reasons including: seeing my brother Andy and his family who are moving back from Cincinatti after years away, a four-day weekend, and having money for the first time in weeks. I think Kara and I are going to go to a cook-out at my folks place much like most people.

2005-06-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

Young Steve Alba.

I'm coming out of retirement...

2005-06-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

That statement is really applicable to most aspects of my life at this time but I'll focus on the area relating to the cool photo above(which was taken by the great Glen E. Friedman and hastily edited by myself). I'm itching to do some "real" skateboarding again for the first time in years. I never lost interest in it, but I haven't skated more than a day or two a year for some time now. Reasons for this renewed interest are numerous but include feeling like getting back to my roots, having friends that are into it/back into it, needing some exercise, missing the feeling of skating, availability of good decks and wheels again, the explosion of cement skateparks, and the movie Dogtown and Z-boys.

Having said that you might find it strange(if you're an obsessive old-school skateboarding nut like me) that I chose to have someone other than Tony Alva, Jay Adams, or another of the infamous Z-boys pictured above. I thought this was a very cool photo of a great pool-skater, and he is riding an Alva board. Not only that but it reminds me of the time I was skating at the best ditch in the world(or at least Dallas), whip 'n dip and some smartass "new school" skater kid thought he was insulting me by calling me Steve Alba because of my "dated" skate-style. I'd be willing to bet that in the 15-ish years since then he has either got a clue and loosened up his trucks, quit skating( because how fun can it be to ride on a board that doesn't turn), or become a roller-blader(yechhh!). It makes me feel fortunate to have been exposed to real skateboarding just before the advent of the new-school. The guys I skated with were old-school even for the time. Their trucks were so loose they were about to fall off, and they had little or no desire for their wheels to leave the ground. It was a real education in carving, grinding and riding ditches and parking garages. Thanks especially to Dave and Mandon.

I also skated with some guys that were more into street-skating and that was fun too but I'm glad I got the foundation I did by just riding a skateboard the way it was designed to. There's a kick-ass new cement skatepark in Allen which is about 30 minutes North of here that I'm dying to ride. I've got to get a good set-up before I do though. Right now all I've got is a 4-foot long Powell longboard, and a popsicle board and neither of them would do for carving transition. I'm currently researching all the "pig" boards I can but the Factory 13, Deathbox, and Alva boards are looking pretty good to me. I really don't care what I ride as long as it's fat and feels good when I'm grinding coping. I'm actually on the lookout for ditches and abandoned pools a lot lately as I drive around. I wonder if I can wash my salty, smelly old rector pads?

These here are related linkage:

Pretty cool article I stumbled upon...
http://www.thelandofplenty.org/skateordie.html

See this before LORDS OF DOGTOWN...
http://www.sonyclassics.com/dogtown/

Best Skate mag around...
http://www.concretewavemagazine.com/

2005-06-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

Leonardo gets introspective.

'Bout to jump outta my skin!

2005-06-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

I realize I've been getting boringly personal, and whiny lately but as this is a non-commercial venture that's probably more about the act of creating the blog than trying to address the "audience" I don't feel so bad. If it is more about the act itself I guess that would make it conceptual and I generally try to avoid that term and things it encompasses with a ten-foot pole. So in other words I'm going through a period of great transition, a crossroads in life as it were. I'm engaging in some cliched "soul-searching" type activities like growing a beard, going on solo walks, listening to depressing music, playing my acoustic guitar a lot, and questioning my beliefs. It's a laugh riot.

I am getting very amped up about my sadly-neglected creativity though. I'm about to burst with the desire to start a band, a loud band, a cathartic, rockin' band. I need to find a drummer that plays like a shitty Keith Moon, or a reasonable facsimile thereof. I'm at the point with my guitar playing where I either need to learn more technical information or start bashing out some rock AND roll(filtered through punk, natch). I vote for the latter, especially since the aesthetic I have the greatest appreciation for stresses expression over virtuosity. I feel like painting, and doing some print-making and other artsy stuff. Hell, even interpretive dance is starting to look good. (This is in jest, of course) I may do some painting, but what I am going to do is finish this comic book that's been hanging over my head for a few years now. That's right, I've had my head so far up my ass that I haven't been able to bring myself to complete a nearly-done comic that will be published upon completion. I'll scan some pages to show you what I'm talking about, but it's based on a local film called CORNMAN: AMERICAN VEGETABLE HERO by Barak Epstein, which is really quite funny in a Troma kinda way. I know Barak wishes he'd never met me because though he's liked what I've done, he wanted it a loooong time ago. I need to finish it so I can start work on my next comic project which will be created entirely by myself. Somebody kick my ass if I'm not done with Cornman by 2006!

http://www.cornman2.com/

2005-06-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

Rick Griffin art featured at the Texas Surf Museum.

I'm back, I think...

2005-06-10T23:38:00.000-07:00

If I ever again have some kind of weird logic for coming back to work on a Friday when I could have had the day off you have my permission to smack me. At least I will be that much closer to reality when I return after the weekend. Forgive me if this is short, and not to the point. perhaps bordering on cloudy. Kara stayed in Corpus for a bit of an extended stay and when I got to the casa last night I felt like being sociable so I went to Bob's place. I ended up having a few beers and then I didn't sleep very well, so I'm feeling sorta rough today. I don't miss feeling like this and usually worse at work on a daily basis. I'm glad to be a lightweight these days, and for few years now.

The trip was a lot of fun, despite the lack of activities. It was relaxing and I even enjoyed the drive. Kara and I had a good time with Steve, and Ericka. Steve and I even got in some guitar-playing, and skateboarding. We ended up skating a couple of ditches, my favorite one was called HOT LIPS, which seems to be a completely arbitrary monker. Corpus is a nicer town than I'd imagined. It's pretty laid-back, and if you're into the beach thing you can sort of think of it as a poor man's Cali. The architecture seems to have hit a plateau in the 60's and 70's which is mostly a good thing. I guess that's when the town stopped growing, which I believe had something to do with the oil industry( don't most things?). I even visted the TEXAS SURF MUSEUM, which isn't as pointless as it seems. The waves can't really compete with more famous surf towns but you can really surf there. The museum was kinda cool, and they even had some original Rick Griffin art including some covers and illustrations for Surfer Magazine. Rick Griffin was one of the original psychedelic poster artists and underground cartoonists of the 60's.

It was great to see my old pal Billy in San Antonio. It was exactly as predicted and a nice way to break up the drive back home. I ate nothing but Mexican food the two days and nights I was there. I could eat that stuff everyday. We drank beer and listened to good music while filling each other in on the last few years. Bill was living in Brooklyn and hanging out with a large contingent of Denton musicians and artists all loosely related to the former Good/Bad Art Collective. He had too much fun and realized that he's happier in a less metropolitan town. I guess it really says something about Dallas that for years now whenever I visit another place I immediately want to move there. Corpus and San Antone started looking really good to me, but I'm still trying to find some utopia in the Northern U.S.

On a more somber note Kara and I are taking a break from each others company for a short time. Without going into too much detail, it's something that needs to happen if we want our relationship to be successful in the future. We've been dealt a tough hand since we got together and though it will be a big adjustment we both feel it's the right thing to do. Maybe I'll get off my kiester and produce some artwork now.