There's a lot of stuff rolling around in this old head of mine. Hopefully you'll be able to understand and relate. Sometimes...you just have to get some things off your chest. And sometimes, you just have to sing outloud to a song that's been stuck in your head all day -- and dance around the room with your creaky arthritic knees. Be proud of those aches, gray hairs and laughlines....we earned every one of them.
Indeed...one might say our dear Count had quite a fetish for, er...counting. But oh, did we love him dearly. Rest well, Jerry -- thank you for making our childhoods a whole lot brighter...and oh-so-spooookier x0x
"...The female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down..." ???????
Wait, wait...no one ever said anything about our magical lady parts! Seeee, that's what I get for missing that high school health class way back in November 1982. Who knew the female body has so much magical, psychically intuitive power -- Okay ovaries and tubes...you heard him -- SHUT THAT WHOLE THING DOWN!!!!!
And people still want to argue that Republicans and other right-wingers really give a damn about women's rights and taking a strong stand against violence against women? It's beyond an insult -- and very, very telling. We have to keep our eyes and ears open as we watch this election continue to morph and take shape -- and even if we're lucky to see Romney and Ryan lose? We still haven't heard the last from them and their fellow politicos.
She really pushed boundaries for women in comedy when the boys were large and totally in charge. Her laugh (and electrified hair) was one-of-a-kind. Rest well, luv x0x
Wendy Rene has always been a national treasure.I remember listening to this 45 on serious repeat when I was an angsty, lovesick tween and teen way back when. One of the first slow-dances I ever had was to this beautiful gem. I think it was 1980...7th grade...my best gal friend, Angie, and I were hanging out at a b-day party that finally felt like it crossed the threshold of kiddie parties. No slap-happy clowns with balloon animals anymore.No multi-festooned party hats and cooing parents giggling and snapping pictures at every corner. Yes...there were turns taken with Spin-the-Bottle -- ANDTruth-or-Dare....and there were those awkward, nervous moments in 7 Minutes-in-Heaven. We felt bold and so grown up -- and it really helped that we were deeply into the film FOXES starring Cherie Currie and Jodie Foster (and Scott Baio!).It really did click with the level of many of the difficult issues we were dealing with -- much more than what our school peers and other friends were caught up with back then.This song is such a touchstone. It still cuts straight to the heart. Close your eyes....and let yourself get lost in the emotion in her voice.
This is one of Early Graves' last interviews together in July of 2010, just a couple weeks before the accident. It's still such a bitter pill to accept that Makh is gone.
Here's a brutally raw song that shows the sheer power of Makh's vocals and the tightness of the band:
This is one of my favorite songs. He was such a gifted spirit. I truly hope he has the peace he deserved and never again suffers the kind of pain and anguish he had in this life.
I have become a silent movie
The hero killed the clown
Can't make a sound
Nobody knows what he's doing
Still hanging around
Can't make a sound
The slow motion moves me
The monologue means nothing to me
Bored in a role, but he can't stop
Standing up to sit back down
And lose the one thing found
Spinning the world like a toy top
Untill there's a ghost in every town
Can't make a sound
Eyes locked and shining
Can't you tell me what's happening? Why should you want any other
When you're a world within a world?
....I totally forgot about how the noise his thought bubbles made sounded like a pissed-off duck call! Go Spidey, GO -- just don't slip and fall in those slippery Spidey socks!
Here's wishing all those in our dreadlock tribe -- oldies and newbies -- a mellow day and a great weekend (without anyone reaching out and touching our locs or asking any inane questions like whether we have bugs in our dreads or why we don't UN-dread them and have long hair!!). Keep 'em flowing! x0x0x0x0x
She would have been 65 today. It still saddens me that she's no longer on this plane, but her brilliant spirit lives on in her powerful, creative works. Wild Seed was the first book I read by her. I was so blown-away by her vision and it felt absolutely amazing to read a sci-fi story with a lead female character of color I could finally relate to. Just amazing. I hope there are legions of young women (and men) writers of color being inspired by herimagination. There is still such a need for more diverse voices in the genres of sci-fi and fantasy writing. Every time I think of works like the Lord of the Rings or the George R.R. Martin's books, and the birth of the popular Game of Thronestv seriesit's based on, it just smacks me in the face and burns.We deserve to be major characters in epic sci-fi/fantasy stories -- And not just ones who are sexually-charged servants, buffoonish supporting characters or suddenly killed off in the first act.
**Click the link to watch the second part of her interview with Charlie Rose:
(Whenever I see a picture of this sculpture and some of Cordier's other beautiful pieces, they often make me think of Octavia Butler's work. This one especially reminds me of the character Anyanwu from Wild Seed)
**Check out these links for Democracy Now's footage and interviews from the recent silent Father's Day March protesting NYC's racist "STOP & FRISK" policy -- they took it all the way to Bloomberg's door:
45 years ago, on June 12, 1967 a landmark Supreme Court case shattered all state laws banning interracial marriage. It
was the case of Mildred and Richard Loving. She had African and
American Indian heritage and he was a white man. Their only crime was
falling in love with each other at a time when "race-mixing" was
regarded by many as unnatural and forbidden. The
times have changed in so many minds and different parts of the country,
but racial intolerance towards interracial couples still exists. And
the current battles being fought by so many LGBTQIA individuals for their
rights to equality and the ability to marry the people they love dearly
echoes so much of what the Lovings went through. The bigotry and hate
projected from the intolerant minds around them is on the same par as
what mixed couples had to suffer under miscegenation.
***Click link for info on the creation of Loving Day and activities that might be in your local areathis week:http://www.lovingday.org/
What. The. Fuck. I've been watching the results flow in from the recall fight tonight against Walker in Wisconsin and I'm....speechless...and sick to my stomach. What the hell reality is this where UNION has become a dirty word??? I hope....I really, really hope....to wake up tomorrow and hear that hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Wisconsin and refuse to be moved. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/scott-walker-fights-retain-governorship-wisconsin-recall-010044710.html
And my blood pressure is still simmering. BEYOND unethical, unsafe and wrong.
I really hoped this show would never see the light of day after the massive boycott of artists and collectors speaking out. I couldn't help but be curious. Now that I've seen it, I wish I could scrub my eyes and brain with steel wool and lysol to make the disturbing images go away. Someone, please, make it stop.
Day-dreamy kids, and all others out there with a burning desire to do tattoos, don't fall for what you see and hear about being able to become a skilled professional tattooer in the span of 2 weeks -- or even a month. Don't look at having a side job of scratching out of your basement or garage as being a proud, healthy, acceptable option -- for your customer as well as yourself. Becoming an apprentice is the first crucial step towards the journey of being a responsible, rock-solid, professional tattoo artist. And being RESPONSIBLE is always the major part of the equation. YOUare responsible for the quality of art being etched into the person who just paid you for your abilities. YOUare responsible for knowing needle depths and how not to work someone's skin into hamburger (especially if they are anxious or a first-timer or happen to have darker skintones). YOUare responsible for being able to assess what images, colors, shading, etc. will work on the skin of your customer and having the ethics and honesty to work with your customer to create a piece that they'll be really satisfied with. I'm still in shock over what I just saw in the first episode of that show. Still wish a had that steel wool and some lysol. I swear, I keep thinking that what I saw was like looking down at a toddler, as you stand watching a busy street of traffic, and you let go of their hand, ordering them to walk across the busy street on their own....with the absurd expectation that they'll, of course, be able to access some common sense and intuition as they face the gauntlet of cars. And of course this toddler's pudgy little legs have only JUST gotten used to the terrain of their house and have never crossed ANY street in their young life. Oh, yeah...Jiffy-Pop "Tattoo Schools" make so much sense. I still think some of the folks helming these things have stock in tattoo removal tech or maybe even have a removal office tucked away somewhere on the side.
ARRRRGh!! Okay...here's a bit of right-on levity poking fun at this insanity. I love the guy doing the camera. The moment with the potato chip and the phone are especially funny.
Another thing I dearly miss about NYC. This really is an awesome event. For as much as we know and love NYC for the concrete canyons and frenetic pace....it's a beautiful, centering thing to stop and watch the skies for a while amidst all the honking taxis.
Wendy O. Williams followed her own drummer. She didn't whore herself out to fads, fashion designers or cola commercials. She had many troubles and dark times...but she also had many triumphs and light in her short life. She dared to speak up about major labels and the bullshit cookie-cutter images women singers were often forced to shimmy into for the sake of hitting it big.
I remember this Tom Snyder show like it was yesterday. It was the first glimmer my mom had about the real boundaries and artistic edges punk rock was pushing. The infamous Quincy episode, not-so-much. I still remember us both squinting at the screen and realizing that super cool car was a Nova. She said, "Oh my god, Kam...that's a Nova, like our car! (ours was bright white). What is she going to do to it??? I remember smiling and saying "just watch, mom...just watch."
***And don't forget the final big-bang with that rad Nova in Part2 of this interview! http://youtu.be/-Hha6TH2R7w
Seriously, one of my absolute favorite Ramones songs. Somewhere...in the great beyond of piles of old 80's photos at the bottom of some junk drawer, there's a pic of me and a couple friends standing next to Gem Spa on 2nd Ave and St. Mark's pointing upwards to the 2nd Ave sign with chicken vindaloo take-out in our happy hands. Man....now I'm craving an egg cream. Mmmmmm....egg creeeeeeam.
I remember watching this scene and sitting in the back of the theatre with my friend Angie and my first real boyfriend of my early teen years. I still remember him getting up and pretending to be Joey while he sang this song to me in the aisle. People thought we were nuts and kept "shushing" us all. But it was so much fun. We went to see Rock and Roll High School over and over and over when it first came out. Dee Dee was too adorable in the shower, but Joey took the cake for me. He was a sweet soul. We'll always want you around x0x0x
Woke up today and there she/he was. Sitting peacefully right outside my window. Feathers shining. Eyes shining. And then she/he spoke.
Messages from loved ones in the beyond? Wisdom for these troubled times? Or maybe just calling out to friends nearby?
So beautiful. The raven really is my favorite bird. My mom used to tell me it wasn't right that so many people regarded it as an evil creature or an unlucky sign. She did say that sometimes they were tricksters...powerful spirits....Sometimes they had messages to pass on....And whenever you see one close by always take time to notice it and be mindful of what's happening in your life -- especially if you're missing a lost loved one.
Very few things make me truly proud to say I have Chicago roots. Studs Terkel is at the top of the list. I still have great memories of listening to him on Chicago's NPR station dispensing the wisdom our nation and ailing world still desperately need to hear -- and seeing him smile as we rode the buses near LSD (Lake Shore Drive). If you're in Chicago in May and June, check out some of the planned events to celebrate Studs' 100th and remind yourself that each and every one of us is capable of making big ripples towards change in this world. And if you get a chance, stop by Bughouse Square and do a shout for me.
