Quote of the Day

'Ninety-nine percent of who you are is invisible and untouchable.'
Bucky Fuller

Because the Wire has nothing to do with Xmas...

Some lesser seen Omar and Prop Joe action -

TWS

Apparently some people don't like Transworld - not sure why because I don't really hang out with the cool kids. Anyway, they have a nice link here of best online skate vids of 2010.

There's classic and there's CLASSIC

Aside from 2 or 3 songs - Yo Bum Rush the Show is possibly one of the greatest albums of all time. And not just in Hip Hop, but overall.
It could be argued that if it was just a recording and not performed live - or if PE didn't have that particular image and 'mainifesto' - the record could really just be a Chuck(y) D solo album produced by the Bomb Squad, for all of Flavor and Terminator X's input on it. But that would be enough, Hank Shocklee did things on that record that were/are just minblowing and literally timeless. And Chuck has rhymes for days that, due to his particluar style and subject matter are real genius and massively original for 2010, nevermind the 80's ('...the po-etical / -itical / lyrical son...'). All of this is obvious and 'yeah yeah yeah' when you say it out loud - but people tend to forget, have shit on their I-Tunes forever and maybe skip over it. But listening to it again on my way in this morning (something about hearing it while on a train through a city covered in snow just fits perfectly) you fall into the sound of it and wonder how they even came up with some of those ideas - the 'chorus' of MiUzi Weighs a Ton for example seems simple but the overall structure of the track is crazy. Maybe because of this album alone I rank the Bomb Squad up there with PR and Primo etc etc, in the best Hip Hop producer list.

This is all written off the top of my head so excuse any ramblings within - just trying to express my thoughts on something while it's fresh in my tiny brain.

I had this on tape back in 88:

Jeffers

Why does insanity always twist the great answers? Because only tormented persons want truth. Man is an animal like other animals, wants food and success and women, not truth. Only if the mind Tortured by some interior tension has despaired of happiness: then it hates its life-cage and seeks further, And finds, if it is powerful enough. But instantly the private agony that made the search Muddles the finding. Then search for truth is foredoomed and frustrate? Only stained fragments? Until the mind has turned its love from itself and man, from parts to the whole.

'...that's the trouble with my stories - they always seem to build up to something that never actually happens.'

Geek points

Saw this guy sitting down to breakfast in Soho this morning:

I literally glimpsed him through a window for a moment and recognised him right away
Unremarkable until you consider this is how he's better known:

The idea of Pinhead sitting about to tuck into eggs benedict or somesuch did make me giggle.

Isaac crawl

Quote of the Day

To sin by silence when they should protest, makes cowards of men.
Abraham Lincoln

old stuff.

Some sketches of ideas of things I never finished. Hence the low-res. I'm trying to find the original files to re-post, but put these up in the meantime as - well - I'm impatient.

nine-zero-zero

Been killing the free download made by these guys over the last week or so:

It's been the perfect soundrack to my zero degree, red-sky, white ground travels.

'Comedy is acting out optimism.'

- Robin Williams

Some actors, scenes and quotes - especially comedy quotes - feel like they're always around. From first seeing Police Squad on late night TV (and for the first 10 minutes not knowing it was a spoof) to Airplane and Naked Gun... and later realising he actually used to be a straight actor in such classics as Forbidden Planet - Leslie Nielsen was one of those guys who was just always - always Stupidly funny. As usual AintitCool have the best article.
RIP.

Once you have given up the ghost, everything follows with dead certainty, even in the midst of chaos.

- Henry Miller.

With hindsight and considering my current mood, maybe listening to The Fragile while reading Tropic of Capricorn wasn't the smartest move. Or maybe it's just right.

Ink Sweat and Tears

Ink Sweat and Tears once again posted up some short pieces of mine - you can read them HERE.

Quote of the Day

Alcohol is like love. The first kiss is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine. After that you take the girl's clothes off.
Raymond Chandler

smooth

A Perfect Circle live, Nov 2010, Arizona

EXCLUSIVE: Watch A Perfect Circle's Tour Kick Off | SPIN.com

Good Stuff

Happy Friday...

Quote of the Day

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
Michael Jordan

Illusions

'Is everything we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?' (no of course not you idiot, if it was I'd be able to fly...)

BDK once again

Still want that grey Yo MTV hoody...

Bill Viola / NIN

Quote of the Day

Anyone can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person at the right time, and for the right purpose and in the right way - that is not within everyone's power and that is not easy. Aristotle.

Backup.

A feint vision remains, burned into the back of my retina
Faces
Not many, but some
Once important figures in the history of my life
Now turned to dust.

All abandoned
All fled
All
Dust.

No one now remains
I am covered now in barbed wire
Hazard lights flashing just out of
Reach.

There is no feeling of loss
No regret or mourning for the still breathing
Still laughing, distant
faces.

I pretend
Make excuses
As always
Lies deceit corruption without punctuation.

Because that is my way
My right
To feel as I am
There are no tears

It is only dust in my eyes.

yeah but

Yeah but-

Being right so much lands you in a choke-hold,
Locked in the arm of a 200 pound gorilla.
His strength never waning,
Yours seeping out of all the cracks.

Being right lands you in the frying pan
And
The fire, via hot coals - and then
To sleep on a bed of nails.

Sweet dreams.

And the days are not full enough

And the days are not full enough
And the nights are not full enough
And life slips by like a field mouse
not shaking the grass.

Ezra Pound.

Heavy wain.

All I want is my coffee,
Please cease with your well mannered pleasantries.
All I want is a dry street,
A change of direction
And a reason to carry on,
So please stop asking me about the weather.

I know you are told to do these things;
Make nice,
Keep smiling,
Keep them smiling,
I know you want to do these things
Also,
As you are too young and focussed
To be jaded.

All I want is everything, now that you ask.
The surface of the sun and the centre
Mass of your heart,
So hide those pearly whites from view, and
Carry on about your
Day.

Get on with whatever it is you
Do
When you’re not gwinning at people,
Because there is no time for this.

You will one day soon realise
That you are a hundred years old,
And listening to all those people talk about
The job, the train, the holiday -
All of that has vacuumed tiny gaps of air from
Your lungs,
And left you with quantum imperfections of
The soul.

All I want is my coffee,
This morning I kind of like the gentle wain.

Beautiful Losers

I watched this documentary a really long time ago – thought it was amazing and yet don’t seem to have posted a thing about it on here. Then preceded to forget about it entirely. Anyhoooo... it is really good obviously – and is one of those doc’s that makes you remember why you (try to) do what you do and that you need to get off your ass and do it more.

Time, space, reductionism.

Too early for a daydream
Too late for a nightmare
Wannabe skyscrapers, grey with the autumn
Cold
Reflect in puddles of glass
Then destroyed by pigeons that
Tiptoe between spent cigarettes
Resentment is a geyser
Trepidation a chasm every 2nd step ahead
Electronics fill the vacuum of space,

My mind drifts with too much time to fill
Each factor of my morning and life
And day and tomorrow and
Tomorrow is broken down further to its component
Parts
Too early for a daydream
Too late for a nightmare
These are just fears.

Great movie soundtracks, part - whatever

When I started the blog I posted up quite a few movie soundtracks which I intended to add to every now and then. Suffice to say I haven't added to the list because I'm forgetfull/lazy, and well - lets face it, there aren't that many good soundtracks out there.

Thought I'd add one from the film featuring this fictional band:

My least favourite Cameron Crowe movie, but great artists/records on the soundtrack.

Quote of the Day

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than open one's mouth and remove all doubt. Samuel Johnson

Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe (as you all well know) was an amazing artist who tended to focus on Homoerotic photography and sexual images, that - for all the controvery they caused - were undeniably great photographs. So it would follow that there is a new exhibition of his work in Eastbourne. Wait, what..?

Teacher, mother, secret lover.

That's a Homer Simpson quote about TV, if you needed telling.

Horizon 'The end of God?' was amazing - if for nothing else, the sight of Dawkins in a crash helmet and blinfold:


and the 1st part of Lost Land of the Tiger was just as good - though wish they weren't on at the same time. Yay for I-Player:

Nomenclature

World Famous Design Junkies have made this poster 'The Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names':
Click to big it up.

tax•on•o•my – noun
1. the science or technique of classification.
2. Biology. the science dealing with the description, identification, naming, and classification of organisms
(I had to look that shit up...)

Quote of the Day

Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.
H. L. Mencken

Intervention

My wife Lu’s blog for photographic artist Tim Simmons. He’s showing his installation series as a contender for the Artprize 2010 in Grand Rapids – you can CLICK HERE to vote.
Here’s the venue:

Congrats Mr V

After going for a surf with friend and wedding guest Laird Hamilton, Eddie marries Jill Mcormick in Oahu, Hawaii.
Spin magazine article here.

TX

One of my favourites:

Quote of the Day

I hang my head against the white
refrigerator and want to scream like
the last weeping of life forever but
I am bigger than the mountains.

Bukowski.

Blood into Wine

THIS is being released on DVD soon. Looks amazing - especially if you're a Tool fan.

Erwin Wurm

While looking through a photography book at home recently, I was reminded of the work of this guy. He's an Austrian artist who produces a variety of work including photographs and what have been termed 'one minute sculptures'. The latter inspired this old Chilli Peppers vid:

Human rights.

I heard a screech like monkeys warning of a snake close by, and stood on tip toe to peak over the heads in front of me - there were at least 50 people between me and the chimps, all of us sandwiched on the narrow platform between 2 sets of train tracks. A young man – younger than me at least – was inches from the face of a small middle aged gay man who was in turn, backed against a wall; ‘GIMME THE PHONE. GIMME THE FUCKIN PHONE...’

The smaller one just stood there, looking away and muttering something I couldn’t make out over the chattering masses. The chimps screamed again ‘WHAY YOU TAYKE ‘IS PICTURE FOR!?’ I moved in closer as some of the crowd moved reluctantly to board their train. Still looking into the middle distance the man replied matter-of-factly ‘I took his photo because I find him attractive.’ At this point you would be forgiven for thinking his response was something along the lines of ‘I took his photo because I want to cut him into small pieces and fry his lower intestine in butter for my dinner.’ Such was the abject horror in which it was received.

Instantly and as usual, I disassociated myself from any empathetic feeling toward this fracas and – analysing the subjects involved, began to notice the differences in appearance between them; The gay man was small, older, and though slim looked sort of like a little potato. The younger man was obviously a labourer of some kind, scaffolder, roofer, chippy, and after a long day hauling crap had removed his shirt to reveal a tanned, rather stocky and worked-out torso – covered in sweat.

‘UURRR, WHAAAA!?’ The incredulous screeching continued from what I now saw to be 3 young blond girls on their way home from whichever branch of Burger King they worked in (there was no indication of fast food chain employment but from their actions and lack of language skills I could only assume that ‘meat warmer’ was their one collective talent).

This went on.
And on.

Then after several minutes of screaming and nobody intervening on anyone else’s behalf, the young man stopped simply demanding that the pictures of his glistening torso be deleted – and stated that in fact, the whole situation was ‘...against my human rights.’ This made me snap back into the moment and think, does he have a point? Is he afforded the fundamental right to demand his image not be held by a stranger for his own selfish sexual gratification?

It took me a sum total of half a minute to arrive at the certainty that everyone involved – and even those who weren’t, were morons and not worth another nanosecond of contemplation. The picture taker should have been more subtle had he wanted some new and stolen masturbatory material, the roofer should be more aware of the origins of his style choices (along side being sculpted he also had what could be considered a super-gay haircut) before unveiling his body to the world. And the crowd, almost baying at the minor spectacle like dogs about to fight over scraps of bone... they would go home and relay the funny story to their wives and husbands.

Human rights. That made me smile. Maybe it’s my human right that I should be able to buy myself lunch every day without freaking out about not having made another batch of brown pasta instead of spending what would amount to £20 a week on what we peasants regularly refer to as ‘fancy food’. And that I should be capable of standing in public without being subjected to the inherent retardation of most of the sub-human beings next to – in front of and behind me during my daily commute. But we can’t always have what we want now,
can we.

Rilke redux

Rilke.

I grew up in this town,
My poetry was born between the train track and the roadside,
It took its voice from the rain,
And like the concrete, it steeped itself in the city.

Quote of the Day

I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone.
Rainer Maria Rilke

Watch the skies

From the Guardian, a selection of entries from the astronomy photographer of the year competition, 2010, held at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich:

Quote of the Day

'...You better beat it - I hear they're going to tear you down and put up an office building where you're standing. You can leave in a taxi. If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff.'

Rufus T Firefly.

Ink Sweat & Tears

Ink Sweat & Tears have posted up some Haiku's of mine. These were written a while back and relate to the part of South East London that I live in.

D

choons - cont...

Today's lunchtime music...

some choons I forgot to post up a while back

Quote of the Day

‘Gangster Computer God worldwide SECRET CONTAINMENT POLICY, made possible SOLY by worldwide Computer God Frankenstein Controls, especially LIFELONG CONSTANT THRESHOLD BRAIN WASH RADIO ( quiet and motionless, I can slightly hear it; repeatedly this has saved my life on the streets ). FOUR BILLION worldwide population ALL living have a Computer God CONTAINMENT POLICY BRAIN BANK BRAIN, A REAL BRAIN, in the Brain Bank Cities on the far side of the Moon, we never see. Primarily, based on your lifelong Frankenstein radio controls, especially, your eyesight T.V. (sight, and sound) recorded by your brain. YOUR Moon BRAIN of the Computer God, activates your Frankenstein Threshold Brain Wash Radio LIFELONG, inculcating conformist propaganda, even frightening you and mixing you-up and the USUAL, "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT." for your set backs, mistakes even when you receive deadly injuries. THIS IS THE WORLDWIDE COMPUTER GOD SECRET CONTAINMENT POLICY.’

Francis E. Dec

Heroes for Hire

Word on the street (internet) is that Marvel are planning some kind of Iron Fist release:


Not sure at this point if the big man would be involved too - but either way - sweeeet:

Best. Actress. Ever.

BBC4 is to broadcast an opera based on the turbulent life of the former Playboy model, Anna Nicole Smith. Anna Nicole – The Opera will dramatise the life of Smith, who married oil tycoon J Howard Marshall, more than 60 years her senior, in 1994 and then after his death the following year was drawn into a lengthy legal battle over the settlement of his estate. Smith died of a prescription drugs overdose in 2007, aged 39...

Ok – I mean how bad can it be when this is the source material:

re-welcome!

Looking over my old posts today, I thought I'd copy/paste up a reminder of what I'm trying to do here...

After all the Facebook / MySpace shenanigans over the past year, I thought - why not get back to the good old days of posting stuff on a blog that no one will ever see, unless I tell them about it over Facebook or MySpace.

I have used the name channelzero for over 8 years now, as an umbrella identity for numerous projects of mine including: photography, publishing of prose/poetry/short fiction and other things (forever) on the back burner.

I am trying to juggle lots of things at once to keep it all fresh and keep moving forward. Even if what comes out of it ends up being repetitive or rambling or a bit involved and introspective – I don’t care. There are too many 'art projects' that re-use old ideas and rely on trends, and by not having a real format I'm trying to avoid that at all costs.

This blog will run side by side with my MySpace page – which will include the longer pieces of my writing. So, I will pretty much post whatever pops in my head day to day onto here – kind of like free association - and this will hopefully give my other work more focus.
Longer bits of work - stories and articles for example, can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/channelzerose4

1 piece written 3 ways.

So as an experiment, I took 1 subject and tried to write it in 3 forms: a series of 3 Kigo Haiku's, a kind of formatted poem and sort of free prose over a few paragraphs.

Kigo.

Summer’s last day
Exactly as summer’s first
A sinking feeling.

--

September’s shadow
A black cloud that follows me
The sun still hiding.

--

New love and new life
Create warmth within my chest
Breath becomes steady.





Bully.

It’s not as cut-and-dried as it sounds
You have a bad experience as a kid
And mental scars remain
That take a long time to heal and need help in
Doing so.

A common problem, I know
But it’s not as simple as ‘cause and effect’ or
You have a problem - you solve it
Our minds don’t work that way
You only have so much control over instinct.

The animal
The protector
The human in you
Can keep a strong hold on your gut
On your heart and lungs.

It can overpower whenever you need to retreat
Strike out or just close down
Those days or weeks when contact with others
Feels like a heart attack -
All of that can be the echo of one quiet wound.

And it took some time to realise that my own cycle
Was only beyond my control
Because I hadn’t sat down
Taken a breath
And tried to remember everything.

To take every single image
Every single Monday morning when I was
Sick to my stomach
And analyse it to death
To suck all the air out of those memories.

I finally got it down to the number 13
And the beginning of autumn.
My 13th year was pretty much a teenage nightmare from beginning
To end
And the lead-up to the start of a new school year, well.

It lasted almost 20 years
And that number alone would make most people think of it as
‘a serious problem’
But there are things now – things, people
That walk with me, all over that time of my life.

And now, brown leaves lay underfoot
The air becomes cool in your throat
People don scarves and hats
Cheeks red, cigarette smoke taken by the new season’s breeze
And I begin to feel my chest rise and fall again.

The adrenaline is less
Anger remains, but is mostly tempered now
I use it for better things
To create
To write.






Every mirror.

I’ve no idea why, but I can remember looking at my face in the bathroom mirror of every job I’ve worked at. Generally I can’t recall a single other moment of employment – good days, bad days, bosses names – nothing. But I have a back catalogue of faces staring back at me from over the sinks, fluro lights above and that swimming pool smell in your nostrils. Except the Government job, that was more often than not, your everyday ‘old man’s turd’ smell.

And each time I see that face, tired and bored and lazy and frustrated – I can see the history that lead me there. To have pissed in so many different bathrooms, working for people who forgot my name after I left, the same way I can’t remember theirs now. They were busy and focussed and couldn’t care less and nor could I. Even though most of the time - at interviews and first days, I really did want to care. But damn – there goes what little confidence I did have, out the window.

Those bosses, they liked being there. They loved their jobs and I never got that. I tried – I did. I even stopped lying to myself for a while and bought all their bullshit to see if I could reprogram my default setting. But nothing ever stuck.

I’d always look back after it was too late to do anything about it, and think; where did they get all this self-belief from? How do they maintain that without constantly questioning every move they make? I still do that I suppose, less so as I get older, but inside I’m still a little kid thinking he’s snuck himself into a position above his ability and is always on the verge of being found out.

So here I am again today; hands washed, dark circles contradicting the fact I had a full 9 hours last night, same lights above me. A different room and more pleasant smell but really – who gives a fuck. I still don’t know if I belong here – actually belong here. These places all remain the same, in that after all these years, and even considering how much more secure I feel, I still can’t run home fast enough at the end of the day.

This is straight up poached from the Crossfire website, but is too good not to post. Kind of like a video version of the Chrome Ball Incident photo/mag articles – Skate Library is a great collection of skate videos from times past (and present).

Camu

To mark the release of his posthumous King of Hearts album, Def Jux are offering a free Camu Tao mixtape download over at the site.

and all the stars dripped down like butter

This morning's travelling music:

Free eels track

New album imminent, download a new track at the website.

Move sucka!

Quote of the Day

'With women, I've got a long bamboo pole with a leather loop on the end. I slip the loop around their necks so they can't get away or come too close. Like catching snakes.'

Marlon Brando.

John Callahan

I’d never heard of John Callahan (Feb 1951 – Jul 2010) until today when I read THIS ARTICLE.

Some damn funny stuff.

Ray

Nice article from Skateboarder Mag on Ray Barbee.

LEE

Happy 50th to LEE Quinones.


I once met Lee when I sold him some pens and paint when he was in London for a show. We're not best mates or anything, I'm just saying...

Click here for the Juxtapoz article.

I've said it before and I'll say it again -

fuck China.



On this July morning, 75 tonnes of sharks are being processed in the city of Kesennuma in north-eastern Japan. The animals feed a brisk domestic market in shark fins for soup, though some of the meat also ends up in Chinese bowls. Last year, Japanese fishing boats hauled in 35,000 tonnes of shark; 90 per cent of it came through this port, which operates six days a week.

The image was caught by photographer Alex Hofford, based in Hong Kong, who over two days witnessed 119 tonnes of blue shark arrive as well as salmon shark, shortfin mako shark, and endangered bluefin tuna pass through these docks.

fonk.

‘Confinement in this case, stretches as far as the eye can see.’

Kicking against the war. Looking for a sign of life, somewhere and anywhere and everywhere. Life that remains hidden in the spaces between TV shows. Warming milk on the stove until the bubbles explode and stick. Blistering heat and freezing cold. Pain and pleasure making birds fly and angels fall to earth. Any sign at all. Kicking out of a paper bag like a newborn with a grudge on creation, its ears open and eyes closed. A rolled cigarette sitting alone in the drawer waiting to die. A headache removed a hundred times from the everyday. The skirmish breaking out behind your eyes pacified only by solitude. A night in December that gathers others around a cauldron to cast spells on you, and you alone. Freedom, ecstasy, kicking, burning. Looking for a sign of life, somewhere and anywhere and everywhere. Signs hidden in those tiny black spaces between the stars.


circa 2009

Mr Lif kitchen freestyle

Quote of the Day

'Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.'
Francis Bacon

Movies...

A couple of quick reviews I forgot to post at the time of watching...

The Lovely Bones is a pretty good book. I generally don’t read fiction but wanted something easy to read and picked it off the shelf, finding it nicely written and quite different from most of the other popular novels on offer at the time. The book is pretty graphic but also balanced out with some ethereal aspects and that is one of the main reasons it works in my opinion.
The film removes all the specifics of the darkness that the book so intimately describes – and for that reason above all else, it falls down at the first hurdle. The beauty and colour and otherworldly elements are all present, Peter Jackson being a master of communicating those things – but making it a more ‘PG’ screenplay kind of shifted the balance away from the poetic aspects of the original story, and for someone who has no idea of the source material it may come over as a little overly romantic or even cheesy.
That said, it’s still well made and the main plot changes work well on screen, even if they did leave a little too much subplot on the cutting room floor.
And while we’re talking about books...

The book of Eli – What a waste of a great idea. I hate to say that about a film starring Denzel and Gary Oldman – but I think the Hughes Brothers (Menace II Society / From Hell) let a potentially great idea escape them with this one. I won’t spoil it by elaborating on this – you find out the basis of the story about halfway through – but after it was over I couldn’t help but think about how much deeper they could’ve gone with the initial premise. It’s a nice looking, well made action film with a small twist and good performances – but had they rewritten the original script and maybe extended it out for another 30 minutes – they could’ve had a classic cult movie on their hands rather than something most people won’t really remember in 5 years time.

Vert

I remember seeing this pic when it came out - a reminder if people needed it that Tony Hawk is gnar.

Amongst the waves

Pearl Jam Oceans from Pearl Jam on Vimeo.

New PJ video - and website.

History of the NBA

If you don’t have cable nowadays you don’t get to see any NBA games – or if they're on TV they’re pretty old and shown around 2 in the morning.

The NBA website has a great archive of history of the game, players and lots more to read through instead of working like you should be.
For people like me who were big fans but have essentially missed a 8-9 year chunk of games and goings-on within the NBA – it’s a great resource.

'Quote' of the day

We the [American] working population
Hate the fact that eight hours a day
Is wasted on chasing the dream of someone that isn't us
And we may not hate our jobs,
But we hate jobs in general
That don't have to do with fighting our own causes.
We the [American] working population
Hate the nine-to-five day-in/day-out
When we'd rather be supporting ourselves
By being paid to perfect the pasttimes
That we have harbored based solely on the fact
That it makes us smile if it sounds dope.

Aes Rizzle.
9-5er's Anthem

Of no consequence.

Her name was Joan and she was ITALIAN.
Only she wasn’t that Italian.
I mean – her name was Joan…

Joan was married to Colin. I liked Colin.
He was a nice guy, and as we all know, nice guys finish last.
I guess part of me should feel bad for being this way but
Fuck him.
I know too many people that were/are nice
And given the choice, I wouldn’t sit and drink with a single fucking one of them.

I prefer madness.
Deviance,
Subterfuge,
Underhanded tactics and ulterior motives.
All are signs of a more interesting human being.

I thought of them both today, Colin and Joan. I remembered them.
How odd that a couple with whom you spent so much time, in this case at work, would disappear entirely from memory.

Two people over the course of maybe 2 years, and I can recall not a single conversation. Not a gesture, not even a goodbye from either of them.

Life is full of these people.
They take your time, your energy, and ask unreasonable things of you while they make more money than you ever will. Because they are nice, they are professional.

And they do not know a single thing about their own minds,
And so shall never ask even the simplest of questions
As they’re too busy making it,
Climbing the ladder,
Being all they can be.

What bullshit.

Style you'll never have

Just added a link to Steve Caballero's blog some artwork of his and some great old photos on there too... I think he's gone all religious like Hosoi did - but still, he's Cab. He can do what he wants.

PIXAR

'To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art - that is, intimacy, spirituality, color, aspiration towards the infinite, expressed by every means available to the arts.'
Baudelaire.

Any excuse to sing the praises of Pixar... here is a little article from the Guardian.

RIP Rammellzee

A key figure and innovator in Hip Hop culture, Ramellzee's name is derived from "RAM" plus "'M' for 'Magnitude', 'Sigma' (Σ) the first summation operator, first 'L' - 'longitude', second 'L' - 'latitude', 'Z' - 'z-bar', Σ, Σ - 'summation'.

Happy Birthday Ray

Some things are engrained in your psyche during your childhood years - Sinbad, Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts... Ray H is the dude.

AintitCool article here.

At At

One of the reasons I love AintitCoolNews, is they put up things like this I'd probably never get to see otherwise...

I cried

yeah yeah yeah. let's get that over with right from the off. The other title for this post was going to be 'We are here to save your evening!' (Pele from the Hives).

Here's the setlist:

Given To Fly, Why Go, Brain Damage (cover), Corduroy, Got Some, Once, World Wide Suicide, Small Town, Amongst The Waves, Even Flow, Unthought Known, Nothing Man, Arms Aloft (cover), Not For You, Of The Earth, State Of Love And Trust, Do The Evolution, Wasted Reprise, Better Man/Save It For Later (cover)

1st encore: Just Breathe, Red Mosquito (feat. Ben Harper), Black, Porch

2nd encore: Go, The Fixer, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter

the weather couldn't have been better. The food and beer was expensive. I bought a T-shirt that I'm putting away for Isaac. The sound was better than I'd expected and aside from a strong rendition of an average Joe Strummer song (I don't care about the Clash, sorry) the set was kind of a greatest hits, and I'm perfectly happy with that - and the new track Of The Earth sounded amazing.

the only real downers were the 5 Heidi Montag sound-a-likes with their clutch bag collection, standing next to us facing the other way and talking to/texting each
other and eyeballing anyone who got too near them. I hope your plane crashes into whatever sun drenched neon lit, Rodeo Drive looking fucking toilet you came here from.

and - to Mr 'I'm a quiet loner who doesn't know one single song lyric yet if anyone tries to walk past me to the front I'll give them proper shit' (but am too much of a pussy to do anything when someone fronts me on it) you enjoy that lonely bus ride back to your mothers basement where your microwave bacon cheeseburger is waiting for you. You bald retard.

anyhooo, that aside the night was more or less perfect. Not going to review it here but will say that there's no band I've seen, ever, who are as tight as those guys. Especially this long into a career. It's all about consistency people.

here's a pic of Ben Harper who rocked the support slot after the Hives had finished, and Ben and Eddie doing Under Pressure from early in Bens set. (Not much I know, but I didn't include in the above list - those people who were filming the whole thing to put on YouTube tomorrow. And I mean the WHOLE thing. Put your cameras down and listen to the tunes - you assholes).

I love everyone really.

Link to Absolute Radio site here.

Quote of the Day

Don't get it right, just get it written.

James Thurber

This is quite lovely

CLICK HERE to see some Cotopaxi Volcano time lapse movies.

From the site: made at altitudes of 3800m and 4500m. Cotopaxi Volcano is very close to the Equator line, explaining why in this time lapse movie the celestial Southern Pole is located on the horizon behind the volcano. The coal sack and Southern Cross are visible above the crater. One can also see the flashlights of climbers going up the glacier.

(fyi - The S.S. Cotopaxi was a tramp steamer named after the Cotopaxi volcano. She sank in December 1925. All 32 crew were lost. In the Special Edition release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Cotopaxi is discovered in the Gobi Desert.)

Quote of the Day

Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.
Bertrand Russell

This morning.

This morning was not a good morning.
Sometimes you can go to sleep practicing some kind of yogic ‘glass if half full’ positive energy exercise and still awaken with tears in your eyes.
The hard truth of it is – there is no glass.
The water, or whatever your particular poison happens to be, is held in your mouth.
And there are only 2 options if you feel the need to speak up – spit or swallow.
I came into work where actual half empty glasses of red wine sit along the top of white radiators.
A remnant of something inconsequential, yet of great importance to someone, somewhere.
Today is the longest day of the year.
I had no knowledge of that fact when I opened my eyes at 6am.
The clouds were grey and heavy, the flat being a basement – cold as usual.
So hard to tell what the day will hold after walking out of the front door.
Now the sky is blue.
The radio plays the same 10 songs I listened to last week.
But that’s alright.
Today is going to be the longest day of the year.
All things going to plan.

Just because the sun's out...

Summer lovin

Today is the Summer Solstice - which means someone somewhere, is sitting in the middle of a field with their long dreads under a red gold and green hat - smoking a fatty and staring at the clouds.

The Solstice occurs exactly when the Earth's axial tilt is most inclined towards the sun at its maximum of 23° 26'.

Enjoy it. It's all downhill from here.

On to the next one

 

So that’s STP over with. A good night all in all. When bands come back from a long hiatus with a new album, and/or new sound – the set lists tend to be pretty predictable:

Start with a few tracks off the early records (Vasoline etc)
Slip into the brand new material for a couple of songs
Some mid-era stuff and slowdown (Creep / Sour Girl)
More new stuff followed by the biggest single(s)(Plush)
Encore (I hate encores) of ‘the old track everyone knows they haven’t played yet’(Dead and Bloated)

Anyway, it works for me – and aside from the blonde girl in front with trustafarian dreads tonguing her boyfriend 2 inches from our faces all night – the crowd was mostly cool too.

Monday - bleurgh...

1st day back after a week off – and it feels really odd, like almost jet-lagged. Nothing is goign smoothly and I just spilled a full cup of coffee over my entire desk. Could be the lack of sleep, or it could be having to use my brain and navigate other people on the street for the 1st time in 10 days. It’s a lot of effort.

Looking forward to seeing these guys on Weds night...


And in the meantime I have these 2 (free) EPs to tide me over...

Part VI from Sepulcros De Miel - by Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quartet.


I’ve decided to nickname the How to Destroy Angels, ‘Nine Inch girls’. ‘cause I’m clever.

Lazy Lazy... Lazy

More YouTube - sorry. Still - I was thinking of things I hadn't seen in a while, and these came to mind:


Childhood memories and then some.

Wild Things

Watched this last night:

I liked it but not how I thought I would. It's kind of sad and kind of not - and a bit deep and dark in places, so I was back and forth on how I felt about it, from scene to scene.
By the end I was into it and really liked the whole thing overall. It's one of those flicks that you probably wouldn't feel the need to watch twice though.

Orgone Motor

I had a dream about this painting last night:
Can't remember it though. Annoying.
http://www.laffoley.com

Drinking coffee doesn't make you more alert

Oh Balls...

'zzzzew'

Geeks of Doom have taken the time to break down the evolution of our favorite Star Wars weapon.

Dennis Lee Hopper

 

May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010