The Naked Cowboy's Work Ethic

I read somewhere how each morning The Naked Cowboy reads a set of inspirational snippets before heading out to play in public in his underwear. The texts are bits from classic self-help books by Anthony Robbins, Dale Carnegie etc.

D.C.'s Bad Brains (the best punk band this town ever produced) based their work ethic on a single book: Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich", a work that emphasizes the importance of Positive Mental Attitude (PMA).

I guess my inspirational text is a novel called "I Served The King of England", originally written in Czech by a wild writer named Bohumil Hrabal. That's the book I've re-read most often. It's a hero story about good fortune happening by chance amidst the random tragedies of life.

But an absurdist Czech novel doesn't seem like a good template to work off of right now. I need something more constructive...

Then again, maybe not.

Meditations on the Lunar Eclipse

As Stereogab and I stood outside watching the lunar eclipse, I thought about how much things have changed.

In other ages, an eclipse was a terrifying event.

American Indians believed that a lunar eclipse spawned a negative essence that spread over the world. If a particle of this essence landed on a cooking pot, sickness would result. So they turned all their pots over to avoid contamination and threw out their water supplies, believing they'd been tainted with this negative essence.

While we stood outside watching the moon disappear, our neighbors sat inside watching television. Cars drove by, the Metro came and went, life went on just like any other Wednesday night.

I suppose I should be glad that Science has triumphed over Superstition. But is science the reason people don't get up from the couch to watch a lunar eclipse? I read recently that 1 in 5 American adults believe the sun revolves around the earth. So maybe science isn't the reason. Maybe people have become so disconnected that they don't notice (or don't care about) the patterns of nature.

That is really terrifying.

The Next Terrastock

My Favorite Record Stores

two record stores I frequent:

True Vine is my new favorite record store and I've only been there once. The place is chaotic, almost an anti-store, which would make it more like someone's living room, which I think describes it pretty well, come to think of it. I got into a discussion with the owner/manager/clerk/head conversationalist about Wacky Packages, which was cool, especially when it devolved into a story
about riding around naked listening to Psychic TV ( I won't say whose story that was).... PURCHASES: Incredible String Band "Changing Horses" (LP), Six Organs of Admittance "Shelter from the Ash" (CD)

Another chaotic store that I love is Joe's Record Paradise. It has a completely different vibe from True Vine- more frumpy Rockville than arty Baltimore. Joe's is a maximalist place. There are the record bins, then below the bins are shelves, and in front of the shelves are cardboard boxes, all stuffed with records. I tend to spend either 10 minutes or 5 hours. It can get overwhelming. Although I recognize some of the staff after repeated visits, there's no acknowledgment that I've ever been there before.... PURCHASES: 13th Floor Elevators "Demos Everywhere" (LP), Curtis Mayfield "Back to the World" (LP)

I guess what I like about these stores is that they are completely unpredictable. You can't go in with a particular title in mind, or a shopping list. You have to just be open to whatever you encounter while flipping through the stacks. It's a cultural field trip through hairstyles and fashions, cover photo moods ("we're having fun", "we're cool", "I'm serious") and graphics.

Tune In Across the Universe

Today at 7 p.m. EST, NASA will transmit the Beatle's song "Across the Universe" towards Polaris (the north star), which is 431 light years away from earth.

The song will travel across the universe at a speed of 186,000 miles per second

according to the news release.

(Paul McCartney says: "Send my love to the aliens")

John Lennon wrote the lyrics after listening to his wife Cynthia "go on and on about something". The song was recorded forty years ago today- February 4th 1968 - at Abbey Road studios in London. It was intended for release while the Beatles were in India.

It's not my favorite Beatles song, but I like the idea of transmitting it out across the universe. It's an optimistic act; kind of egocentric, but that's what we humans are all about. We're adding a track to the Cosmic Jukebox, the Fab Four are representing Earth in an intergalactic Battle of the Bands.

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind,
Possessing and caressing me.

Jai guru deva om

Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes,
That call me on and on across the universe,
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box they
Tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe

Jai guru deva om

Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.

Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing
Through my open views inciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a
Million suns, it calls me on and on

Across the universe

This post is dedicated to my cousin Matt.

Mandrake Roots Rock

Reading the new history of the 13th Floor Elevators I came across this passage documenting Roky's initial slide into madness:

Tommy (Hall) used Asthmador as part of Roky's draft avoidance regimen. This was an asthma relief preparation that contained the active ingredient Atropine, a psychoactive compound present in both mandrake root and belladonna.




A few sentences later:

Atropine is the same substance present in Mandrax (from the mandrake root) which was heavily abused by Pink Floyd's madcap leader Syd Barrett and has often been attributed to the final crack in his sanity.



Wikipedia provides this interesting mandrake root factoid:

It was a common belief in some countries that a mandrake would grow where the semen of a hanged man dripped on to the earth.

Lacking that option, I did some web searching and found that you can buy mandrake seeds and make your own witches brew.

BONE!

Doctor Nerve
and
BONE (Didkovsky / Hopper / Roulat)

Saturday Night, February, 16th 8:00pm

Orion Studios plays host to Doctor Nerve and BONE, two of avant-
rock's most extraordinary rock ensembles. Help us celebrate a show
that will offer a night of truly incredible progressive music from
two groups whose members helped pioneer this genre!

----------

Up first, BONE, a rock trio made up of Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine),
Nick Didkovsky (Doctor Nerve, Fred Frith Guitar Quartet) and John
Roulat (Forever Einstein). With their landmark CD “Uses Wrist
Grab” (Cuneiform Records) BONE re-established and expanded the
boundaries of the guitar based rock trio. Bone has only performed
live once, so this is a very special occasion you must not miss. One
reviewer from last year's premiere performance at The Stone (NYC)
summed up the performance with a simple “OMG!”

This night is even more special since Hugh Hopper is coming directly
from London to play his first performance in the Maryland / Baltimore
area.

Hugh Hopper is a British bass player, studio/electronic musician,
songwriter, composer, and improviser, Hugh is one of the most active,
influential and respected figures on today’s international jazz-rock
scene. In a career lasting over 40 years, beginning in the early
1960s and continuing today, Hopper has played and recorded with
countless jazz, rock, and jazz/rock musicians around the globe,
including every musician of the British Canterbury scene, and amassed
a huge body of recorded work. Hopper was a central figure in the
genesis of Canterbury School music,Britain’s most distinctive
contribution to progressive jazz/rock, and he composed some its most
memorable tunes; historian Aymeric Leroy, a Canterbury specialist,
regards Hopper to be THE personification of the Canterbury school.
Hopper also introduced some of the most avant-garde techniques into
jazz/rock, attaching fuzz boxes to his bass and experimenting with
tapes, soundscapes and electronic manipulations of sound. Indeed,
Hopper is one of the world’s most distinctive and influential bass
players in any genre: his signature fuzz bass sound, developed in the
late sixties as a member of Soft Machine, had profound impact on
psychedelic music, European jazz/rock and even ‘zeuhl’ (Magma) music
of the day, and continues to resonate among young jazz/rock players
today.
----------

Next up is Doctor Nerve with guest Ben Herrington (Meridian Arts
Ensemble). Doctor Nerve has been shredding the boundaries between
rock music, heavy metal, systematic improvisation, and avant-
contemporary music for over 20 years. Armed with new tunes (!) and an
expanded horn section featuring Ben Herrington of the Meridian Arts
Ensemble on trombone, Nerve performs for the first time in Baltimore
in what is sure to be a mind bending and screamingly intense musical
experience.

This is a rare opportunity to see a night of music that will, if
not change your life, most certainly leave a dent in it. Miss even a
second of this and suffer the scorn of your peers forever. Survive it
all and tell your grandchildren you were there.

----------------
Doctor Nerve
----------------

"A startling collision of post-metal guitar, avant-garde
improvisation, and tight, large-ensemble arrangements." Guitar Player
"Some of the most cogently raucous ideas on the current scene,
postminimal, neomaximal, and full of energy" Kyle Gann, Village Voice
"A blissful test of musical severity" Carl Howard, Artitude
"Will scare the hell out of you!" Drummer Dude

Leo Ciesa - drums, oaken splinters
Nick Didkovsky - loud guitar, conduction
Yves Duboin - soprano sax and marginally painful squeals
Rob Henke - trumpet and high frequencies
Ben Herrington - trombone, punk bell
Jesse Krakow - electric bass, metrical gyrations
Michael Lytle - marginally sensitive bass clarinet, scientific
fictions
Kathleen Supove - piano, vinyl, mona lisa

---------
BONE
---------

“This fabulous all-star progressive power trio features Nick
Didkovsky (from Doctor Nerve) on lead guitar, Hugh Hopper (Canterbury
fuzz-bass legend for Soft Machine & Isotope, etc.) and John Roulat
(Forever Einstein) on drums & percussion. ...wicked slide
guitar...great, bent, hard rockin' nastiness... screaming, demon
guitars ... thick, throbbing
bass ... great tribal drums and percussion. Charming in a twisted
sort of way" - Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

"The madness herein is very catching. Assault with a friendly
weapon..."
- Ken Egbert, WHAT'S RATTLIN'

“The music ranges from take-no-prisoners-and-give-no

-apologies
intensity to deep floating psychedelia. Intense, precise, surreal:
Bone is a power trio that defies expectations!” AMG

visit:
www.doctornerve.org
www.doctornerve.org/bone
www.burningshed.com/hopper/
www.forevereinstein.com

COVER: $15
All Ages Show - BYOB - Chairs and Coolers welcome

Doctor Nerve and Bone CD's are available at www.waysidemusic.com
and the
iTunes Music Store

Doctor Nerve and Bone merchandise (jerseys, t-shirts, thongs)
available at http://www.cafepress.com/doctornerve


Driving Directions:
-------------------
I95 to exit 50A, Caton Ave South. Take Caton Ave south to the third
traffic signal and turn left onto Washington Blvd. Take Washington
Blvd. about 1/4 mile until you see a big "U-Haul" sign, on your
right. Turn just before the sign onto Inverness Ave. Take Inverness
to its end and turn left onto Whittington Ave. Take Whittington to
its end and turn right, into our lot. Enter through door "B" in the
building on your right as you enter the lot.

Tag Your Country's Photos

Woman working on an airplane motor at North American Aviation, Inc., plant in Calif. (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

The Library of Congress recently loaded hundreds of photos onto Flickr as an experiment. The idea is to expose the photos to more people and allow people to assign tags to each photo. I think this is a really cool idea because it 1) opens up the incredible collection of LOC photos that have been sorta collecting dust on their clunky site and 2) leverages the power of the internet in allowing viewers to assign tags ("metadata" in the lexicon of librarians).

thoughts on Jeremy Blake

I've been thinking a lot about Jeremy Blake ever since I saw the Wild Choir show at the Corcoran in December. If you haven't been, you should go. Blake was really onto something with his combination of still media and video (he edited every frame of his 9-12 minute videos in Photoshop). And I'm partial to his themes: sixties Swinging London decadence, punk impresario Malcolm McLaren, the poetry of David Berman (who will be reading at the Corcoran in February)....and there's the heavy back-story too, with his slide into paranoia and death. But I think people should be remembered for the beautiful stuff they create, not for their messy lives. So check out Jeremy Blake- some of his videos are on the web (as well as Theresa Duncan's The History of Glamour) but you really need to experience his stuff on a big wall in a dark room.

show this Saturday

show this Saturday
Originally uploaded by BarrettJ

come feel the heat

Theresa Duncan posts again

set to publish automatically on New Year's eve, a post from the late Theresa Duncan

Hello Goodbye

2007's Leafy Green top 10:
1- getting married on a hot August day
2- a loud-ass jam session in Austin
3- the cherry tomatoes from the garden
4- a loud-ass jam session in Chevy Chase
5- Sunburned Hand of the Man at Wave Farm
6- getting cut loose from the shackles of the IMF
7- bringing tamales up to Connecticut for xmas
8- every one of Jenny Otto's classes (and Douglas Brooks)
9- learning about Allen Ginsberg
10- swimming in the ocean off Copal with the moon and stars above

Solstice

Ice forming on sea near Lauttasaari.
Originally uploaded by HyperBob

we've arrived at the shortest day. it's been a fun round trip. now we're heading out of the darkness back towards summer.

Street Hassle

Dupont Circle & 19th Street, Thursday 12:15 pm:

Lady Panhandler: Spare some change? I like you!
Me: Sorry, no change.
Lady Panhandler: I don't like you. Fuck you!

Two blocks further south...

Male Panhandler: Merry Christmas, spare some change?
Me: Sorry, no change.
Male Panhandler: Asshole!

Majick Community Radio Airplay

Sean at WRYR (97.5 FM in Annapolis -100 watts of power!) played track 4 off disc 3 of the CD-R set...an inspired choice! it's one of the most abstract tracks we've recorded...I love to think of our stuff floating in the airwaves over the "Eastern & Western Shores of the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Region".

Sean's show is every Friday night from 9 til 1.

Thanks Sean!

Cassette Culture

Just signed up for my second year of Tape Club, the Plastic Crimewave effort that puts a mix tape of psychedelic sixties unknowns in your mailbox every two months. I've written about this before but I wanted to plug it again because I'm a huge fan of Steve Krakow's stuff. His Galactic Zoo Dossier zine is totally awesome (here's an interview with the man).

I listen to my cassettes on a $25 boombox. This is the optimal playback mechanism for tapes. The Tape Club tapes sound great on a boombox. Most 60's music was recorded in mono, meant to be heard through the single speaker of a handheld transistor radio or a crappy AM car radio.

The Tape Club tapes got me to go back through my old tapes. I've heard a few where some drunken finger pressed "record" instead of "play", creating a few seconds of what is today called a "field recording". And even if you punch out those two little tabs, tapes degrade. So the tape you hear today won't sound the same years from now. Degeneration baby! It's cool.

Takoma Crime Map

View Larger Map
Stereogab created this very cool Google Map showing the latest wave of muggings in our neighborhood. It's cool that DC shares their data but if one concerned citizen can build an effective map using Google, why are we paying for stuff like this?

UPDATE 12.12: Found the MPDC Crime Incidents KML file and their Google map but they don't show many of the incidents mapped above. Is MPDC not adding every incident to their database?

Yeah!

Look out Takoma!

Punk Rock Memory Lane

Watching the Joe Strummer documentary the other night got me to thinking about the Clash and the mid-70's punk scene in England and how it is possible for Art to be both Political and Fun.

American Hardcore documents the American scene a few years later, during the "second wave" of punk, when bands like Black Flag and Bad Brains roamed the country, spawning scenes wherever they played.

Potluck Redux

my set
AUTOSALVAGE "PARAHIGHWAY"
DONOVAN "BARABAJANGLE"
WILLIAM PENN FYVE "SWAMI"
KAK "ELECTRIC SAILOR"
MOBY GRAPE "MURDER IN MY HEART FOR THE JUDGE"
ZZ TOP "OLD MAN"
BEATLES "NORWEGIAN WOOD"
CRAMPS "I CAN'T FIND MY MIND"
MONGO SANTAMARIA "FEELIN ALRIGHT"
THE JIMMY CASTOR BUNCH "YOU BETTER BE GOOD"
ROLLING STONES "2000 MAN"
BYRDS "BAD NIGHT AT THE WHISKEY"
BEVIS FROND "TERMINATION STATION GREY"
KINKS "I NEED YOU"
PINK FLOYD "VEGETABLE MAN"
CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND "EXPO 2000"
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA "THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS"
TAMRONS "WILD MAN"

hackmuth's set
stereogab's set

The Rebirth of Potluck
Originally uploaded by stereogab