An Cathach

Peas in a Pod

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:21:00 +0000

This week I've been mostly...obsessing over Shannon Shaw's voice.

Hit the Iron Bell

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:05:00 +0000

Move over Dan Savage (of Savage Love). A soon to be unveiled author currently writing as 'Sugar' for The Rumpus has been providing insightful, witty and often brilliant advice in response to reader emails. His/Her identity will be unveiled next Tuesday on February 14th. One of my favourite pieces to date is #41: Like an Iron Bell. After reading this a few weeks ago i thought to myself 'Yes, yes, a hundred times yes'. I've picked out some of the highlights below but the full column is worth reading.

Dear Johnny,
The last word my mother ever said to me was love. She was so sick and weak and out of her head she couldn't muster the “I” or the “you,” but it didn't matter. That puny word has the power to stand on its own...My mother’s last word to me clanks inside me like an iron bell that someone beats at dinnertime: love, love, love, love, love.

I suppose you think this has nothing to do with your question, Johnny, but it has everything to do with my answer. It has everything to do with every answer I have ever given to anyone. It’s Sugar’s genesis story. And it’s the thing my mind kept swirling back to over these five weeks since you wrote to me and said you didn't know the definition of love...The best thing you can possibly do with your life is to tackle the motherfucking shit out of it.

Do you realize that your refusal to utter the word love to your lover has created a force field all its own? Withholding distorts reality. It makes the people who do the withholding ugly and small-hearted. It makes the people from whom things are withheld crazy and desperate and incapable of knowing what they actually feel.

So release yourself from that. Don’t be strategic or coy. Strategic and coy are for jackasses. Be brave. Be authentic. Practice saying the word love to the people you love so when it matters the most to say it, you will.

We’re all going to die, Johnny.
Hit the iron bell like it’s dinnertime.
Yours,
Sugar

To read the full letter and response (and to find more 'Dear Sugar') click here

Bell Image: PrindleStation

Bangin' On The Dashboard

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:39:00 +0000

M.I.A returns with tires blazing and bhangra beats swirling, to vamp it up in the new video for 'Bad Girls'. Romain Gavras who previously directed her video for 'Born Free' shot this in Ouarzazate, Morocco. 'Bad Girls' was originally featured as part of M.I.A's 36 minute and free to download mixtape 'Vicki Leekx'. The mixtape was released at the end of 2010 and 'Bad Girls' is set to be the first single from her upcoming/as yet untitled album due in summer 2012.

http://www.miauk.com/

Download Vicki Leekx here

Franny's Last Ride

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:08:00 +0000

'WTF' is a podcast where comedian Marc Maron mixes a wide variety of topics like humor, religion, comedy, anger, philosophy and speaks with guests such as Jonathan Ames, Louis CK, Ira Glass and Conan O'Brien. The show has kept me entertained throughout numerous trips but i've still got a long way to go in terms of catching up on all the episodes (approximately 249 to date). I recently listened to to episode #130 where Marc sat down with the late Mike DeStefano to discuss the extraordinary circumstances that led to Mike becoming a comic. It's a really interesting piece to listen to, DeStefano led a life that some people makes movies about. However amongst the tales of growing up in the Bronx, his dealings with mafia 'wise guys', heroin addiction and resulting AIDS diagnosis; the part that really stood out was when he talked about his wife Fran and her death from AIDS (taken from part of his routine).

"...During her last days, she was in the hospice, and I had just gotten a Harley, my first Harley...So now she wants to see [the Harley]. I take her out; she wants to sit on it. I put her on it. She wants to start it up. Now she’s wearing a paper dress, she’s got her freakin’ morphine pole next to her, and she’s sitting on this Harley, and I’m worried about her burning her freakin’ leg off.

So she says (pleading voice), “Can you just take me for a little ride around the parking lot?” And I’m like, no, I can’t — I’m thinking, get the hell-And then it just hit me: I’m like, no, you have to, you’re in this moment, you have to do this motorcycle ride. You know? And it’s dangerous, and what if she falls? And what if one day I’m telling this story: “Yeah, my wife, she almost died of AIDS, but then I killed her on my Harley. She fell off and banged her freakin’ head.” That’s a messed-up story.

Then I pass the front door, and all these nurses are standing out front, and they’re all crying. They’re watching us, and they’re crying. And I didn’t know why they were crying. I was like, Why are they crying? I didn’t get what they were seeing. I didn’t know. Because I was just in it; I was living it. I knew my wife who had suffered, she was a prostitute, she was a freakin’ heroin addict, she was beaten by pimps — this was her past — and then she ends up with AIDS, and she’s dying, and all she wants is a goddamn ride on my motorcycle.

So the next thing you know we’re on I-95, because women, it’s never enough for them. We’re on I-95, and she unhooks the pole, and she’s holding the morphine bag over her head with her gown that’s flying up in the air so you could see her entire naked, bony body with the morphine bag whipping in the wind, and we’re passing by these guys in their Lamborghinis, and I’m looking at them like, What the hell kind of life are you living? Look at me, I’m on top of the world here. And that was the last thing I did with her. And I feel so blessed and lucky, you know what I mean? You can’t ask for a better moment and memory than that."

You can listen to the episode here on the WTF site (and access the other 248!)

Watch 'Franny's Last Ride' by Mike DeStefano below

Marc Maron Image: Seth Olenick

Mike DeStefano Image: Unknown

Little Knot

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:27:00 +0000

"An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, despite the time, the place, despite the circumstances. The thread can be tightened or tangled, but never be broken."

Belief originating from an ancient Chinese legend.

Image: RyukiRose

Vermilion

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:46:00 +0000

Japanese artist Riusuke Fukahori exhibited his latest work 'Goldfish Salvation' in January at the ICN gallery in London, England. Fukahori has developed a technique which is akin to 3D printing in which he uses layers of casting resin and paint to build a 3D painting. The result is stunningly lifelike pieces that are a cross between painting and sculpture.

Fukahori began using Goldfish as a theme in his work after a period of 'artists block', the little fish have a long history of being loved by people and he found himself inspired by their shimmering scales and graceful movement.

The embedded video below shows Fukahori's technique which involves intricate brush stokes sandwiched between thin layers of resin which he contains in pewter bowls or bamboo vessels.

To learn more about his work:

http://goldfishing.info/

http://icn-global.com/index.html

All Images: Dominic Alves

Black Mirror

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:18:00 +0000

From the depths of Charlie Brooker's brain comes a darkly satirical miniseries called 'Black Mirror'. Each of the three episodes feature a different cast, setting and cinematography style which explore our relationship and rapidly escalating dependency on technology, social media and consumerism. Coupled with the willingness of the general populations to be spoon fed and distracted by their government and the media (reality television, modern day celebrity, filtered news coverage etc.) Brooker examines the idea that "If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side-effects?"

The series was produced by Zeppotron for Endemol, who ironically are the production and distribution company behind 'Big Brother' a reality show based on a group of people living together; isolated from the outside world but with every move and word continuously watched and recorded by television cameras.

I found myself watching Black Mirror with a nagging sense of unease. Brooker elaborates "This area – between delight and discomfort – is where Black Mirror, my new drama series, is set...The present day is no less crazy. We routinely do things that just five years ago would scarcely have made sense to us. We tweet along to reality shows; we share videos of strangers dropping cats in bins; we dance in front of Xboxes that can see us, and judge us, and find us sorely lacking. It's hard to think of a single human function that technology hasn't somehow altered, apart perhaps from burping. That's pretty much all we have left. Just yesterday I read a news story about a new video game installed above urinals to stop patrons getting bored: you control it by sloshing your urine stream left and right. Read that back to yourself and ask if you live in a sane society."

Info and links to episodes after the cut (episode info taken from Brooker's piece in The Guardian )

Episode One 'The National Anthem'

'The National Anthem' recounts what happens when fictional royal Princess Susannah is kidnapped and prime minister Michael Callow is presented with an unusual – and obscene – ransom request. The traditional media finds itself unable to even discuss what the demand is, while the Twittersphere foams with speculation and cruel jokes. As the ransom deadline nears, events start to gain a surreal momentum of their own.

Part One embedded above / Part Two / Part Three

Episode Two '15 Million Merits'

'15 Million Merits' takes place in a world in which the population is apparently doomed to a life of meaningless toil enlivened only by continual entertainment and distraction courtesy of ominipresent gizmos and screens. So not really sci-fi at all, then. Your sole chance of escape or salvation from this world appears to be a talent contest.

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five

Episode Three 'The Entire History of You':

'The Entire History of You' draws attention to how most of us routinely leave a trail of personal information behind us – from emails to idle thoughts on Facebook, to images of ourselves grinning at parties. The episode explores the logical outcome of this, something many might consider a fantasy scenario: what if you had a kind of Sky Plus system for your head, so you could rewind and replay memories at will? You'd never forget where you left your keys again, for one thing. And it would be great for winning arguments. But it might not be brilliant news for the health of your relationship. After all, how much do you actually want to know about each other?

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four

Black Mirror on Channel 4

Old Age Will Distill You

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:29:00 +0000

If you're not, if you're not
if you're not, if you're not
if you're not getting happier as you get older
then you're fuckin' up

if you're not, if you're not
if you're not, if you're not
if you're not aware that what you put out
is what you get back
that you make the world through the way you act
you can't harness the awesome power of that fact..."

From Ani's new (her seventeenth!) studio album '¿Which Side Are You On? '

New Year Wish

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:26:00 +0000

Traits

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:29:00 +0000

"It has always seemed strange to me...the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second."

John Steinbeck

Tracer

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:48:00 +0000

Hugh McCabe is a photographer whose work echoes the tonal and often eerie quality of early film photography. A course in Photography and Digital Imaging led him to begin documenting a project he calls 'Stages'.

He began taking long exposure photographs from the balconies of music venues. The long exposure ranges from 3 minutes up to 15 or 20. "Generally I try and make each exposure the length of a song in order to try and answer these sorts of questions: Is it possible to take a photograph of song? If so, what would it look like?" With a nod to Hiroshi Sugimoto's 'Theaters' series the end result is eerie and beautiful.

Client on images above to see larger, better quality versions.

To see more of his work:

http://www.tracesofthereal.com/

In Defense of Humbug

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:03:00 +0000

The experience of working in retail for a few years coupled with working with The Samaritans really gave me a different perspective on Christmas/Holiday Season (retail folk know exactly what I'm talkin' about!). Having evolved into a commercial/consumerist event that starts earlier each year (purchasing tree decorations in August anyone?), it became clear that Christmas was an intensely stressful, pressurized and lonely time for a lot of people.

I do feel to each their own and if you want to celebrate the holidays, go right ahead. However i've been called Grinch and a humbug repeatedly over the years for my stance on the subject. The embedded video above by Jay Smooth sums it up better than i could!

http://www.samaritans.org/

http://www.befrienders.org/

Unalloyed

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:33:00 +0000

The world lost a good one on December 15th 2011 when Christopher Hitchens died from complications arising from esophageal cancer.

“If you were offered the chance to live your own life again, would you seize the opportunity? The only real philosophical answer is automatically self-contradictory: 'Only if I did not know that I was doing so.' To go through the entire experience once more would be banal and Sisyphean—even if it did build muscle—whereas to wish to be young again and to have the benefit of one's learned and acquired existence is not at all to wish for a repeat performance, or a Groundhog Day. And the mind ought to, but cannot, set some limits to wish-thinking.

All right, same me but with more money, an even sturdier penis, slightly different parents, a briefer latency period… the thing is absurd. I seriously would like to know what it was to be a woman, but like blind Tiresias would also want the option of re-metamorphosing if I wished. How terrible it is that we have so many more desires than opportunities.”

http://www.dailyhitchens.com/

Image: Paolo Pellegrin

Moanin'

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:45:00 +0000

If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth the rough touch with a gentle kiss.

Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this; for saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.

Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?

Ay, pilgrim, lips are things to use in prayer.

Oh...O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; they pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.

Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.

Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips by thine, my sin is purged.

Liberia ’77

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:27:00 +0000

"If you don’t know where you came from, how can you know where you are going?”

I had the privilege of attending a screening of Liberia ’77 recently. It documents the return of two brothers, Andrew and Jeff Topham to Liberia, thirty years after living there as children. They grew up as expatriates due to their father working for Exchem, a Canadian manufacturer of mining explosives. The Topham family lived in Charlesville, a small village, for three years and left prior to civil war ravaging the country. Upon moving back to Canada they became known as the kids who grew up in Africa. Time spent in Liberia made a distinct impression: memories of a vibrant community, the beloved housekeeper James, their pet chimpanzee Evelyn and the freedom to run amok in nature.

It was these memories coupled with a large volume of photographs that their father took that prompted the desire to return to the West African country. Originally there was two main ideas behind the trip: they were going to try and find James or recreate their dad’s photographs, to do before and after shots of each. However things evolved when an unexpected individual turns up and leads the documentary in a different direction. (trailer embedded below)

Liberia '77 is well made, poignant without being depressing and captures the strength and humour of the Liberian people. It explores how photography has become part of cultural identity and how the people of Liberia rebuilt their lives after two devastating civil wars.

Most of the images of Liberia's peaceful past were lost and in an effort to help rebuild memories and images of the pre war country, the Tophams have set up a project. "Many lost all their images and have no way to look back on happier times. Many fled Liberia at the last minute, leaving all their belongings behind. Your photos might contain people and places other long to see again. Your photos can help heal." If you have photographs of pre war Liberia please upload them here. There will be an upcoming exhibit at the National Museum in Monrovia consisting of images submitted.

Click on the link below to watch the film in full (watch now tab):
http://www.knowledge.ca/program/liberia-77

To learn more about the film and project in full:

http://liberia77.com/

Fizzy Good Make Feel Nice

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:38:00 +0000

Places, Loved Ones

No, I have never found
The place where I could say
This is my proper ground,
Here I shall stay;
Nor met that special one
Who has an instant claim
On everything I own
Down to my name;

To find such seems to prove
You want no choice in where
To build, or whom to love;
You ask them to bear
You off irrevocably,
So that it's not your fault
Should the town turn dreary,
The girl a dolt.

Yet, having missed them, you're
Bound, none the less, to act
As if what you settled for
Mashed you, in fact;
And wiser to keep away
From thinking you still might trace
Uncalled-for to this day
Your person, your place.

Philip Larkin

Bad Music for Bad People

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:41:00 +0000

In addition to creating some of my favourite music, Lux and Ivy were avid fans of surf music, blues, northern soul, rockabilly, 60’s garage, novelty songs and general aural weirdness.

A Cramps fan painstakingly compiled a list of songs that Lux and Ivy had referenced in interviews and books or in his own words "It started as a way to keep track of some of the songs Lux, and or Ivy, mentioned in THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE MUSIC BOOK. It was never really intended as anything but a way for a friend of mine and me to have 2 really kick ass compilations. So we went about the arduous process of finding all the songs mentioned in that interview. One thing lead to another and when word got around that these compilations were out there, they started being traded from fan to fan to fan. So, at some point I decided to put them up on Napster and let anyone who wanted them have them. As the years went buy, more interviews with Lux and Ivy kept popping up, and the list of songs they mentioned got longer and longer. This resulted in new volumes. "

The compilations are a musical education featuring the likes of Ersal Hickey, Slim Harpo, Jackie & The Starlighters, Charlie Feathers, The Sparkles, Booker T. & the MG’s and the 13th Floor Elevators. I downloaded all eleven and it has taken me months to wade through the amazing and often difficult to find tracks.

Links to download the 11 compilations are at:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/02/lux-and-ivys-favorites-mp3s.html

and click after the jump for a full track listing

Tracklisting:

Lux and Ivy’s Favorites, Volume 1
1.Sheriff & The Ravels - Shombalor
2.Sid King & The Five Strings - Let ‘er Rip
3.Ersal Hickey - Bluebirds Over The Mountain
4.Ersal Hickey - Hangin’ Around
5.Ronnie Dawson - Action Packed
6.Ronnie Self - Date Bait
7.Vern Pullens - Bop Crazy Baby
8.Donald Woods And The Belairs - Death Of An Angel
9.Gene Maltais - Crazy Baby
10.Billy Ward and His Dominoes - The Bells
11.Bob McFadden and Dor - The Mummy
12.Forbidden Five - RFD Rangoon
13.Forbidden Five - Enchanted Farm
14.The Medallions - Behind The Door
15.Nervous Norvous - Transfusion
16.The Clovers - Crawlin’
17.The Penguins - Earth Angel
18.The Blenders - Don’t Fuck Around With Love
19.Sparkle Moore - Skull and Cross Bones
20.Versatones - Bila
21.Versatones - Tight Skirt Tight Sweater
22.The Tornados - Telstar
23.The Treniers - Poon-Tang!
24.The Clovers - Rotten Cocksuckers Ball
25.The Collins Kids - Whistle Bait
26.The Chips - Rubber Biscuits
27.Jan & Arnie - Jennie Lee

Lux & Ivy’s Favorites, Volume 21.13th Floor Elevators - You’re Gonna Miss Me
2.Ric Cartey - Young Love
3.Slim Harpo - Strange Love
4.The Champs - Train To Nowhere
5.Cozy Cole - Topsy, Parts One and Two
6.Zacherley - Dinner With Drac
7.Randy Alvey and The Green Fuz - Green Fuz
8.Jackie Morningstar - Rockin’ In The Graveyard
9.John Buck and His Blazers - Forbidden City
10.Marvin Rainwater - Hot And Cold
11.Blues Rockers - Calling All Cows
12.The Five Blobs - The Blob
13.Ric Cartey - Oooh-Eeee
14.June Wilkinson and Mamie Van Doren - Bikini With No Top On Top
15.Wayne Williams - Red Hot Mama
16.Boss-Tones - Mope-itty Mope
17.Keith Courvale - Trapped Love
18.The Storey Sisters - Bad Motorcycle
19.Lightnin’ Slim - It’s Mighty Crazy
20.Bob McFadden and Dor - Noisy Village
21.The Crescents - Pink Dominoes
22.Marketettes - Out Of Limits
23.The Chimes - Zindy Lou
24.The Crystals - (Let’s Dance) The Screw - Pt. 1
25.The Invictas - The Hump
26.Earle Hagen & The New Interns - New Interns Watusi
27.Billy Ward & The Dominoes - Jennie Lee

Lux & Ivy’s Favorites, Volume 31.The Pretty Things - Come See Me
2.The Leather Boy - On the Go
3.Roy Brown - Butcher Pete, Pt. 1
4.Roy Brown - Butcher Pete, Pt. 2
5.The Carnations - Scorpion
6.The Imps - Uh-Oh
7.Doctor Ross - The Boogie Disease
8.Howlin’ Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin’
9.Polka Dot Slim - A Thing You Gotta Face
10.The Ventures - The Rat
11.Mohammed Rafi AKA Ted Lyons & His Cubs - Jaan Pehechaan Ho
12.Bo Diddley - Congo
13.Anton LaVey - Satan Takes a Holiday
14.The Symbols - Do the Zombie
15.The Scarlets - Stampede
16.Danny Dell & The Trends - Froggy Went A Courting
17.Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - Shakin’ All Over
18.The Kinks - You Really Got Me
19.The Strangers - Caterpillar Crawl
20.Porter Waggoner - Rubber Room
21.Robert Mitchum - The Ballad of Thunder Road
22.Duane Eddy - Ramrod
23.Dick Penner - Cindy Lou
24.The Ideals - Go Go Gorilla
25.Jack Nitzsche - The Lonely Surfer
26.The Johnny Burnette Trio - Honey Hush
27.Mickey & Sylvia - No Good Lover
28.Duane Eddy - Stalkin’
29.Bo Diddley - I’m A Man
30.Johnny Fortune - Dragster
31.The Gee Cees - Buzzsaw Twist

Lux & Ivy’s Favorites, Volume 41.Gene Summers - Taboo
2.Roland Janes - Guitarville
3.The Citations - Moon Race
4.Electro-Tones - Ghost Train
5.Hank Davis - Woman Train
6.Jack Nitzsche - Rumble
7.Gene Gray & The Stingrays - Surfer’s Mood
8.Charlie Feathers - In the Pines
9.Ric Cartey - My Babe
10.Reverend Charles Jackson - Wrapped Up and Tangled Up In Jesus
11.Les Baxter - Lust
12.Harley Hatcher - The Chase Is On [From the movie Satan’s Sadists]
13.Jan Davis - The Time Funnel
14.The Atlantics - War Of The Worlds
15.Clyde Stacey - Hoy Hoy
16.Electric Prunes - Dr. Do Good
17.The Five Jones Boys - Mr. Ghost Goes To Town
18.Jackie & The Starlighters - Valerie
19.Musical Linn Twins - Rockin’ Out the Blues
20.Hugh Barrett & The Victors - Fungus Among Us
21.Cannibal & the Headhunters - Zulu King
22.Charlie Feathers - She Set Me Free
23.Portuguese Joe - Teenage Riot
24.Gene Maltais - Gang War
25.The Musical Linn Twins - Indian Rock
26.Jimmie Rodgers - Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)
27.Ron Thompson - Switchblade
28.The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Paralyzed
29.Vernon Green & The Phantoms - Sweet Breeze
30.Davie Allan & the Arrows - Theme from the Unknown
31.The Stooges - 1970

Lux & Ivy’s Favorites, Volume 51.The Swamp Rats - Louie, Louie
2.The Trashmen - Bird ‘65
3.Link Wray & The Raymen - The Fuzz
4.Peanuts Wilson - Cast Iron Arm
5.Bo Diddley - The Story Of Bo Diddley
6.Homer Denison, Jr. - Chickie Run
7.Curley Griffin - Got Rockin’ On My Mind
8.The Isley Brothers - Nobody But Me
9.Ron Haydock & The Boppers - 99 Chicks
10.Bill Carter & The Rovin’ Gamblers - Baby Brother
11.Andre Williams - (M M M M Andre Williams Is) M-M-Movin’
12.The Quotations - Imagination
13.Carl Perkins - Let The Jukebox Keep On Playing
14.The Sparkles - Oh Girls, Girls
15.Julie London - Yummy, Yummy, Yummy
16.The Lifeguards - Everybody Out’ta The Pool
17.Ken Nordine - Strollin’ Spooks
18.Ken Nordine - Fliberty Jib
19.The Ramones - Beat On The Brat
20.Betty McQuade - Tongue Tied
21.Ronnie Ray & The Playboys - The Vulture
22.The Revels - Midnight Stroll
23.Ray Anthony - Dragnet
24.Link Wray - Genocide
25.Don Charles Presents The Singing Dogs - Oh! Susanna
26.The Deadly Ones! - It’s Monster Surfing Time
27.Edwin Bruce - Sweet Woman
28.Ted Weems & His Orchestra, with Elmo Tanner (whistle) - Heartaches
29.Vito & The Salutations - Unchained Melody
30.Jack Eely & The Courtmen - Louie, Louie ‘66

Lux & Ivy’s Favorites, Volume 61.Earl Wade - I Dig Rock ‘n’ Roll
2.The Ran-Dells - Martian Hop
3.The Saxons - Camel Walk (Part 1)
4.The Nitecats - Jungle
5.Charlie Gracie - Guitar Boogie
6.The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes For You
7.Kenny Owen - I Got The Bug
8.The Phantom - Whisper Your Love
9.Moses Longpiece - Slide Her Under the Door
10.Ray Harris - Come On Little Mama
11.The Cables - Choo-Choo
12.The Charades - Flamingo
13.Ronnie Isle - Wicked
14.Andre Williams With The Gino Parks Quartet - Pass The Biscuits Please
15.Gene La Marr and His Blue Flames - That Crazy Little House On The Hill
16.The Innocents - I’m A Hog For You
17.Thee Midniters - Jump, Jive and Harmonize
18.Bob Taylor & The Counts - Thunder
19.Mad Magazine - (She Got a) Nose Job
20.The Five Sharps - Stormy Weather
21.Booker T. & the MG’s - Green Onions
22.Jack Nitzsche - The Last Race
23.Elvis Presley - Milkcow Blues Boogie
24.The Fleetwoods - Unchained Melody
25.Mad Magazine - When My Pimples Turned To Dimples
26.Grace Tennessee and The American Spirits - Pow Wow
27.Phil and the Frantics - Say That You Will
28.Pasquale & The Lunar-Tiks - Moon Madness
29.Arthur Lyman - Taboo

Lux & Ivy’s Favorites, Volume 7
1.Marvin & Johnny - Vip Vop
2.The Original Starfires - Fender Bender
3.Ronnie Kae - Drums Fell Off a Cliff
4.Young Jessie with The Flairs - Lonesome Desert
5.Andre Williams & The Don Juans - Pulling Time
6.Joe Clay - Did You Mean Jelly Bean (What You Said Cabbage Head)
7.T. Rex - Rip Off
8.Tony Allen and The Champs - Nite Owl
9.Betty McQuade - Blue Train
10.Sparkle Moore - Tiger
11.Stan Freberg - A Dear John and Marsha Letter
12.The Dynamic Dial Tones - Boss
13.The Vocaleers - Cootie Snap
14.The Tokens - B’wanina (Pretty Girl)
15.Mississippi Mud Mashers - Moonglow
16.John & Jackie - Little Girl
17.The Falcons - Now That It’s Over
18.Mr. Undertaker - Here Lies My Love
19.Andre Williams - The Greasy Chicken
20.Roky Erickson - Red Temple Prayer (Two-Headed Dog)
21.Kay Martin and Her Body Guards - Swamp Girl
22.The Grey Stokes - The Legend of Tarzan
23.Mac Rebennack - Storm Warning (Long Version)
24.Charlie Feathers - That Certain Female
25.Ronnie Self - Bop-A-Lena
26.Jaynetts - Sally Go ‘Round the Roses
27.The Sensational Nightingales - Standing in the Judgment
28.Stan Freberg - St. George And The Dragonet

Lux & Ivy’s Favorites, Volume 81.Richard Strauss [composer] - Also Sprach Zarathustra - Fanfare
2.Screamin’ Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You
3.Love - My Flash On You
4.American Teens - Shake Shake Baby
5.The Gamblers - LSD-25
6.Unknown Artist - Unknown Song
7.Lee Chandler & The Blue Rhythms - Tree Top
8.The Strikes - If You Can’t Rock Me
9.Buddy Miller - Teen Twist
10.The Tides - Midnight Limbo
11.Homer Denison, Jr. - March Slav Boogie
12.Chaino - The Pigmy Song (Tikky Tikky Boom Boom)
13.Johnnie Honeycutt - Blue Song of Love
14.Kitty & Sheeny Lanier - Do The Whip
15.The Dirtbombs - I Can’t Stop Thinking About It
16.Betty Smith With Johnny Maxwell And The Rhythmmasters - Yeah, Baby
17.Rudy Thacker and The Stringbusters - Black Train
18.Stacy Bengal & His Six Outfielders - I Come To Demolish Cleveland
19.The Gamblers - Moon Dawg!
20.Unknown Artist - Unknown Song
21.The Viscounts - Harlem Nocturne
22.Billy Lee Riley - Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll
23.David Seville - Witch Doctor
24.Freddie Cannon - Palisades Park
25.Kay Martin and Her Body Guards - The Heel
26.Sheb Wooley - The Purple People Eater
27.The Pleasant Valley Boys with Herschell Gordon Lewis - “Rebel Yell (The South’s Gonna Rise Again)” [Theme from Two Thousand Maniacs]
28.Unknown Artist - Unknown Song
29.Mad Mike & The Maniacs - The Hunch
30.Sparkle Moore - Flower Of My Heart

Lux & Ivy’s Favorites, Volume 91.Jess Franco - Sex and Mystic of M. Sade (edit)
2.The Kinks - Until the End of the Day
3.The Vi-Kings - Desert Boots
4.Jimmy McConville - Scorpion
5.Bo Diddley - Mona
6.Wendell Smith - Nashville, Tennessee
7.The Crystals - He’s a Rebel
8.T. Rex - Baby Strange
9.All Women Are Bad [movie trailer audio]
10.The Wailers - Dirty Robber
11.Charlie Gracie - Butterfly
12.Chuck Ranado and The Electronaires - My Baby’s Gone
13.Lonnie Johnson - Tomorrow Night
14.Flamin’ Groovies - Teenage Head
15.Howlin’ Wolf - The Red Rooster
16.The Dantes - 80-96
17.The Chantays - Pipeline
18.Gene Gray & The Stingrays - Surfer’s Mood [repeated from volume 4]
19.The Deadly Ones! - Surfin’ Dockside
20.Gary & Larry - Garlic Bread
21.The Shangri-Las - Out in the Streets
22.The Tempests - Rockin’ Rochester USA
23.Spike Jones - Chloe
24.The Vampires’ Sound Incorporation - The Lions and the Cucumber
25.The Duals - Wait Up Baby
26.Rodger & The Tempests - Bad Bad Way
27.The Dixie Cups - Chapel of Love
28.Jimmy Scott - Unchained Melody

Lux & Ivy’s Favorites, Volume 101.bob and jerry - ghost satellite
2.fat daddy holmes - where yo is
3.don covay - switchen’ in the kitchen
4.Bob Lee - Wanted For Questioning
5.Tielman Brothers - Marabunta
6.the grass-hoppers - twin beat
7.the jet streams - who me-
8.dicky doo & the don’ts - flip top box
9.Sidney Jo Lewis - Boppin’ To Grandfather’s Clock
10.Albert Elias - King Kong
11.the charts - ooba gooba
12.the mogambos - Bi-Aza-Ku-Sasa
13.El-Capris - Safari
14.Wildmen - King Of The Jungle
15.The Enchanters - Cafe Bohemian
16.Ganim’s Asia Minors - Daddy Lolo
17.The Peels - Fun
18.Bernie Turner & The Armorettes-Ching Ching Wong
19.The Highlights - Ah So!
20.Dicky Doo & The Don’ts - Nee Nee Na Na Na Na
21.The Duals - Stick Shift
22.johnny parker - tv commercial
23.Jimmy Lloyd - You’re gone baby
24.paul peek - olds-mo-william
25.Lee Ross - The Mummy’s Bracelet
26.Ivan - Real Wild Child
27.The Impacs - Kool It
28.Senor Soul - The Mouse
29.Senor Soul - Soul Sermon
30.the peeks - juanita banana
31.Ganimian & His Orientals - My Funny Valentine

Lux & Ivy’s Favorites, Volume 111.jay jay imus and freddy ford - the boogala
2.saxie russel - el monkey
3.Merced Blue Notes - Do The Pig
4.the revels - Intoxica
5.The Premiers - Firewater
6.The Cherokees-Uprising
7.The Chiefs - Apache
8.Arondies - Class Of ‘69
9.Dragon Walk - The Noblemen
10.dynamos - woh! woh! yea! yea!
11.the Caps-Red Headed Flea
12.the corvettes - pick up
13.The Bangers - Baby Let Me Bang Your Box
14.screamin’ jay hawkins - moanin’
15.Mr. Clean - Mr. Clean
16.brook bond food - red rose tea
17.Noblemen - Dirty Robber
18.dicky doo & the don’ts - wild party
19.Sentinals - The Bee
20.jan davis - Watusi Zombie
21.bobby williams - tarzan
22.the pygmies - don’t monkey with tarzan
23.the individuals - Jungle Superman
24.the revels - it’s party time
25.silvertones - get it!
26.The Hong Kongs-Surfin’ In The China Sea
27.the torkays-karate
28.the fortune tellers - song of the nairobi trio
29.the trashmen - Bird Dance Beat
30.Revels - Dead Man’s Stroll
31.Dickie Goodman - The Touchables In Brooklyn
32.the myrogens - the dancing katydids
33.dynamos - manhunt

Top Image: Michael Lavine

Murmuration

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:15:00 +0000

A spectacular murmuration over the River Shannon in Ireland.

"Sit with me a while
And let me listen to you talk about
Your dreams and your obsessions
I'll be quiet and confessional

The violets explode inside me
When I meet your eyes
Then I'm spinning and I'm diving
Like a cloud of starlings
Darling, is this love? "

'Starlings' by Elbow

Locura

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 05:41:00 +0000

in·san·i·ty/inˈsanitē/
Noun: The state of being seriously mentally ill; madness.
Extreme foolishness or irrationality.

“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”

Rita Mae Brown

Wild Woman

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:45:00 +0000

Eagerly counting down the days to November 21st when the new Kate Bush album '50 Words For Snow' is released. Embedded below is the gorgeous new single 'Wild Man' .

http://www.katebushnews.com/

Judge A Book

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:02:00 +0000

Out of Print clothing are a Brooklyn based company producing unique tshirts and accessories featuring iconic book covers. Their tshirts feature some of my favourite books such as The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov , Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.

They work closely with artists, authors and publishers to license the content that ends up in their collection. As well as being aesthetically pleasing, by purchasing a product you are also aiding O.O.P.C in their partnership with Books for Africa. For every item purchased a book is donated to a community in need.

http://outofprintclothing.com/

I Deserve So Much Better

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 19:33:00 +0000

"What I want from us
Is empty our minds
We fake a fuss
And fracture the times
We go blind
When we've needed to see
And it leans on me
Like a rootless tree

So fuck you, fuck you, fuck you
And all we've been through
I said leave it, leave it, leave it
It's nothing to you"

A Decade On

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:02:00 +0000

Self Evident

yes,
us people are just poems
we're 90% metaphor
with a leanness of meaning
approaching hyper-distillation
and once upon a time
we were moonshine
rushing down the throat of a giraffe
yes, rushing down the long hallway
despite what the p.a. announcement says
yes, rushing down the long stairs
with the whiskey of eternity
fermented and distilled
to eighteen minutes
burning down our throats
down the hall
down the stairs
in a building so tall
that it will always be there
yes, it's part of a pair
there on the bow of noah's ark
the most prestigious couple
just kickin' back parked
against a perfectly blue sky
on a morning beatific
in its Indian summer breeze
on the day that America
fell to its knees
after strutting around for a century
without saying thank you
or please

and the shock was subsonic
and the smoke was deafening
between the setup and the punch line
cuz we were all on time for work that day
we all boarded that plane for to fly
and then while the fires were raging
we all climbed up on the windowsill
and then we all held hands
and jumped into the sky

and every borough looked up when it heard the first blast
and then every dumb action movie was summarily surpassed
and the exodus uptown by foot and motorcar
looked more like war than anything i've seen so far
so far
so far
so fierce and ingenious
a poetic specter so far gone
that every jackass newscaster was struck dumb and stumbling
over 'oh my god' and 'this is unbelievable' and on and on
and i'll tell you what, while we're at it
you can keep the pentagon
keep the propaganda
keep each and every tv
that's been trying to convince me
to participate
in some prep school punk's plan to perpetuate retribution
perpetuate retribution
even as the blue toxic smoke of our lesson in retribution
is still hanging in the air
and there's ash on our shoes
and there's ash in our hair
and there's a fine silt on every mantle
from hell's kitchen to Brooklyn
and the streets are full of stories
sudden twists and near misses
and soon every open bar is crammed to the rafters
with tales of narrowly averted disasters
and the whiskey is flowin'
like never before
as all over the country
folks just shake their heads
and pour

so here's a toast to all the folks who live in Palestine
Afghanistan
Iraq

El Salvador

here's a toast to the folks living on the pine ridge reservation
under the stone cold gaze of Mt. Rushmore

here's a toast to all those nurses and doctors
who daily provide women with a choice
who stand down a threat the size of Oklahoma city
just to listen to a young woman's voice

here's a toast to all the folks on death row right now
awaiting the executioner's guillotine
who are shackled there with dread and can only escape into their heads
to find peace in the form of a dream

cuz take away our playstations
and we are a third world nation
under the thumb of some blue blood royal son
who stole the oval office and that phony election
i mean
it don't take a weatherman
to look around and see the weather
Jeb said he'd deliver Florida, folks
and boy did he ever

and we hold these truths to be self evident:
#1 George W. Bush is not president
#2 America is not a true democracy
#3 the media is not fooling me
cuz i am a poem heeding hyper-distillation
i've got no room for a lie so verbose
i'm looking out over my whole human family
and i'm raising my glass in a toast

here's to our last drink of fossil fuels
let us vow to get off of this sauce
shoo away the swarms of commuter planes
and find that train ticket we lost
cuz once upon a time the line followed the river
and peeked into all the backyards
and the laundry was waving
the graffiti was teasing us
from brick walls and bridges
we were rolling over ridges
through valleys
under stars
i dream of touring like Duke Ellington
in my own railroad car
i dream of waiting on the tall blonde wooden benches
in a grand station aglow with grace
and then standing out on the platform
and feeling the air on my face

give back the night its distant whistle
give the darkness back its soul
give the big oil companies the finger finally
and relearn how to rock-n-roll
yes, the lessons are all around us and a change is waiting there
so it's time to pick through the rubble, clean the streets
and clear the air
get our government to pull its big dick out of the sand
of someone else's desert
put it back in its pants
and quit the hypocritical chants of
freedom forever

cuz when one lone phone rang
in two thousand and one
at ten after nine
on nine one one
which is the number we all called
when that lone phone rang right off the wall
right off our desk and down the long hall
down the long stairs
in a building so tall
that the whole world turned
just to watch it fall

and while we're at it
remember the first time around?
the bomb?
the ryder truck?
the parking garage?
the princess that didn't even feel the pea?
remember joking around in our apartment on avenue D?

can you imagine how many paper coffee cups would have to change their design
following a fantastical reversal of the new york skyline?!

it was a joke, of course
it was a joke
at the time
and that was just a few years ago
so let the record show
that the FBI was all over that case
that the plot was obvious and in everybody's face
and scoping that scene
religiously
the CIA
or is it KGB?
committing countless crimes against humanity
with this kind of eventuality
as its excuse
for abuse after expensive abuse
and it didn't have a clue
look, another window to see through
way up here
on the 104th floor
look
another key
another door
10% literal
90% metaphor
3000 some poems disguised as people
on an almost too perfect day
should be more than pawns
in some asshole's passion play
so now it's your job
and it's my job
to make it that way
to make sure they didn't die in vain
sshhhhhh....
baby listen
hear the train?

Sinuous

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:09:00 +0000

I like my body when it is with your
body. It is so quite new a thing.
Muscles better and nerves more.
i like your body. i like what it does,
i like its hows. i like to feel the spine
of your body and its bones, and the trembling
-firm-smooth ness and which i will
again and again and again
kiss, i like kissing this and that of you,
i like, slowly stroking the, shocking fuzz
of your electric fur, and what-is-it comes
over parting flesh… And eyes big love-crumbs,

and possibly i like the thrill
of under me you so quite new

E.E Cummings

Image:

Aubrey Beardsley, The Mysterious Rose Garden, 1895

God's Away On Business

noreply@blogger.com (Green of Eye, Sharp of Claw) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 07:23:00 +0000

Squee! Amalgamating two of my favourite things: Cookie Monster and Tom Waits