Guns & Time & Matter

The nasty youth criminal of the day for me is hard to pick...might be that teenage rascal Scott Dyleski, whom a California judge just sentenced to life without parole for the messy trailer murder of Pamela Vitale, a neighboring housewife. He reportedly struck her at least 26 times in the head, broke her nose, her fingers, knocked out some of her teeth, and left bruises and cuts all over her body.The judge derided Dyleski's plea for leniency saying that the only time he'd shown emotion during the trail was when watching autopsy photos blown up on a video screen.

"I saw you, sir, lean forward and your mouth fell open," the judge said.

"You were absolutely fascinated by your handiwork," said Judge Zuniga

"This was a very deliberate, planned murder," added judge Zuniga. She seemed apalled that as Vitale was dying, the killer carved a symbol into her back "because you were proud of your work," Zuniga told Dyleski.

--------
Derrell and Jarell Show...

But in a case that got far less attention, I'm gonna nominate two fellow East Bay teenagers who stomped a 45 year old woman to death mercilessly on the streets of Berkeley one night last year.

In fact they were so brutally kicking and jumping on the 110 lb homeless woman, a neighbor called police because he thought it was an act of vandalism on an object.

Derrell Morgan, 19, and Jarell Johnson, also 19, were defended by public defenders, one who claimed his client "is a thug, but that doesn't make him a murderer," ...

Either way a judge is expected to give each a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

here's an appropriate Undertones cover from a compilation album called Hot Funky & Sweaty: The Sound of Heavy Soul & Funk Today



The Gene Drayton Unit - Teenage Kicks

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Anyhow, gotta love how that violence is in our schools, that stuff is just great...

Heck, who doesn't love a good American style school shooting, even when it's not the students...

some old gun crazy codger in Colorado today must have felt like he missed out on his chance to be a member of the Trenchcoat Mafia, and wanted in on all the sick juvenile excitement...

Platte Canyon High School is about 30 miles from Denver

Wearing the typical psycho garb of hoodie & camoflage backpack...the man entered the Jefferson County school just miles from Columbine around lunchtime.

He wanted to be left alone, with just female hostages. According to a parent, when the man's 16 year old son asked to stay behind with the girls, the gunman shoved his weapon in the boys face saying 'It would be in your best interest to leave,'".

He then apparently began sexually assaulting the girls.

The F'ing Champs - Guns In Our Schools


An evacuation of two schools ensued after he threatenend to blow up explosives, and eventually after a standoff, there's a dead gun toting loser...and saddest of all, a dead girl hostage, Emily Keyes,16, who was critically injured as the SWAT team stormed the classroom. She was badly injured, and flown to St. Anthony’s Central Hospital where she later died.

Not sure how, or why on this one yet...

like we f'n need a reason or even care what makes such freakish idiots go off anymore...

In my mind, I can already hear the incredulous neighbors being interviewed,

"Didn't talk to him much, but he liked guns & seemed like such a normal guy..."

Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson - Don't Take Your Guns to Town (storytellers)

Posted below is a cut that was originally featured on a benefit compilation CD that came together after another sort of tradgedy. Before including it on their recent B-sides collection The Fastbacks contributed this song to a record designed to help out the group Home Alive. Released in 1994 on Epic, the Home Alive compilation and organization was a Seattle response to the rape & muder of Gits singer Mia Zapata. The Fastbacks track is a UK Subs cover and was one of the highlights of the original in my opinion... I suggest ya get either of the albums listed below... as they both have their merits...


Download

Fastbacks - "Time And Matter"

now part of this Book Records release:

Fastbacks - Truth, Corrosion And Sour Bisquits

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Too Much Parenthetical Manic LSD

Just read the comments by some of Senator George Allen's ex-college teammates on Salon.com including a Doctor who've accused the foolhardy blowhard who reps Virginia of being an overt racist back in the 1970's.

George was actually raised in CA, but quickly developed a southern accent & a fondness for the ways of the Neo-Con-federacy. One story circulating has him leaving a bloody deer head in a black family's mailbox as a college student...and not surprisigly frequent & fluent use of the "N" Bomb.

In fact if one believes the sadly silly stories, George threw around more "Niggaz" in his flow than a cell block full of gangsta rappers. What's interesting is his denial of past discrminatory behavior on Tim Russsert's softball NBC weekend program Meet The Press, when George said

"And one of the things that you learn in football is that you don't care about someone's race or ethnicity or religion."

Gee George , the key words I focused on were "you don't care"...

Like that isn't obvious?

Uh, you keep a noose hanging in yer office, like sporting the confederate flag, and yer Dad was the coach of the football team called The Redskins after all...

One movie I'm pretty sure George won't be attending this year is first time director Nikhil Kamkolkar's festival circuit fave "Indian Cowboy". The film is a love story about some mingling "maccacas" & has those subversive south asian plotlines all over it, and a contemporary beyond Bollywood soundtrack album out currently. Here's a sample from the soundtrack CD

Alms For Shanti (feat. Uday Benegal and Jayesh Gandhi)- Indian Cowboy Theme



well.. not sure where all this is leading us...

So

In a shocking revelation that will shake up the blogosphere , I admit, I'm kinda at a loss for words tonight...

It's rather late in the evening...

and I will flabbergast ye with verbiage at some later appropriate date...or at least get all my pictures uploaded for my next mega post...

in the meantime...

it's Time For A Terrible Tuesday Mini Mix for ye...

representing the madcap Uk team...actually they're technically Welsh... I speak of ...Manic Street Preachers.

The lead single released in 1998 from their 5th CD, features a title lifted from a resistence poster from the Spanish Civil War, after the fascist air bombing of Madrid.


Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

and here's a few more lesser acclaimed tracks, one from that same era, this one written in reference to the life of Unabomber Ted Kacynski's withdrawl from society to a cabin in Montana.

Manic Street Preachers - Montana/Autumn/78

Luddite lover
Forgiving father
Unhappy forever
Live it to where you can
Those skies must drive you wild
The earth around you
This silence around you
Be with the sky tonight
You've ruined more than you'll gain
Know what you mean - but not what you do
Nature will take care of itself
Your ego will destroy itself
Montana/Autumn/78
Your life into the future
Maybe forty years
A life worth saving or lonesome ever more
The nothingness of truth
Or everlasting youth
Ideology or the ultimate thrill
You've ruined more than you'll gain
Know what you mean - but not what you do
Nature will take care of itself
Your ego will destroy itself
Montana/Autumn/78

This next two tracks are the previously unreleased bonus tracks put out to promote the Manic's 2002 'greatest hits' Lp "Forever Delayed". I myself prefer "Lipstick Traces", the double disc B-sides collection that came out in 2003, but I don't have it handy today... (pssst...bug me and I'll get around to posting fom that thang as well sometime...)

Manic Street Preachers - Door To The River

Manic Street Preachers - There by The Grace Of God

...

and moving right along, we come to yer basic too cool for you chick singer songwriter babe... Now on Michael Gira's Young God Records, the label that brought us Devandra Barnhardt...we get Lisa Germano's In The Maybe World.. A longtime trouper, Germano has had plenty big name pals in the biz, and has even played with mega acts like John Cougar, David Bowie & U2. Over the years as a solo artists she's been on 4AD, Capitol, Ineffable/iMusic, Koch etc. Over the years she's had guests on her releases like Neil Finn ( Split Enz), Johnny Marr (Smiths), and Howe Gelb & Giant Sand. She also has contributed vocals, violin and other instruments on other people's albums, like Eels, Craig Ross, Sheryl Crow, etc. But despite all these high falutin' ties, to pay rent she works semi-regularly when not touring at Book Soup, the store on Sunset across from Tower in West Hollywood. Figures the geek girl might hide out in the racks with her fave non threatening companions, books.

Lisa Germano - Too Much Space


When in doubt we bring in the mighty Johnny Colon, this track released on George Goldner's Cotique imprint is the Boogaloo Blues LP title track circa 1968 featuring the awe inspiring chant... LSD has a hold on me ...!!

Johnny Colon - Boogaloo Blues




and leading us out of here are three pieces by the perplexing popsmiths of the Parenthetical Girls, from their latest efforts which include a sorta homespun remix project with help from Xiu Xiu that may just be too esoteric for it's own good...or not.

but it's for you to decide & download now...

(((GRRRLS)))

Parenthetical Girls - Love Connection

Parenthetical Girls - Love Connection pt 2

Parenthetical Girls - C-86 Is Killing My Life

Slender Means Society

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dramarama uber alles

Anyone that saw the amazing Rodney Bingnheimer doc directed by George Hickenlooper would've noted the subplot involving a member of Dramarama. He ended up co-producing the film, and works in the tale of how his band was rescued from utter obscurity in New Jersey by some far away airplay on Rodney's popular LA radio show.

Dramarama - Anything,Anything



That there was the breakthru track that still gets played on KROQ, and is still recalled fondly ...as if they were all dead and not sitting there like smoking elephants in the room...

Dramarama, sorta like Rodney, of course had their moments in the late 80's & early 90's, flirting with the big tme but never quite getting there. I remember seeing them play a pretty sizable radio station sponsored outdoor festival back in 1990. Their song "Last Cigarette" was riding the airplay curve and was a real great live smoker...

Dramarama - Last Cigarette
(external you send it link)

Somehow though the star train did not stop and pick em up, and a caterwauling cast of neutered charisma-less bands like The Gin Blossoms, Sugar Ray and Hootie & The Blowfish hit the charts while Dramarama petered out into semi obscurity...

Singer John Easdale alaways put his heart into the tunes, and sounded like a man on the edge. Maybe this just scared corporate radio programmers or something. Here's one was from the album Sci Fi Hi Fi and was their last to really flirt with any kind of radio play...

Dramarama - Work For Food

Eventually, as far as the "music industry" was concerned, the band just kinda dissolved into the ether. Yet, I think Drmarama still do some reunion type stuff , playing clubs on the Jersey shore and wherever promotors are still willing to give it a go... Hmmmm, looks like they'll even be on a bill at The Greek Theater in LA in October. I'd probably still go to see 'em, cuz I'd hate to think it's all over but the declining royalty statements. Here's a couple lil' tracks relevant to today from their most recent self release...Everybody Dies

Dramarama - Good Night, America

Dramarama - Everybody Dies

Everybody Dies

Dramarama

• Buy at iTunes Music Store

oh hey... are you still here?

well then check out there new version of The Dead Kennedys "California Uber Alles" with Arnold Schwarzenegger-centric lyrics...

Dramarama - California Uber Alles

I am Governor Arnold S...
I'll soon clean up this mess
I have inherited...

I'm jingling all the way
from the Southland to the Bay
I'll govern all of you
your kids will all lift weights in school...

CHORUS
California uber alles...
Uber alles California...

The Golden State is getting worse...
Need Mr. Universe...
I am a movie star
and drive the biggest, dumbest car

This hero always wins...
conveniently forgets his sins
jumpin' from the master race...
and always wears the happy face

CHORUS

here comes 2004...
knock knock on your front door
it's my very own secret police
come to pick up your ugly niece

march quietly to the camp
you'd make a lovely lamp
don't worry it's just a shower
for your clothes here's a pretty flower

body builder's in control
100% natural
Say goodbye you lousy pest
if you mess with Governor S.

then grab yerself an east coast mash up of Dramarama & The Beastie Boys...

DJ Quixotic - Triple Drama

sunday sidewinders, maceo, mog & moggs

Here's little Sunday something from a classic Blue Note recording of trumpeter Lee Morgan along with saxophonist Joe Henderson, pianist Barry Harris, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Billy Higgins.

Prior to his solo deal with Blue Note for whom he recorded some 25 albums, he played with Art Blakely and Dizzie Gillespie.

The tune here was actually a pretty big hit throughout 1964 and may have saved the label from bankruptcy at the time. Recorded in December 21, 1963, it's got a timeless presuasive sructure and ranks up there with the all time jams.

here's from the original Blue Note 4157 liner notes written by jazz critic Leonard Feather:

The title number might best be described as a long meter blues ( 24 measures to the chorus). "the tune kind of put me in mind of the sidewinder - you know, the "bad guy" on television," says Lee. "There's a snake called the sidewinder, but I was thinking of the bad guy." If the character and mood seems a little different from that of the aveerage blues, you can attribute it to the the unexpected change at bars 17-18 of each chorus, when a minor chord is introduced.

The fascinating rhythm section figure established during the opening ensembles is sustained throughout the solos, giving the performance a deep blue tinge as wellas a Latin touch. Lee's solo, fluent and sensitively constructed, never becomes grandstandy and relies at times on essentially simple devices, such as the repeated B flat in the last of his three choruses. Henderson's solo is rich in melodic variety (note the contrast between the busy opening and simple continuation in his second chorus). Harris piano picks up in the intensity as it goes along, aided on his third chorus by the horns' backing. Cranshaw bears out Lee's complimentary observations in a fine solo that owe part of it's success to the continued pulsing of Billy Higgins percussion figures.

Uh, what he said... You tell 'em Leonard...

Being a short attention span un-analytical cat myself, I have to say there are few recordings that seem more enjoyable all the way through. I ain't gonna complain a bit here that the whole 10 minute sonic enchilda here just goes on too long, in fact ya almost wish for more.... jam on boys.

Lee Morgan - Sidewinder

Here's a cut from Branford Marsalis' hip hop influenced project Buckshot leFonque a few years back...these cuts are a tribute to Mr. James Brown

Buckshot LeFonque - James Brown pts 1 & 2

Speaking of James Brown, and horn players, why not a little Maceo eh?

Starting with his work in James Brown's backing band and then onto his work with Parliament/Funkadelic, few modern sax players have reached and deeply pleased a larger audience...

(save for say Kenny G... aaaackkk!)

Here's something from a fairly recent Maceo solo release via What Are Records called Funk Overload...

Download Maceo Parker - "Elephant's Foot" (MP3, 192kbps)

Maceo Parker, What Are Records

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Awhile back I got turned onto a site called Mog.com, which sorta attempts to combine the appeal of MySpace with Last.fm and is attempting to build an online music community.

The only thing I didn't like about it was the somewhat intrusive software aplication that seemed to cause problems with my windoze pooter hanging on the shutdown, and some hesher marketing lackey contacting me telling me to place their ad higher on my blog...

yeah right dude... you listen to Boston and Alice In Chains, go see Y&T tribute bands and you wanna give me advice?

But, hey check it out if ya have the time...

Speaking of Moggs... or whatver

hae ya checked out the Moggs?

A quirky duo act based out of the tidy lil butter & egg loving town of Petaluma CA.

Heres some tunes from their debut CD

Moggs - Disco"


Moggs - Interglacial Marriages

The White Belt Is Not Enough

Moggs

Absolutely Kosher

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My Sugarcube's Playing Bette Davis Eye Tricks Alone Again Or...

Yo

happy Hump day y'all...

I'm busy ... gotta design & upload a postcard for a pub party thang, hit the south bay all day for three seperate promo jobs, and get back into the city for my night shift etc...

and go visit my fave bartender at The Connecticut Yankee

so I'm just gonna drop right into it here... time's a wasting...

no punchy prose within, so no whiners...

especially pudgy kids in PA who are cluttering up the comments recently claiming I linked to "their" files or something...

sheeeesh...(like they ever made anything more creative than caca in their diaper)

yo... here's the dealio: if you don't want us to have at it, then don't leave it laying around on the world wide web baby beeeotch...

when you get off the fat ass and actually compose something more entertaining than a simple sentence... and you have copyrights and a career , then we'll consider yer whining to be legit...

but ripping & linking up some old Billy Idol & XTC tracks doesn't make you their owner genius...


anyhow,

A few weekends ago I got a chance to catch the migthy crafty Calexico live...

I was surprised how well the large, mostly unfamiliar audience received them at a large outdoor daytime street festival thang...

When yer playing to the bleachers & boucing beachball crowd, you obviously can't be as subdued and moody as yer CD versions are. A few years back I toured the studio where they recorded a lot of their early stuff, and i can understand why they mighta been more depressed back then. It's amazing what a change of venue, leaving Howe Gelb back in Tucson and earning some extra dough will do for some guys...

This song here was a cover they performed and dedicated to the late Arthur Lee & Love, and it was a real highlight of the set...

at least for my 7 year old niece who was jammed up against the barricades...

Calexico - Alone Again Or

Saw that everyone's fave Swan wearer Bjork is doing a Sugarcube's reunion...

Looks like a hometown crowd sorta thing, since it is so far only scheduled for Reykjavik on November 17, some 14 years since they called it quits.

The show marks the twentieth anniversary of the band's debut single 'Birthday';

Here's a different oldies I suppose so you can understand what you'll be missing

Sugarcubes - Gold

But if Bjork were to keep baller status as my fave early 90's performer ... she'd have to really stretch ... not be so experimentally high falutin & imcomprehensibly Icelandic...

beeeotch coulda spent more time hanging in icehouses in Houston

know what i mean...

I was always hoping Bjork & Bushwick Bill woulda done some duets or something, that woulda cemented her street cred...

Ghetto Boys - My Mind's Playing Tricks On Me ( Inst)

speaking of interesting Eyeball related music...

oh , remember this lil ditty, the 2nd most popular song of 1981.... just a couple winks behind Olivia Newton John's Physical...



Kim Carnes -Bette Davis Eyes (Acoustic Version)

A bonus cut from her most recent CD "Chasin' Wild Trains"

Corazong Records

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I got no real rhyme or reason for the next batch of hits I am tossing you tossers

so just make up your own reason to enjoy em...Hey, I Feel The Love...

But Is this how Donna Summer woulda wanted it?

All post-rawk ironic with a New York meets Ohio sheen...

Cobra Verde - I Feel Love



Giorgio Moroder, eat your sequencer out baby...



Oh, pssst just a reminder, here's some cool stuff I think you forgot to download that I posted recently... get on it before it's gone daddy gone...

Mark Curry's Hell House Band - Cut 'Em Up (Feat. El Hefe)

Dr.John - Food For Thot

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - Goodbye Earl

Dixie Dicks

It's Monday, the world is still spinnin of it's axis, and I think I'm gonna take the morning off...

In fact I know I am, because it's 5:30 a.m and if I was gonna do what I coulda/woulda or shoulda been doing as far as a work wise commitment, I woulda left the house awhile ago...

Let's just say the tone of the last conference call I was on didn't restore my faith in corporate humanity...and I'll let these folks get by this morning without me...

Ya see I don't mind working at 6:30 am, cuz I'm already awake, it's just that I don't want to deal with these dorky demeaning out of town nervous nellie idiots from my conference call at 6:30 a.m... or likely ever.

I'll live... in fact I live well.

I might need the money, but then again I don't really need their f'kn money...

I can usually make as much dough here in my pajamas in the same amount of time as i can it would take heading downtown to please these poison purveyors from Peoria... so f'k em.

instead today y'all will get some new noise to take with ya...

But something that might still flay in the heartland, depending on whether ya color yerself red or blue...

It's a Dixie Chicks tune...

Lots of people have likely heard of Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, the punk rock cover band whose sloppy live performances prove they are anything but a supergroup...

Featuring Fat Mike from NOFX, and a slew of other ne'er do 'ells like Joey Cape and Dave Raun of Lagwagon they have a little too much fun playing some top 40 songs badly. Like this Billy Joel number here...

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - The Longest Time

Speaking of sloppy, here's a pic of myself (bottom left) and Fat Mike (center) backstage hanging out with some of the folks found at a recent Gimme Gimmes gig...

The Gimme Gimmes have a new CD coming out on October 17, and recently posted a new preview mp3 up on their website of a Dixie Chicks cover...



I guess that would make them the Dixie Dicks...

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes -


Goodbye Earl

Now I don't know why it takes so long for a record that was suposedly done by earlier this spring to appear, but who am I to judge the inner workings of the Fat empire...

So if you've already heard that one.... I'll tide ya over with this semi-related nugget here...

Oft in the shadows of messr. Fat Mike in NOFX, guitarist El Hefe ( a.k.a Aaron Abeyta) plays a serious musical role in that punk group, not only on guitar, but with trumpet and humorous vocals as well. Here he is in this little heard side project with Sacramento based ( & former Virgin Records artist) Mark Curry. Not to be confused with the black stand up comedian with the same name, Mark Curry is a sort of ragged rough hewn Central California troubadour and here with El Hefe, they both get to stretch out in a laid back bluesy rawk style.



Mark Curry's Hell House Band -
Cut 'Em Up (Feat. El Hefe)

Mark Curry's Hell House Band - "Come On Out (Feat. El Hefe)"

taken from : Dozen Lies

Mark Curry's Hell's House Band (Feat. El Hefe)

Hard Soul Records

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ex-True Believer & Nun rises like Phoenix

On Friday September 29th , former San Franciscan Alejandro Escovedo joins his old pal Chuck Prophet in a special appearance at 12 Galaxies.

Both musicians are well known for being semi-unknown, despite having decade plus solo careers, and prior to that having been involved with seminal bands in the 1980's that influenced the modern No Depression alt-contry scene. Prophet, a guitar player in the influential road dogging rapscallion outfit Green On Red, while Escovedo blazed trails with cowpunkers Rank & File and also the True Believers.

Escovedo, actually the uncle to Prince sidekick Sheila E, never had her hit records, and has lived a long, less "Glamourous Life" than her. Clean of the booze & drugs that weighed him down as a younger man, he's rising like a mythical Phoenix from the ashes of his own past to reclaim his place as one America's finest and most respected Latino musicians. He has looked death in the eye, made his peace, and seems primed to move on to other heights, which looked impossible just a few years back. His storied and at times sordid career are recounted briefly below. Read on for an overview, hear an interview, and to download some sample music tracks from some of his many recent releases...

Alejandro Escovedo's father Pedro was a mariachi musician, his brother's Pete and Coke played in the 70's latin rock scene with Santana, but Alejandro got his start out here in SF as an art scene wannabe Johnny Thunders style punker in The Nuns.

Now a more mild mannered 55 year old whose fathered 7 kids, his career has splintered off into a wild western buddhist bluesy sorta saga that goes more than a dozen albums deep as a musical artist. His 1998 live album entitled "More Miles Than Money", sorta starts to tell the story of this musical desperado from the title alone and is a good a place as any to start. Here's just a few mp3z of some tracks from his many albums to give ya a taste of the repertoire.

From his first solo venture 1992's Gravity -

Alejandro Escovedo - 5 Hearts Breaking


From 1994's Thirteen Years -

Alejandro Escovedo - Ballad Of The Sun & The Moon

From 1999's Bourbonitis Blues -

Alejandro Escovedo - I Was Drunk

Here's Alejandro from a rare early eighties clip shot with his band the True Believers for the IRS Cutting Edge show that aired on MTV... In it he is interviewed, and performs both acoustically, and in a live club setting in Austin TX.
(Runtime less than 5 min)

Over the years, while based in Austin Tx, he got into the idea of having an orchestra style performance at the annual SXSW Conferences. Amongst those ensemble players he's plucked some fine local SF musician's out for road stints including Corey Porter of the Plain High Drifters and Cynthia Wigginton of Bermuda Triangle Service. Later he came up with a CD of string quartet lineup as well...

One of the last times I recall Alejandro's name being billed in these parts, it was actually a benefit that Prophet and a slew of others like Dave Alvin, Jonathon Richman, Peter Case etc. played to help pay some of the uninsured Escovedo's musical bills as he lay in a hospital suffering the effects of Hep C. I'd post a video clip from that rare & memorable night of Alejandro's music out up here, but you'll have to ask the lame fat lady at Slim's for my confiscated tape back...

His health condition was so serious few thougt he would survive to perform, much less tour again. On the opening night of a theatrical piece dedicated to his father Pedro in Tempe AZ, Alejandro Escovedo had become quite ill. Coughing blood at rehersal, he somehow made it through the performance, but collapsed later. Doctors discovered through an endoscopy that the veins in his esophagus had burst, and he had a tumor in his abdomen. This was all complicated by advanced cirrhosis of the liver and Hepatitis C.

While he took in emergency surgery, and a long hard road to recuperation, people convened to raise money for his care... Aside from the SF show I mentioned, a simultaneous one in NYC brought in Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople & Jon Langford of The Mekons, while many other smaller scale events were held around the US. Afterwards 31 acts including Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and Los Lonely Boys recorded a two-disc set called "Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo", which helped Escovedo earn income from his publishing. In what may have been the most fortuitous event of all Roche Pharmaceuticals actually donated medicine that kept him alive.

Meanwhile, Escovedo has since recovered well enough to continue touring, attributing his health to Tibetan Buddhist healing not Interferon, and has released yet another acclaimed recording, produced by Velvet Underground bassist John Cale, out now with distro via EMI.

Here's a rocking Stonesy track from his latest release Boxing The Mirror

Alejandro Escovedo - Break This Time.


For those with even more interest, here's a 15 minute phone interview Alejandro did in April with Live Daily upon the release of the new CD "the Boxing Mirror"

Alejandro Escovedo - Interview

See Alejandro Escovedo w/ openers Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express in SF at 12 Galaxies
on Friday September 29th
2565 Mission St SF
$22 at the Door

He'll also perform at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park in early October and at The Last Day Saloon in Santa Rosa earlier that week. See http://AlejandroEscovedo.com for moe info

Here he is from a Bloodsho Records compilation called Executioner's Songs Vol. 3, with a slew of folks including Jon Langford & Dave Alvin.

Alejandro Escovedo - Bad News

You can download up to 25 more free Alejandro Escovdo tunes via Emusic

Or check out some albums:

The Boxing Mirror 2006 Including: Notes on Air, Arizona, The Ladder, and more... Buy album: online stores »

		Gravity 1992 - 1 review: Including: Oxford, Five Hearts Breaking, Bury Me, and more... Buy album: 5 stores »

		Gravity [Bonus Disc] 2002 Including: Bury Me/Hard Road, Oxford, Five Hearts Breaking, and more...

		Thirteen Years 1994 - 1 review: Including: Thirteen Years Theme, The End, Baby's Got New Plans, and more... Buy album: - 7 stores »

		With These Hands 1996 - 1 review: Including: Tugboat, Guilty, With These Hands, and more... Buy album: 4 online stores »

		A Man Under the Influence 2001 - 3 reviews: Including: Follow You Down, Castanets, Across the River, and more... Buy album: 10 online stores »

		By the Hand of the Father 2002 Including: Inside This Dance, Dos Hermanos/Two Brothers, By the Hand of the Father Theme, and more... Buy album: - 6 online stores »

		More Miles Than Money: Live 1994-1996 1998 - 1 review Including: Slip Away, Five Hearts Breaking, Last to Know, and more... Buy album: iTunes Music Store

		With These Hands [Bonus Disc] 2003 Including: Pissed Off 2 AM, Pissed Off 2 AM [Live], Tugboat, and more...

		Thirteen Years [Bonus Disc] 2002

I Remember...MDC, Going Nowhere Faster Than You

Back in the times known as the 1980's, one of the most fierce and relentless attacks to ever carve it's presence into vinyl was the debut LP from MDC. Then known as Millions Of Dead Cops, they self released their debut LP on their own R Radical Records label. The cop/klansman on the cover is etched in my memory... along with many of those speed soaked tracks. Perfect to skateboard too, crammed with cuts fit for cranking out of a big ol' boombox, or maybe via that prehistoric 80's predecessor to the overpriced I-pod, known as The Walkman...

MDC - John Wayne Was A Nazi

MDC - Corporate Deathburger

MDC - I Remember

MDC - Dead Cops

The band had moved out from Texas, squatted for awhile at an abandoned SF beer factory taken over by punks, known as the Vats. They had toured extensively, taking Texas brethren like DRI & The Dicks around the US on the Yippie sponsored Rock Against Reagen tour. MDC had a fairly large renown in the punk scene, were angry & outrageous, challenging people with their anti-racist, anti-authortarian, anti-meat and anti-homophobic stance. Their overt politics had them arguing with everyone from skinheads to then meat eater Ian MacKaye and the homophobic rastas Bad Brains.

For awhile in the latter part of the 80's, I actually lived in the same house as the lead singer of MDC. By the time I met him though, hardcore was crossing over into a macho pseudo metal thing Dave wasn't really down with, and he had tried his hand running a vegetarian deli at Rainbow Grocery, and was living in a run down house off of 16th St in the Mission. Also living there at the time was a mendo gay hippie dude named Lawrence Livermore who was so busy with his zine called "Lookout" that he had not quite yet signed Operation Ivy & started his label Lookout Records. I worked over at Subterranean, answering Flipper's fan mail and stuffing anti nazi armbands into DK's 7" singles. Amongst the other guys renting rooms included my friend Mike who had just left the band A.P.P.L.E in NYC and would soon start Broken Rekids which brought the world some of the initial releases from The Gits & Naked Aggression. We had your annoying college radio DJ, a few token speed freaks, loudmouths and even Dave's crazy ex-cop brother upstairs for awhile. Aside form having numerous punk rock record label ties, and a constant flow of touring musicians, freaks & international activists hanging out at our house, it also had it's own zine and T-shirt designs marketed under the Tales From The Rathouse brand, manifested by probably the only sane people who ever lived there, one Joe Britz. David Arquette's cousin Tim moved out, so we moved in this dude Doug from Philly who was gonna play in a band I was starting with Michael Dean, the singer of Bomb, backed with some members of my old band the Bedlam Rovers, and the drummer from Eyeball.

It seemed like HC headquarters, where MDC would often park their RV outside, which became just another annex of our sprawling punk rock estate on Landers St in the Mission. Their were frequent visitations from members of Earth First, travelling strippers & fag filmmakers like Bruce LaBruce, and lotsa bands, with members of Coffin Break getting stoned in the kitchen, while maybe Lint & Matt from Op Ivy were hanging out on upstairs.

With MDC always up to something, my band played quite a few shows with 'em and I roadied many gigs, and even ended up singing back up vocals on one of their albums. One night at the Kennel Club shortly after the late great John Waters movie star Divine passed the band was known as Mourn Divine Correctly, and Dave came out in a gorgeous blond wig and pink taffeta gown.

One of the most memorable occasions I recall was when the pope came to town, and MDC decided they were gonna have their record release party on our roof.

We lived right across the street from the historic Mission Dolores and that put us on the papal itinerary... What better way to celebrate the release of their upcoming album with a mock last supper scene shot after hours at the local wax museum on the cover. The LP cover with then guitarist Gordon sitting in the Jesus spot actually wrangled enough wrath from Pat Robertson's 700 Club, it became listed as one of the Christians rights "10 most evil and Satanical albums". The blasphemic blast would be released under their ever changing moniker of Millions Of Damn Christians...

(which followed recent forays under the names Multi Death Corporations and Millions of Dead Children...)

Of course, the secret service had never approved this, and the hood was blockaded & surrounded on all sides. The neighborhood was cordoned off and the cops told all the residents no one could come or go for hours while we awaited for the glorious holy papal vistitation. Protestors, which are de rigeur at any San Francisco social occasions were barricaded blocks away, while we were under virtual lockdown all by our lonesomes. We were holed up in the house since 10am with a few cases of beer, some German punk girls with expired visas, and some members of the Yeastie Girlz.

We got drunk & stoned all day, and watched the tv coverage as the pope mobile finally approached... At precisely the right moment, circa 5pm as the pope and the fog rolled by, we hustled Al's drums up the back stairwell, Franco's bass rig and Dave might've used a bullhorn for all I know. Somehow I ended up with a video camera in my hand scrambled onto the roof. I attempted to capture all the excitement as the band blasted into "This Blood's For You", the lead off track on the new LP at the time.

We looked down at the papal welcoming party, some who seemed surprised, but likely unsure of what we were actually doing... If they thought it was an assasination attempt, it wasn't scaring anyone, and I'm pretty sure the pope couldn't hear us at all...

It didn't take more than 5 minutes for secret service to come out of nowhere, guns drawn , trying to get MDC to stop making a horrendous racket...

We were sent back down the stairwell, and had all the musical equipment confiscated along with some of those german passports...

The secret service looked around nervously at the decor, whch was mainly flyers for shows like Rock Against Reagen, and for bands like The Dead Kennedys, and of course our heroes Millions of Dead Cops.

I remember Dave, when asked if any weapons were in the house, voluntarily offering the surprised federal officers a peek at his gun, which was stored away in a locked chest, registered and unloaded. For some reason the cops didn't take my video camera, and were fairly polite when they realized we are all pretty harmless, and even barely buzzed since the beer had run out hours earlier...

I only wish I knew what happenend to that video tape...

Years have passed , and MDC are still going. They've been through a lot, both Dave & the drummer Al Schvitz ended up doing stints in prison a few years back. This summer most of the original members toured Europe, sadly without their longtime drummer Al who was back in prison. Dave got clean & sober, and even ended up teaching school on the east coast. Al's never been quite so focused, and has had his problems for sure. Last week though, word is Al, an aging rock n roll warrior, with a penchant for petty theft and dope was released from the joint, and hopefully he can stay clean and avoid doing anymore time. MDC is due to play acoustically at two upcoming gigs in the Bay Area within the next couple weeks.

I look forward to catching back up with them... and hearing some of those classic tunes...

They'll be at The Eagle Tavern where Dave & I's old housemate Doug ended up as the bartender/booker... should be purty darn fun. (Also on the bill is a guy named Greg Dale who spent quite a few nights at the old rathaus that turned into weeks... )

September 21st:
Alcoholocaust Presents
MDC !!!
BUDDHA BROTHERS (featuring Gary Floyd)
KITTEN ON THE KEYS
JOHN THE BAKER
GREG DALE


then on the following Saturday, thereunited band takes part in a Ruthie's Inn reunion show curated by Wes Robinson... a black old school east bay punk promoter whose now in his 70's!!!!

back in the day Wes used to bring bands like RKL, Metallica, Verbal Abuse, MDC, Death Angel and whatnot through a venue on San Pablo called Ruthie's Inn


Here's some MDC from their most recent release as Magnus Dominus Corpus( or Millions of Dead Contractors, a reference to Bush's totally sick Iraq war for profit exploits).

Download

MDC - Going Nowhere Faster Than You" (MP3, 192kbps)

MDC - Destroying The Land

MDC - Ballad of GW


here is a link to a post I did about MDC from April 2005... the last time I saw these guys, on their 25th anniversary tour

Playing with MDC at their Oakland gig on the 23rd of September is Arno-Core, the only punk rock Terminator tribute act I've ever heard of... They'll be playing a big Ruthies Inn punk rock art fag mafia reunion type gig in Oakland this coming weekend. Other acts on the bill include the survivors of every last death defying group of 80's punk rock troublemakers they could squeeze into a day long event. Think survivors of ne'er do 'ells like The Fuck Ups , Verbal Abuse, Code of Honor, Sic Pleasure( Let's Kill The Muni Driver), Crucifix ( peace Through Annihilation) and many more...

Download the Arno-Corps promo mp3 track

Arno Corps Total Recall here

Corpses of the Ultimate Dominators

Magnus Dominus Corpus

Sudden Death Records

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at Napster
• Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody

Straight From The Smog

Looks like I'll be in Chicago next Tuesday night....

anyone wanna tell me where to get a good thin Chi-town style buttery crust pizza?

Anyhow, caught Golden Smog in SF last night, sans Chicago fixture Jeff Tweedy, on the 2nd show of their current tour, and they were ok, but seemed a bit blase'.

... Apparently Seattle show the night before was even less fine tuned...

They seemed homesick maybe & were visibly disappointed when few in the hizzo responded to the callout "anyone from Minnesota"?

Other than that, no real audience interactions, and all in all it was just another gig I suppose. Not a bad one, but not a great one. Don't get me wrong, it was still a solid set full of quality rock music played in the traditional style, just not a life changer.

I have seen thse guys have fun in previous gigs here in town over the years... and was hoping for some Faces style shenanigans or, hey a lil more banter or something... but yep... they act like a serious band now...

Maybe they need more o' that Tweedy factor, although that guy can be real downer too, just ask his therapist...

(At a Wilco show some years back he stopped the music & was having a hissy fit about some guy he didn't like in the audience, so I dumped a half empty plastic beer cup on his head from the balcony. Let's just say he got even more upset...

and a guy I know, who looks nothing like me, and had nothing to do with my lil' action, was thrown out. I'll never forget him trying to explain to security he didn't throw anything, while I stood on the other side of the door grinning like a devil.

I sorta felt bad because I knew he already had a broken dick, yep... some babe came down hard enough on his man pole that it had snapped. But that's a different story, and I digress...)

The older Golden Smog stuff on Tues night was well performed, newer stuff seemed a bit stiff or rusty. Apparently in Seattle the band was so off, they were heckled by a request to play "something you know". They were still feeling that stinger a little.

Dan Murphy of Soul Asylum was the only real sparkle on the cake for me, and so it seemed for many in the crowd. His earnest rawkin' tunes were highpoints, the rest kinda just hung in there...

His latest contribution to the Smog... a tune called Hurricane from the new album Another Fine Day...it sorta lulls about on the record, but comes off as a real rave up live...

But in my opinion, the Smog doesn't throw out enough rockers, covers or yucks...

Louris can still hit his high notes, not band for a 51 year old expatriate who looks like a subsitute teacher...

ex Jayhawk Tim O'Reagen joined on drums for a bit...

Kraig occasionally seems a lil' too cute or out of his league ... (but has that Johnny Depp thing were he looks like he hasn't aged a day in over 10 years).

here's some Tweedy era cuts from Weird Tales

Golden Smog - Glad & Sorry ( Faces Cover)

Golden Smog - I Can't Keep From Talking

and here's Murphy taking lead on an under rated Soul Asylum tune

So last week I forgot that the Zombies were playing...

DOH!

I guess if I listened to more satellite radio like my pals the Taxi Driver and the Gardener, I'd have known.

It was part of a Little Steven's Underground Garage Showcase at that mission district hawt spot known as 12 Galaxies...

So in honor of what I missed here's another former mission district denizen...

One Carlos Santana and his band's interpretation of She's Not There from the 1977 Moonflower album, this cover a Rod Argent composed tune actually hit #27 on the charts... Making it one of Santana's only singles to hit the top 40, at least until that Matchbox 20 guy showed up...

Santana - She's Not There

Another former mission district character is Carlos Guitarlos...

I haven't seen him in a while, and that's probably a good thing. It means he's busy, out touring and making records...

Which is really what he should be doing.

He hit a rough spot some years back, and skidded so far into the darkside it looked like he'd never see the light again... but luckily, that's not how it worked out.

He used to crash on my couch, and was a lil bit crazy for the crack pipe... but at least he'd offer to share.

Not that I'd take him up on it, but it showed a generous soul...

His real strength is sharing his relentless love of music...

Carlos earned his stripes playing in the bar band to end all bar bands, the near-legendary LA troupe known as Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs. Carlos was a bouncer, Jimmy the singer was the bartender and the biggest drunk in town. The band included most of X, occasionally Ray Manzarek, or Dave Alvin, or Bill Campbell or Maria McKee, or Los Lobos or whomever felt up to joining in on the fray. They were so off the cuff amazing in their heyday that even the ego-centric party meisters of Van Halen had a song about em...

Imagine ol' Mr. Me Me Me , one David Lee Roth being impressed enough of another musical group to write a song about em...

Anyhow those Top Jimmy days were some hard drinking days, which lead to hard drugging and by the time I met Carlos he was stumbling the streets of SF, just a hardly humble guy playing for spare change...

But despite being down & out of it, he was a fixture, and would always be there, maybe trudging in the rain, axe in hand, working street corners with a battery powered amp...

He may have had no prospects, that didn't stop him from playing his heart out... everyday. He was relentless...

Just when about all hope seemed lost, after living through a diabetic coma, and emergency heart surgery, some folks gave him some spec home studio time. Carlos began churning out songs, producing onetune after another that could finally put to rest his claim that he's written over 3500 songs. The songs were full of life and topped off with his brash blues guitar wizardry, and the tales were spun off in a raspy grizzled voice.

Amazingly, his discs were moving beyond just his lil portable shop run out of guitar case on the sidewalks above the BART subway steps. Old pals like Dave Alvin & John Doe showed up to lay some guest parts down on his Straight From The Heart release... and Carlos was finally, after decades spent in the where is he now file, finally on his way.

One of the last times I saw him, he was clean & sober, proudly moving out of a seedy hotel I visited him at on mission street and heading down to LA. We had breakfast at an early morning diner spot with cheap egg breakfasts. It was just a few steps from the boarding houses he frequented , and he paid with some rumpled bills that had been left in his guitar case that morning as tips...

I since heard he now lives in Silverlake, reestablished ties with his family, optioned his life story for a possible film, got some gigs on the European Festival circuit, and picked up some distribution in the UK.

Way to go Carlos...

I hear he'll be playing one of the farewell sets at Albany's Ivy Room this weekend. I always said, I really should get over there more often... but never made it.

Well this weekend , Bill MacBeath, the old owner & former Carlos bassist ( along with Alvin Youngblood Hart & others) is sending it off with a bang... and lotsa great local musicians are playing:

On Sept 16th, Saturday night... the juke joint goes down with:

The Loved Ones (Bart, Mike, John & Xan), Rusty Zinn , Carlos Guitarlos, The Salem Lights,

Ride The Blinds, Eric McFadden Trio, + likely some special surprise guests…

Here is the title track from Carlos' first real release... Straight From The Heart
a tune Carlos simply refers to as a simple folk song with a harmonica solo, but obviously is also much more

Carlos Guitarlos - Straight From The Heart

and here's one from his 2005 follow up Hell Can Wait

Carlos Guitarlos - Hole In My Pocket


here's Carlos & some chica in a live quicktime video by Video Louis from 2003

as a bonus here's Carlos in a 2003 interview with that annoying liberal Philly know it all Terry Gross on Fresh Air

Governors & Girls Gone Wild House Arrest Blues

On Monday our big man in Sacto, one tough on crime Gawvenner Awnold Shwizenjigger signed a law that makes it a prosecutable offense to take more than 25 copies of a "free" newspaper...

No wonder the prison guard union has endorsed his opponent... can you imagine how boring prisons will become if they are full of newspaper thieves?

"What You In For?"

"I nabbed 40 copies of the LA Weekly back in 2006, course they never got me for those 3 dozen Bay Guardians in 2005"

This has apparently been a "serious" problem as desperate recyclers have resorted to taking entire press runs of some papers... as was the case recently several times down in Chula Vista.

Like there's any news to steal there anyway?

Authorities in the Southern California complained they were powerless to prosecute because the newspapers were free and had no fair market value. So now they are only free in "small quantities"... gotcha !!!

Of course not unscathed by disappearing papers was that supposed bastion of free speech known as Berkeley. There the actual mayor was fined in 2001 for removing copies of the student run "Daily Californian" from newstands for endorsing his opponent.

Other papers that have reported issues missing in the past include the Falun Gong affiliated Epoch Times, and the gay bi-weekly SF Bay Times, whom local cops took off the racks after an unflattering story on local enforcement.

Free Speech Warrior !!!!

In other Arnie related news: Apparently Arnie's Army, aka CHP, or Chips as 70's cop show fans will remember, are being called in to investigate the mp3 crisis surrounding Cawie-fownia's own Governator Arnie Schwarzenegggggggerrrerr or whatever his name is .

An investigation is being launched over a supposed breach of a supposedly secure gubernatorial computer system because an mp3 of the state's babbling chief executive has surfaced.

And it is weeeeetawded.... more so than even that Danny Devito Twins movie he did...

The offending audio file was posted to the LA Times website after being leaked to a reporter. In the candid audio clip Arnie speculates on the ethnicity of the state's lone latina female state elected official and says she has a "hot" blend of "Black Blood".

Meeting Chat & Hot Black Blood Theory Schwarzenegger MP3


Foreigner - Hot Blooded - live


here's a couple bonus Arnie cuts from his early 80's aerobics album Total Body Workout

these are not mashups... but actual recordings of something he proudly worked on and promoted...

Arnold Schwarzenegger w/ Journey- Don't Stop Believin'

This one is beyond gay...

Arnold Schwarzenegger w/ Weather Girls - It's Raining Men

Other audio I found on the LA times website also includes a December era podcast from award winning writer Patt Morrison about the Mel Gibson for Governor website that some Republican's set up as an alternative to the Governator whom they think is selling out to the girly-crats...

Patt Morrison on Mel Gibson for Gov

wonder how that campaign is going now...

Also, just read via the L.A Times that a pissed off Mom is suing the bad boy band Buckcherry and Warner Music Group for posting some supposedly nasty footage of her 16 year old daughter.

Apparently it all started after the band posted an invite on MySpace for extras to show up at a Crazy Bitch video shoot on the Sunset Strip. The band and it's reps say all the ladies were carded at the door and signed releases saying they were 18...

The video, which featured some "hot" pole dancing, bare breast revealing girl on girls gone wild type action, was shot at the Key Club, formerly home of hair metal haven Gazzarri's back in the day. Once the video was seen though, trouble stirred, and legal minds came up with stories of emotional distress and a need for unspecified damages......

"You can imagine the panic this girl felt when this video started getting aired," claims the girl's attorney. "She's been called a lesbian at school. She's had to switch schools because of that video."

Atlantic Records & Warner Music have distanced themselves from the embarassing episode & claim they only signed the band Buckcherry in May and have no connection with the video which was shot a year ago.

Buck Cherry - Crazy Bitch

Buck Cherry - Nasty ( live on MTV 2001)

In other news, federal officials continue to celebrate the anniversary of 911 by seizing gels & bottled water from airline passengers and arresting people with ties to off shore sports book gambling sites. Following this summer's arrest of David Carruthers, former chief executive of BetOnSports.com, the feds nabbed Peter Dicks, aged 64, chairman of London-based Sportingbet PLC, who was on a layover last week at JFK. Hmmm, possibly ironic that the arrest warrant itself was not federal, but issued from Louisiana, a state that likely wants to blame it's own gambling losses on the very existence of offshore sports gambling.

Although it is not illegal under U.S. law for citizens to make online bets, the feds maintain that it is illegal for online operators to accept them, even when their operations are not based in the U.S.

Dicks, whose U.K company pulled in almost 2 billion alone from US bettors last year, is charged with violating a Louisiana law prohibiting computer gambling — one of the few such state laws in the country. He now faces the maximum wrath of five years in prison and a potential $25,000 fine. According to Louisiana Senior Trooper Dwight Robinette Jr., the Feds will not be involved in the prosecution, just some angry good 'ol boys down in Katrina country.

BetOnSports CEO Carruthers is currently under Federal house arrest in his hometown of St.Louis Mo, while Dicks is awaiting his pre-trial hearing. No word on whether Dicks or Carruthers has turned over any info useful in the war on terror, or how to beat the spread on tonight's season opening Monday night football game.

More House Arrest Action

Meanwhile in South Florida, a former prostitution ring leader under house arrest is upset about being forced to wear a montioring device. The judge told the 36 year old single mom and former Boca Raton madam, Nahir Romero that she was lucky considering the years she could have faced behind bars.

Hey Ho ... Let's Go!!!!!

Ms Kitty vs Ice T & Ramones Blitzkreig Electroclash Mix


The Palm Beach Post quotes the judge saying

"I think she got a great deal ...She should count her blessings. Miss Romero needs to understand whatever she feels is so bad right now is a zillion times better than being in prison for a long time."

according to the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel:

Speaking outside the court, Romero, who wore a No. 1 Mom gold charm around her neck, said she could understand the judge's position "if I had done a crime."

YouSendIT link below-

Radiohead - Myxomatosis (Judge, Jury & Executioner).MP3


Nahir was sentenced to a few years of house arrest, after cops seized dinero totaling $342,639 and arrested three hookers and five johns during a 2005 raid on an enterprise called "Dreamscape". The joint operated out of a Boca Raton wherehouse district and consisted of 4 theme rooms, each with beds and "massage" tables. Apparently admission was $60 and "tips" depending on your level of spa-like treatments.

At the time of the bust, The Boca Raton news outed the johns which included a one legged man, and named the prostitutes as well , and then got quotes from "disgusted" neighbors...

“The way the girls dressed was a big giveaway,” said Dawn Stuart, office manager for Engineering Express two doors down. “High heels, short skirts – sometimes they’d have themes, like one would dress as a cowgirl...

note: foto is only a dramatic re-enactment and does not imply model is engaged in prostitution, hookers are not that good looking kid...at least ones that start at $60, trust me kid


The brothel didn’t even stop during the hurricane, said one woman who worked in the office next door and asked not to be identified.

“They hooked up a generator with a hot pink extension cord during the hurricane and were doing business,” she said

According to her attorney, Romero's now taking her business acumen and considering operating a Dollar General store.

Relative Q - Philo Buys Tracks @ The Dollar Store

Download "House Arrest Blues" (MP3, 192kbps)

Willie Pooch from his album

Chicken Coup

• Buy at iTunes Music Store

anyhow, see ya ...wouldn't wanna be ya !!!!

Unskinny Bop - Globesity Pandemic

Over the weekend news surfaced from something called the 10th International Congress on Obesity...which will hear research and papers from almost 400 experts to over 2500 attendees between now & Friday in Sydney Australia.

One scientist leading the gathering called the scourge not only unsightly, but a global freaking "Pandemic". Over 1.5 Billion people are tipping scales into the overweight categoy, and almost half a billion are clinically "Obese", meaning 3x the normal weight, many are children.



Fat is no longer just for fat jokes, but has truly become a global health crisis, in which there are now more people on the planet who are over nourished than under nourished...

If left unchecked, health experts predict billions of dollars in creased costs, as the world's hospitals will actually be over run by terrifying tubs of dying & diseased fat fools if something is not done...

Weird Al Yankovic - FAT


"We are not dealing with a scientific or medical problem, we're dealing with an enormous economic problem that, it is already accepted, is going to overwhelm every medical system in the world," said Philip James, the chairman of a global task force set up by medical organizations that deal with weight-related problems.

"This insidious, creeping pandemic of obesity is now engulfing the entire world,"

stated Dr. Paul Zimmet, a public health & dietary ailment expert who is the chairman of the meeting.

Zimmet was not afraid to say that obesity already rivals or far surpasses bird flu & aids as health problems.

As the western world's agriculture subsidy programs build up rampant supplies of cheaper sugar based , processed foods & hydrogenated oils, access to & consumption rates of healthier, more balanced and now more expensive traditional plant based foods have declined. Sugar once considered a luxury, now is a staple in poor diets...


In China, for example, the rate of obesity has risen from almost zero in the 1980s to about 10 percent of the population in 2006 due to massive imports of cheap meat products, and soy and palm-based oils. This syndrome is becoming known as the "bloating of the poor" , and I'd say that my own observations here in the states might also verify this symptom of an ongoing class war.

Dr. Philip James, the British chairman of the International Obesity Task Force told the Associated Press

"The trade policies that are currently in play are those which subsidize and distort the market to make fats and sugars cheaper and fruits and vegetables more expensive."

In the US, supposedly the world's richest nation, we suffer from some of the highest rates of heart disease & diabetes. Over 30% of our population is obese, and many hi-density inner city low income areas have almost no access to fresh fruits & vegetables. Despite vegetables & other produce being recommended for consumption 5 times daily, many communities have none available for sale for several miles. The situation is so bad, that in Oakland Ca, neighborhood activists started their own People's Grocery service that drives into neglected neighborhoods loaded down with locally sourced produce to sell to residents.

Australian Broadcast Corp -
'Globesity' News Brief

In Denmark, the gov't took steps to ban the sale of food that contain industrially-produced trans fatty acids.

Danish professor Arne Arstrup explained "...within a year it was eliminated from the market but in the rest of the world if you eat McDonald's, you can still get amounts of trans fatty acids that will increase your risk dramatically," he said.

"But most Danish consumers are not even aware of it because it happened without any difference to taste, availability or price, so I think legislation can be extremely effective to protect the consumer."

High levels of Trans Fats occcur whenever hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils are used. This is a high tech process by which liquid fat is pressurized with hydrogen gas to form a more stable, solid state. The boon is to the producers so they can formulate partially solid fat (like margarine) or a hard fat (Stearic acid). The corporations gain the convienence of hugher frying temperatures & longer shelf life, at the sacrifice of human health... Creating a dangerous flip side to the whole reason we eat in first place.

In Short : Don't Be Stupid... avoid these foods when possible...

Because no matter whether someone says they are "big boned" or not... whether they stay that way is based on choices...

Stories about verifiable genetic links that can cause obesity have surfaced & provided hope for the hopelessly fat who make excuses that somehow it isn't all their own fault... But the jury is divided, because , although a fat gene predisposition does exist, it apparently is only present in about 1 out of every 100 fatties. The rest are likely just lazy, ignorant, fat and yes, get this... stupid.

Angry Samoans - My Old Man's A Fatso

Maybe I would just gauge this fact alone on a study last year that found 2/3rds of drivers of gas guzzling 4 Wheel Drive SUV's are overweight... but wait, there's even more new data.

Apparently, one new study of intelligence & obesity found children who show signs of being obese before age 11 actually have lower IQ's than other children at the same age, even their own less chubby siblings.

Concerted health & educational efforts must be made to reach the world's children who are especially at risk for the disastrous side effects of unbridled sugar & fat consumption... One thing that has alarmed observers is that the ailment once known as "adult onset diabetes" is increasingly seen in young people, some as young as 5 & 6.

Co-chair Kate Steinbeck, claimed

“This is the first generation in history where children may die before their parents.”

A report on Childhood Obesity is expected on Sept 13th in Washington D.C , in the auditorium of the National Academies building, 2100 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. The info will be delivered by a panel featuring childhood obesity researchers from universities in Texas, California & Georgia.

A live video webcast of the one hour briefing will be viewable at http://national-academies.org.

Another 30 year study showed that Japanese who stayed in Japan and ate the traditional Okinawan diet, never gained weight as they aged & lived in general to be a 100. Their relatives that went to America, well you can just imagine the unhealthy situation there... gout, coronary artery clogging, etc.

Overall Okinawans are eating a high calorie , but mostly plant based diet, that's higher in carbohydrates -- but they're good carbohydrates ... the kind that don't cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels.

Their diet features lotsa low-fat, water-rich and high-fiber foods, such as sweet potatoes, vegetables, whole-grains and beans, fruits, soy and fish, with limited amounts of lean meats.

Mitch Hedberg - Good Food, Bad Food

Here's some more tunes we could put on a compilation called "Now That's What I Call Heavy Music". I can just see our new late night tv ad with Richard Simmons leading bouncing, flouncing fat folks being lifted by cranes & national guardsmen out of their homes and onto the dancefloor... serious playas woulds have gold ice cream spoons on chains instead of dangling coke spoons around their necks...

Big Hits about Big Folks ... we all know there is a "huge" audience for this type of thang...

Corky Burke - Eating Is Fun, Eating Is Serious

New Birth Brass Band - Fat Boy

Dr. John - Food For Thot

Bobby Rush - Lovin' A Big Fat Woman

Antigone Rising - Fat Bottomed Girls

Squarepusher - Fat Controller (listen for the Trouble Funk sample)



A swinging Poison cover... from some of SF's swing meisters, who during the late 90's were regular's at joints like Bimbos & even The New York New York Casino in Vegas......

Download a track by The New Morty Show - "Unskinny Bop" (Poison)

(MP3, 192kbps)

from the release "Rigormorty"

The New Morty Show

• Buy at iTunes Music Store

Download Henry Turner Jr & Flavor - Fat Baby" (MP3, 192kbps)

from the 2004 release Louisiana Gumbo Combo

by relocated Nawlins funky blues & reggae performer Henry Turner Jr

courtesy
Blue Pie Productions

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody

Boogie No More

I guess today , we'll have to bid adieu to that ever present Australian Crocodile guy...

y'know the baby dangling one, always on cable... all the time. That loathsome squat pudgy guy, and apparently worldwide phenom named Steve Irwin, who tended to get a lil pushy with annoyed animals...anything for a buck I suppose eh mate?

Well, previously pestered penguins , sequestered seals & shy snakes can sleep once more, cuz he's dead... finally. According to reports he was hit by a Stingray's tail while filming a show called "Ocean's Deadliest", and he proved out the claim of danger inherent in the title. Good work matey!

Blinky - The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game
(courtesy The Soul Girl site)

Apparently a surly stingray took him out while he was filming another segment for yet another obnoxious TV show...

Somewhere off of Batt Reef near Port Douglas Australia he received a fatal answer to the eternal question "Wonder if this looks dangerous on camera?"

Queensland officials have yet to charge the undersea dweller, figuring that it had just about had it...and may have acted in self defense. Bet this will all make a helluva bloopers reel...

So, in honor of mother nature's revenge here's some basically unrelated & oft under appreciated music to mourn Mr. Irwin by,

The Jazz Butcher Conspriracy - Crocodile Tears & The Velvet Cosh
(Bob Dylan cover )

Perhaps somehow I guess all today's music could be... say uh, some sort of post humous celebration of a life spent poking at life with a stick...

Now we'll start with the appropriately monikered:

Nikki Corvette & The Stingrays

She was a late 70's Detroit dame, a floozy with flair who had an album release on the late Greg Shaw's label Bomp in 1980 that was long held in high regard by fans of Motor City pop, rock & rage...Decades after she's shared stages with the Ramones & Johnny Thunders, she was still influencing bands like The Donnas & Detroit Cobras...

Well 25 years later she finally got another album out, hence the title "Back to Detroit"

and since the band name includes an homage to the mighty Stingray, she's our next guest of honor tonight...

Download some:

Nikki Corvette & The Stingrays - "Back To Detroit" (MP3, 192kbps)

Back To Detroit

Nikki Corvette and the Stingrays

Dollar Record Records

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at Napster
• Buy at eMusic

Long ago in before So Cal beachfronts made for backdrops of lowly tweenage soap operas like the O.C, their roamed a pack of dangerous surf bands and moon doggies, and even cheesier tweenage soap operas w/ Frankie & Annette & Gidget etc... kids were packin' woodies and headin' to the beach...

Amongst them were the wily rascals known as the Revelairs...they first played a local So Cal Moose Lodge, copping the popular style of muic heard in the background of surf films of the era. They mainly hung out at Live Oak Park Rec Center in Manhattan Beach and this recording dates back to the sumer of 1964... A tune they learned off a Ventures LP... (and it was never released publically until 1995, when a cassette copy of these sessions surfaced for pressing on Rare Surf Vol 2, released on AVI records...)

The Revelaires - Cruel Sea

Now Here's just some of that Moderne Rock style filler y'all love:



I just had to have it, since I liked the titles and thought it was appropo...

Coldplay - "Hunting High & Low"

Eden Maine - "The Hunter And The Hunted"


Eden Maine courtesy:Undergroove

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at Napster
• Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody
• Buy at eMusic

Anyhow...after that interlude, here's where we get to the classic disco deal... and these Boogie Oogie Oogie chicks were hot , A Taste Of Honey...

That Is...
( not DJ Mr. Dorf-whatever... )

(although he performs an admirable 21st century update of the 70's classic from Grand Slam, a remix collab from the notorious Richard Dorfmeister (Kruder & Dorfmeister) and Madrid de los Austrias.

Taste of Honey Remix by Richard Dorfmeister: “ Boogie No More (Taste Of Honey remix)

A Taste of Honey was a unique disco group featuring two ladies, guitarist Hazel Payne and bassist Janice Johnson, that could put down some groooves on their respective instruments. In era dominated with lip synching stars, these ladies were notable for their skills. They earned their chops playing parties at military bases, and had mastered the art of stage presence. One other historical footnote is that they became the first black group to win a Best New Artist Grammy at the 1979 awards ceremony. That of course is a curse as well, and although a couple more LPs were released, none touched the chart success of the debut 1978 disc. I saw 'em recently on one those disco reunion shows, and they still look pretty good too...

Download a Taste of Honey Remix : "Boogie No More (Taste Of Honey remix)" (MP3, 192kbps)

track courtesy:
G-Stone Recordings

Buy at iTunes Music Store

And y'all know our beloved Croc Hunter had to dig this tune...

Elton John - Crocodile Rock

Fairyland Turns 56, applies for health benefits

Nestled in a wooded grove not far from the gangs of drug dealers across town, or gangs of ducks & geese that troll Oakland's Lake Merritt is Children's Fairyland. It's a haven for lil' people and the lucky parents & guardians that can accompany their kiddies.

Today it just so happens is Fairyland's 56th birthday, and although the wee ones still smile while riding the choo choo train and eating a corn dog, one can see the wear and tear that almost 6 decades & over 10 million visitors have brought upon the park. Proposals to use public funds are currently circulating that hopefully can restore some areas of the park like the creepy & currently closed Thumbelina Tunnel to it's original opening day shine.

Viva Revolucion - Ghosts & Fairytales

Considered the first theme park exclusively for children in the country,(if not the world), it was built with $50,000 raised by various local organizations and business donations. 6000 people were admitted on opening day, admission being from 9 to 14 cents, depending on your age, and your guides were apparently a glamorously garbed Munchkin-esque couple, (actually two local married midgets). Children could even mail a letter postmarked at the Fairyland Post Office.

Lore has it that Walt Disney himself soon came through Mother Hubbard's Shoe and picked up some ideas and inspiration for his much more ambitious theme park that opened in Anaheim a few years later. But there's no doubt that Oakland's came first, and was definitely still in Walt's scheming mastermind when in April of 1952, he submitted his first vague plans for a similar Souhern California 'Fairy Land' to the California Parks and Recreation Commision.

Today, Disney is of course a diversified multi-national conglomerate, while our humble Children's Fairyland is run off donations to a struggling local non-profit. Even with no marketing budget, the site consistently features a multi-cultural mass of happy kids scrambling up and down the many paths, and the concrete stairs of it's numerous attractions from 10 am until at least 4pm daily, (a lil' later on weekends). Located in Lakeside Park, it's a neighbor of the beast at 699 Bellevue Ave, Oakland CA. Look for the big shoe... and keep on clicking if you'd like to help out or learn a lil' more history of this jewel with it's own Jolly Roger pirate ship, in an oft overlooked urban oasis of the East Bay...

Glad ( 1970 recording featuring Timothy B. Shmit now of The Eagles) - Let's Play Make Believe

The brainchild of an Oakland civic booster and nurseryman, Arthur Navlett, he worked with parks director William Penn Mott Jr to create the 10 acre storybook atmosphere with it's kitschy Old Mother Goose themed entrance way. They contracted an architect Russell Everitt, who drew the sketches that were realized and now magically dot the winding wooden paths.

Over the years many a Bay Area child has made Fairyland the tableau for some imaginative excursions. Actor Tom Hanks recalls visiting as a kid, and even comedian Chris Rock was spotted taking his kids there a summer or so ago.

The Mystic Cowboys - Fairy Tales

In 1956 Fairyland added Open Storybook Puppet Theater, and at 50 years running is the nation's longest continuing puppet show... don't let anyone say we ain't got puppet shows around here folks. The shows are produced by Lewis Mahlmann, Fairyland's "master puppeteer", whose spent almost 40 years behind the scenes, and at one tme even trained Frank Oz ( Yoda, Grover,etc). In the 1960's Oz was a member of San Francisco Bay Area Puppeteers Guild whose members were known to work at Fairyland.

Metallica - Master Of Puppets

In addition to the puppetry , through October 30th an all-youth cast performs a rotating list of plays like Red Riding Hood: Lost in Fairyland, Ohana Means Family & Cuoi, the Boy in the Moon. The new Wonderland Players (who are alumni of the Fairyland Children's Theatre programs) also do special performances on occasion.

Story Nory - The Three Little Pigs

Another first for Children's Fairyland is the system known as Fairyland Talking Storybooks and Magic Keys. Attendees can purchase these Magic Key" upgrades" with their admission and listen to prerecorded stories at each attraction, like the Three Little Pigs set. This system of reusable keys was developed by a local TV host by the name of Bruce Sedley whose voice would get worn down telling the same popular tales at the park all the time that he eventually went on & sold the concept to other zoos and theme parks.

A CD was produced not long ago that allows ya to take the audio of a Fairyland experience with you . Here's a couple sample clips.



Fairyland Theme Song

Hey Ho The Puppetshow

In 1994, to insure Fairyland remain a viable public attraction, a public/partnership agreement between the City of Oakland and Oakland Children's Fairyland, Inc. resulted in Fairyland becoming a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, ID#94-3209054. While the City of Oakland owns the property and pays utilities the nonprofit organization manages the operation, volunteer programs, and restoration of Children's Fairyland. Here's a photo from contractor Ace Architects of some of the recent restoration work & renovations paid for by voter measure approved funds.

Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground


Club Fungus - Fairyland

You can only visit if you have kids with you, but if you don't have wee ones and want to see what the hub bub is about, volunteer opportunities are abundant, including helping with the annual end of season Jack O'Lantern Jamboree this fall. Other regular programs incorporate need for artists , actors, puppeteers and horticultural volunteers.

call (510) 452-2259 or visit http://www.fairyland.org.

John Edmond ( Zimbabwean folksinger)- Fairy Tales

posted by Lil Mike at 8:18 AM on September 01, 2006

Tags : Mother / architect / attractions / Themeparks / Fairyland / parks / Goose / Children's / Disney / landscape /

Categories: Community / East Bay / Entertainment / Kids /

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