Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Disaster Updates - Blogs & Resources

I'm getting flooded with hits from people seeking post Katrina info on Slidell and other parts of Southern Coastal Louisiana.

here is info for them & those seeking to help:



photo: An aerial view of New Orleans and its surrounding waterways before & after the the levees broke.
Images courtesy Jeff Schmaltz/NASA Earth Observatory















August 31st, 2005 07:08:06pm

Landsat_Gallery_411_1_full.jpg

Some recent & disturbing news off the N.O based cell phone updated mobile blog known as http://gulfsails.blogspot.com/

here's as breaking news page of NOLA.com and other resources posted below.

As of 11:45 pm NOLA time a large crowds of looters had formed outside the Children's Hospital and were trying to break into the facility. Police and National Guard have been unable to respond. Other Looters were reported earlier in the parking garage at Tulane Hospital.

Hwy 90 still impassable , as of 11:00 pm on Aug 30th some water had receded in Slidell, a town of 25,000 east of NOLA. At the height of the storm Monday, major flooding extended from Lake Pontchartrain Drive through Olde Towne and up to Fremaux Avenue. It has receded in some areas closest to the lake such as Oak Harbor and Eden Isles, with some areas still under 3 feet of water. I-12 is open for traffic as of 3:00 pm Aug 31, but all exits in St. Tammany Parish are blocked.

NEW: Parish access and road information

Find out which roads are out and which parishes are allowing residents to return.







Full WWL Story

WWL KATRINA BLOG: Click for the latest text updates on Katrina

Slidell Mayor Ben Morris estimated that 75 percent of homes in Slidell
sustained some kind of damage. He cautioned residents not to return to the city, saying many roads are still completely blocked off by fallen trees. All entrances to the city are being blocked off by state troopers, who are letting only residents enter the city. Looters have been chased off by armed neighbors in some areas.


Airplane pilots earlier in day on Aug 30 reported corpses floating "everywhere" in areas along the SOLA coast, Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parish . Sharks seen swimming along flooded I-10 roadway in Metairie.

Lower Plaquemines is engulfed in river water with most of the buildings destroyed. At the peak on Monday flood waters turned Chalmette and other towns around it into a continuous lake so deep that rescue boats narrowly passed under street lights...

Local Forums for finding survivors are at



NOLA.com's.
'Town Hall' Forums

Jefferson

Kenner

Orleans

River Parishes

St. Bernard
& Plaquemines

St. Tammany

Mandeville Town Hall

news on Tulane, and 400 students safely evacuated to Jackson State,

Stats: a 50 inch New Orleans city water main is severed as welll as a 200 yard stretch of the critical 17th Street levee. Water was reported up to 25 feet deep just outside the westernmost corner of the French Quarter. Water was rising on the afternoon of Aug 30th an inch every 5 minutes.

Reports have Westwego between 4th street and the Expressway are rather good - with no flooding, minimal wind damage. Westwego between the Expressway and Lapalco, on the other hand, is a different story. The levee back by Bayou Segnette was breached, so that side of Westwego was under water.


The
Louisiana Coastal Government website is inaccessible, but the governer is issuing regular reports out of Baton Rouge. The local news site there is http://www.2theadvocate.com/which includes video clips from WBRZ, such as this story from Slidell.

On Tuesday the N.O P.D were issued hoses to siphon gasoline for emergency vehicles as they run out of fuel.


A large ship loose from Bollinger shipyard sailed upriver & nailed a diesel tanker in Gretna causing 1000's gallons fuel dumping into Mississippi river.


One of the death's at The Superdome was reportedly suicide as a man threw himself over a 2nd floor balcony after warning the people below to "watch out" and then calmly leaping to his death.

Brian Oberkirch, a resident of Slidell, LA, has started a blog to collect information - updates, photos, anything at all - on what’s going on in the disaster zone. He received over 3000 hits on Aug 30th, and well over 10,000 by the next day.

Craigslisters Are Offering Help & Prayers to Katrina's Victims

Craigslist.org, the popular classifieds Web site, has turned into a place where people are offering help and prayers to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. here (a special New Orleans Craigslist page) for information, notices, ways you can help out, etc. as well as the "free" and "volunteer" sections of the Craigslist New Orleans site are filling up with postings like "Free housing for victims.Lost and found section Volunteer section Free section

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Chicago Bulls player Chris Duhon is calling for donations for his hometown of Slidell.

good luck y'all...

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

When The Levee Breaks ...


You know it's bad when the typically disconnected asshole in chief, Bush actually cancels the last two days of his beloved vacation, as his poll numbers slip below the flood waters engulfing one of America's oldest & greatest cities...( see America Blog for entertaining factoids about how Bush decided to strum a guitar while The New Orlean's Superdome filled with storm refugees and the Gulf region dealt with death, disaster and epic levels of flooding.)





rescue workers help a man stranded atop a 9th Ward rooftop


Ella Fitzgerald ft. Nat King Cole - Stormy Weather

Indeed, looks sadly like it's getting worse around New Orleans before it gets better...

A story I just read in Wash Post reports that 80% of New Orleans is flooded ... a 5000 foot gap that cannot be plugged has occured in the levee wall and that "law and order" is but a TV show that no one there can watch anyway...


“People are leaving the Superdome to go to Canal Street to loot,” a city councilman said. “Some people broke into drug stores and stole the drugs off the shelves. It is looting times five. I'm telling you, it's like Sodom and Gomorrah.”


There is no where to process arrestees as New Orleans jail had to be evacuated, and prisoners in jumpsuits were being guarded in the open on a nearby highway cloverleaf as flood waters surrounded them. Police were seen looting themselves, awkwardly holding residents off at gunpoint while reclaiming what they called "emergency safety provisions" from stores...


INXS - Listen Like Thieves

Cops / Looters ?

who can tell the difference...

"It's downtown Baghdad," said tourist Denise Bollinger, who snapped pictures of looting in the French Quarter. "It's insane."



Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark

Regional curfews are in effect along the gulf coast, and shuttered grocery store chains are being looted... The chain "Winn Dixie" alone is reporting over 50 stores closed to the public throughout LA, MS and AL, and has dozens more on emergency generator power selling only non perishables... With that alone you can get a sense of the widespread chaos now setting in on a consumer society used to microwavable convienence...

“Rescue workers are not even dealing with dead bodies. They're just pushing them to the side,” New Orleans Mayor Roy Nagin said.

Tight Bros From Way Back When - Hurricane

As seen via helicopter, "most of the roads and highways are impassible, and water is still coming into the city of New Orleans," said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.). I wonder tonight how my fave southern city will fare as the waters roll in...

Kansas Joe w/ Memphis Minnie - When The Levee Breaks

The levees, built to keep water out, are now keeping the water in, and reports from across the city indicate that water levels are rising, with the electrical generators at the below sea level Superdome shelter site holding some 30,000 refugees quickly being engulfed. A vice president for the company that manages the Superdome, said two people have died there, however he did not provide details. One was rumored to have fallen in a jump from one level to the next.

80 percent of Mississippi residents have no power.

But despite the building sense of horror & dread in America's Venice...

At least I heard my online pal... the infamous 'Nawlins denizen Ms. Tits and Whiskey has high tailed it to the Hilton in Houston and is alright !


Christina Aguilara vs RikkiRok - Dirty In Dixieland Mash Up (Featuring New Orleans Jazz Band)

Much of I-10 is impassable and the town of Slidell is under 15 feet of water...

Buildings are submerged, washing away... the end is nigh?


Monday, August 29, 2005

Voivod - Maiden - Weezer - etc - It's a Heavy Metal World Out There


Voivod loses guitarist to Cancer

In a further changing of the rock guard, and a shock to many, this week saw the passing of VOIVOD guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour . The 45-year-old speed metal guitarist had been diagnosed with colon cancer that had spread to his liver, rendering the condition inoperable. On Thursday, Aug 25th, D'Amour slipped into a coma in a Montreal hospital and never regained consciousness. He had recently completed more than two dozen demo tracks for the group's expected 14th album, which was postponed when bassist Jason Newsted had to be treated for tendonitis.

Voivod - Astronomy Domine
a live version of a Pink Floyd classic that Voivod originally put on the Nothingface album

Voivod - 21st Century Schizoid Man

Here you can hear Piggy shredding on a King Crimson cover
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Sharon vs. Maiden According to The New York Post, Sharon Osbourne and daughter Kelly were spotted in Devore CA asking members of some Ozzfest bands to pelt Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson with eggs. Dickinson has since posted a notice apologizing to his fans for what he deemed an unprofessional atmosphere at Ozzfest. Sharon has also issued a bitter press release complaining about Bruce Dickinson's failure to appreciate the Ozzfest as " heavy metal summer camp". She is outraged by the Maiden frontman's waving a U.K flag in America, and his various complaints about the sound system. More tedious details here and here

Iron Maiden - Number of The Beast
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Pearl Jam offers up "Digital Bootlegs"
In an extension of their live concert CD offerings, Pearl Jam is offering high bitrate MP3'z of their current tour for $9.99 per show. The 192 kb downloads will be available at PearlJam.com and will feature no Digital Rights Management protection so that fans can freely burn the shows to disc or transfer to MP3 players. Each show will be professionally mixed in real-time by Pearl Jam's longtime studio and live engineer, Brett Eliason via technology provided by Eliason's www.basecampproductions.com

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WEEZER's video for the track "We Are All on Drugs", is essentially a re-edited version ofa video by U.K metallers GRIM REAPER. The 1980's era track "Fear No Evil" has been posted online at stereogum.

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Crew Cuts in News Biz In a move that is certain to piss off technical worker unions, local news teams at tv stations in Nashville and San Francisco are shifting to the less-expensive video journalist, or VJ, model, where reporters and editors shoot and edit their own work. Young Broadcasting is the first major U.S. station group to take the plunge. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=story&articleid=VR1117928124&p=0&s=h
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Now Some Random MP3z for y'all

Saw ex- Talking Head Jerry Harrison, hanging out on Friday Night, he was keeping kinda quiet and mellow amidst a loud gathering in a corner bar, feeding the juke a bit, and he almost got my Ramones trivia question right...( Q: Who wrote Needles & Pins ? , Jerry's guess : The Searchers, actual answer: Sonny Bono) wonder what he'd think of this extended remix track of a sweet tune by his old band.

Talking Heads - This Must be The Place ( Mr. Trick's Maybe Ruthie Mix)
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Soulfly- Territorial Pissings
Max Cavalera has his way with a Nirvana fave, live in Toulouse France in spring 2003
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STRAPPING YOUNG LAD - "Devour"
careful, it's heavy kids
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C.H.A.O.S. Productions - Hollaback Napoleon
Spongebob vs Blondie & Daft Punk
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anyhow, that's all for today- i'm a busy lil' beaver eatar... gotta go...see ya later kids


Friday, August 26, 2005

Friday 5 & Whatever & Whatnot



So I'm in the middle of a two week work a thon in which I am balancing three or so jobs, plus the usual nightlife nincompoopery I am known for. Tonight is a festive dual chica B-Day celebration I gotta make, and then Sat nite a gala wedding for one of my oldest gal pal's at the Swedish American Hall...

Sunday night I'm bartending & Dj-ing the 39th anniversary of the Beatles last live concert
( not including the Let It Be rooftop session)...

plus i'll be helping out at a Cisco systems convention each day circa 6:30 am each of the above mentioned daze... so where do i find to time to keep my hundred plus vistors a day entertained...

F*ck If Know... But hewre ya go... drum roll please, here's the lineup...

Friday 5 - a.k.a Random Revelations from an Afternoon When I Really Need A Nap, But Instead Consult With Various Cab Drivers, Drink Mango Laced Beverages In A Waking Dream & Noodle Around In Anotha Nefarious Net Troll...



Fantomas - The Godfather
Mike Patton and The Melvins combine to create a lil sonic skull duggery ala Morricone directing Slayer, supposedly based on one of their fave films

Laura Cantrell - 14th Street
a Rilo Kiley-esque lil' ballad from a somewhat hyped sweet songstress...all I know is 14th St was hooker central in D.C when I was growing up and this ain't the type of music we would hear cruising that hood...

Black Francis - Keeping In Time
Velvet Underground influenced Pre-Pixies acoustic cassette demo by Charles Thompson (not yet Black Francis / Frank Black ) likely recorded when at U Mass dorm.

Elton John - Honky Cat ( ATOM's Skoal Pinch House Remix ) 7 Minute Moderne Mega Mix of an old circa 1973 jam from the wig wearing homo hit meastro...

Busta Funk - Black Sugar From a 1998 self released Funky Tone records release by this popular euro hip hop / house artist

here's a notice about my Sunday night Beatles fest if ya happen to be in SF CA and have the time to stop by for a cool refreshing cocktail or sumpin...

39th Anniversary of Beatles Farewell @ The Stick
(events » nightlife)
- Trivia, Tunes, Drinks etc

Sunday, August 28, 2005 - 9:00 PM

---- beat this --------------

A cursory review of the calendar brings us to Sunday night's anniversary of the Beatles Final Live Concert ...

Held here in town at the mighty Candlestick, in Aug of 1966, this gig marked the Fab Four's farewell to screaming chicks, crappy P.A's and room service. They soon said hello to lawyers, unruly sideburns, L.S.D, Yoko and the Maharishi... but that's another story...

In honor of this auspicious occasion that occured right here in SF, come Sunday night @ Sadie's Flying Elephant , your host Lil' Mike will be playing Beatles faves & rarities, plus Beatles covers by other artists, some vids and some kooky bootleg Mash Ups featuring the Fab 4...

plus he promises to come up with silly Beatles-esque trivia questions and prizes , Fab Four themed drink concoctions and the likes...

all of this at Sadie's Flying Elephant
491 Potrero Ave SF CA

415 551 7988

Free Admission...

21+ only as you know... but you can act like a kid while yer here...

chalk is provided...

p.s when in doubt, check out our small but mighty tribe

sadies.tribe.net

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

R.I.P MOOG - Long Live Pop

Well I'm too busy working these loooooong assssss shifts at two gigs to read the news this week and then I find out about another fallen soldier...

=> ELECTRONIC MUSIC PIONEER DIES
AT 71; Electronic Music Pioneer And Founder
Of Moog Music Inc., Dr. Robert Moog, Died At
His Home in Asheville N.C this week...

Dr. Moog had been diagnosed with brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme or GBM) in late April 2005. He had received both radiation treatment and chemotherapy to help combat the disease.

He is survived by his wife, Ileana, his four children, Laura Moog Lanier, Matthew Moog, Michelle Moog-Koussa, and Renee Moog; his step-daughter Miranda Richmond; and the mother of his children, Shirleigh Moog.

Moog Music Inc. company president, Michael Adams, shared the following thoughts about Bob:


"Bob shaped music in deep and meaningful ways by changing how music could be produced and ultimately, how it would sound. He contributed to a new soundscape--a legacy that we will continue in his honor. He was a musical pioneer for the love of it and musicians everywhere have had the opportunity to expand their own creative horizons with Bob's inventions. He will truly be missed by all of us, but we take comfort in the fact that his musical innovations will live on in the music he inspired and the products we will continue to make."

50 Years of Shaping Sound

Moog started building theremins as a teenager and established the R.A. Moog Company in 1954. One of the first electronic musical instruments, the theremin provides a unique, tremulous sound and is played without the thereminist touching it. In 1963, Moog created the first Moog Modular synthesizer, with the more portable Minimoog following in 1970. The Minimoog opened the world of synthesized music to thousands of musicians. Moog sold Moog Music in 1971 to Bill Waytena who then sold it to Norlin Music in 1975. Moog left Moog Music, a division of Norlin Music in 1977. In 1978, Moog founded Big Briar Inc., in the mountains of Western North Carolina, which then took the Moog Music name in May 2002. Today, the Asheville-based company designs and builds high-quality analog synthesizers, guitar effects modules, theremins, and a unique controller for acoustic piano called the PianoBar.

Moog remained active with the company up to the day he was diagnosed with cancer.

Moog's instruments have influenced many styles of music from jazz to rock, R & B to classical. Moog keyboards can be heard in the music of artists as diverse as funk masters Parliament and Funkadelic; rock icons Yes, the Beatles, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer; and jazz greats Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea.

The original theremins designed by Moog enjoy a renaissance today. They are used by popular groups and serious musicians for effects, electronica and classical music. Musicians and studio technicians across many musical genres have woven the timeless Sound of Moog into an integral part of our musical culture.


Dick Hyman - Moog (The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman)Some Moog music downloads

first up my fave organist, or at least fave name for an organist

Dick Hyman - The Minotaur

Dick Hyman - The Moog & Me

The U.K's notorius Ninja Tune cut up artistes...

Coldcut - Atomic Moog

and from the always entertaining WFMU oddities collections

Students of Julia R Masterman School and Greenwich High School- Interim Few - Moog School 7"

p.s hear a real audio sample of a Mooged out version of Twinkle Twinkle little star






now for some completely different shite

Gotta love Pat Roberstson's evil Christian call to assasinate Hugo Chavez, amongst his usual god besotted blithering over the Disney owned ABC Family Network...read a great piece in the Independent by Johann Hari , detailing how the revolutionary socialist spirit brewing in of Chavez's Venezuela came to irk Pat so...and how Hugo could care less...

here, you've been a god little scroller, get some music ya leeches...

howz about a remix of the ever popular Bloc Party - This Modern Love

Are You A Logical Spock Fan? or do ya dig Wild Bill Shatner ? The image “http://harry.latrique.free.fr/Leonard%20Nimoy%20&%20William%20Shatner/Spaced%20Out-%20The%20Best%20of%20Leonard%20Nimoy%20and%20William%20Shatner/AlbumArt_%7bBCEE956D-CB3A-40AE-9FCA-6813023F40F8%7d_Large.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

Commander Kirk's take on Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds is legendary...

but then again ol' Mr. Nimoy is in Search of his moments as well...

Mr. Spock - Put A Little Love In Your Heart

Something previously unreleased from the 70's powerpop Yellow Pills : Prefill collection...with production by Blondie's drummer...

Speedies - You Need Pop ( Clem Burke mix)


Yellow Pills: Prefill

(2005)






note: my filmmaker friend Kevin has an opening at his San Francisco flat for a roommate ... just in case yer still reading...

Room Avail Immediately (Move in Sept 1 ) $700 per month ( split utilities )

Share a sunny 3 bedroom flat in the Mission with one male filmmaker ( 30's) & one female student/bartender ( 20's) .

Average size room in an upper Victorian Flat
with small walk in closet, and windows overlooking Guerrero @ 30th...
Looking for a cool, clean, responsible, non-tobacco smoking person, preferably female...

Kitchen has gas range, modern tile floors, washer and dryer in the apt, nice back porch and yard


Shared Living Room, right next to
24 hr Safeway, 1 bk. from the world famous Mitchell's Ice Cream,

Other great neighborhood amenities include parks & access to neighborhood restaurants ranging from Mex, Thai, Sushi, Indian, Salvadorean etc... all the options from the hip Blue Plate & Emmy's Spaghetti Shack to Burger King & Pizza Hut...
Nearby hops to Valencia corridor, Cortland Ave & Noe Valley...


Easy freeway access, and even easier public transportation includes J-Church, 26 Valencia, 14 Mission, 49 Van Ness,
Two BART stations within 6 blocks at both 24th St & Glen Park Stations

For More Info See An Aerial Foto on Virtual Earth

Call Corina at 415 724-6037

email @ maeholiday76@yahoo.com

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Joan Jett - ain't selling out , but Garth Brooks ...sheeeeeet! R.I.P to Bisquit & John Loder

I'm posting a 4 song / 15 minute mini concert from a Joan Jett show held at some club in the Rockies awhile back. I have this gig on a DVD and excerpted the music from a late set medley that incorporates the Replacements' "Androgynous", Joan's own dirty little rocker "Fetish" with lyrics like "relax , I'm gonna pound your ass" and "watch you come". She then tears it up into a lively rockabilly infused version of James "Iggy" Osterberg's "Wild Child" and finishes up with Sly Stone's near immortal and unifying feel good anthem "Everyday People"... damn!

You can order the same show for less than $12 via Video Universe


Click here to find more from Joan Jett

I bet a lot of people may have forgotten about Joan Jett, but she is far from slacking...and this rocking edgy set proves it. I think my favorite Joan Jett show is when I saw her perform with The Gits as Evil Stig back in 1995. Joan was helping bring to light the story of this largely unsung band, whose singer had been murdered. Joan cut an album of their old songs, and toured with The Gits, which made for an incredibly fierce live set.
The album itself is only in print in Japan, but if someone bugs me I might post a couple tracks for y'all soon, plus a rare Gits video I shot at The Covered Wagon Saloon in SF in 1993.

Unlike the money grubbing music industry tools like Jet, Led Zep & even Bob Dylan (or Garth Brooks mentioned below), Joan Jett has refused to participate in any marketing deals and you don't hear her music in commercials, despite some rather huge offers. I read an interview once where she said...

"It's hard to turn down, because there is no reward other than your integrity, and no one pats you on the back at the end of the day to thank you for that."

bonus track that it seems peeps been looking for due to a previous post :

Joan Jett - Wild Thing


and one more Joan track , even though that gawdawful Desmond Child co-wrote it

Joan Jett - I Hate Myself For Loving You



--------- music biz b.s ----------------

Garth Brooks Inks Exclusive Deal with Wal-Mart

Garth Brooks is entering a multi-year, exclusive pact with the world's dominant retailer, Wal-Mart, making Wal Mart's, Sam's Clubs and Walmart.com outlets the only places where his music will be commercially available. The deal marks the first time an artist has aligned himself and his entire catalog with one retail chain.

In the early 90's Brooks caused controversy when he cut an exclusive CD deal with a large burger chain that bypassed & pissed off traditional retailers who had helped build his new mass audience.

In Other News, while scanning the always informative Something I Learned Today:

I learned that Randall Biscuit Turner or The Big Boys & indie music distribution empresario John Loder have both passed away.

Randy / Bisquit was a flamboyant Austin denizen whose hi octane rock n roll bands broke musical ground in the eighties, and whose artwork decorated sleeves of many memorable releases. An artshow previously scheduled in Austin tonight, has instead become an impromptu wake, Turner was 56. His death was caused by "cirrhosis". Read more in articles from Austin American-Statesman and a cover profile that was coincidentally running this week in the Chronicle.

A little over a month ago I did a post that included 3 Big Boys MP3'z, and the always excellent Moistworks had recently done a post on The Big Boys that features several MP3z including the beautiful Sound on Sound and here's one more, a great jam in the tradition of their pals Minor Threat's :"Cashing In" called We Got Your Money"



While I never met Loder, 54, he was an Englishman held in high esteem by many people I knew, and his impact on underground music was vast. The London based Scientologist worked with Crass Records, and eventually ran Southern Distribution whose far reaching arms brought music from US labels like Dischord, Touch & Go, Ipecac and many others to hundreds of thousands of fans beginning in the eighties & through today. He was a big fan and help to Minor Threat & Fugazi, as well as groups like Babes in Toyland, MDC and many more.


Said Steve Albini of Loder's impact on his own life :

John was a hero and mentor to me. He was one of the great men: One who made greatness possible for others. I owe him a debt I can never repay, and I am having a hard time envisioning the world without him.

...John was not just admired and respected, he was loved -- truly loved -- by people like me. People like me, by the hundreds, who he helped, taught and honored with a blinding dedication, purity of vision and effort.I learned a lot from John, and I learned that one is never so wise that he can't still learn something new.



------------------- more trax from the Lil Mike e-wards program ---------------------

some other trax to continue your wicked weekend:

Billie Holiday - Yesterdays ( Junior Boys remix)

MIA - $10 - (cutprice poj mix)

Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood - Summerwine

Arthur Lee & Love - Wonder People

The Coup - Not Yet Free

Apollo Sunshine - I Was On The Moon

Supersuckers - Drink & Complain

















type an entry below to search For discounted CD's & DVD's













Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Moaning with Mona on Way to Monterey - Hopefully

So it's Tuesday, the day that is officially "not as lame as Monday, but no Hump Day either"


I am hopefully about to head down to Monterey, for a few days of mindless meandering...

but first I need to sign for an important package...

So here I wait, jacked on Black Coffee ... the package in question was last seen 2.5 miles from my here some 3 hours ago...

Somehow these documents made it approx 2500 miles from Memphis to Oakland CA, but can't get 15 blocks in the same amount of time...

Ah... the urgency, and lo, I pine for the ol' pony express, when at least the horses could be blamed, not some guy taking a long lunch break...


so as long as we have some downtime... I read the news & share some more tunes...


Auto Giant's Product Placement Involves Brooklyn Band Ratatat

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- A controversy over the editorial coverage of Hummer's new "rock band" has further unscored the behind-the-scenes war raging over product placement in print magazines.

http://adage.com/news.cms?newsId=45807
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Google Earth Images Help Terrorists

Dutch authorities are concerned that certain locations in the Netherlands could be made vulnerable to terrorists thanks to the detailed aerial images available via Google Earth. Australia's ministry of defense describes Google Earth as a potential threat to national security.

http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?ArticleID=9618

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Post Drops Plan to Promote Pentagon Event

The Washington Post is backing out of a co-sponsorship of a Pentagon-organized 9/11 event to support the troops in Iraq and listen to country music. The newspaper says it aims to "avoid activities that might lead readers to question the objectivity of the Post's news coverage."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/15/AR2005081501523.html


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Yahoo! has said it is paying $1 billion for Alibaba.com, China's leading online retailer that is said to be a leader in distributing counterfeit American merchandise -- from knock-off Duracell batteries to phony Marlboro cigarettes.

Forbes.com - story



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Post Drops Plan to Promote Pentagon Event

The Washington Post is backing out of a co-sponsorship of a Pentagon-organized event next month to remember the victims of 9/11 and support the troops in Iraq. The newspaper says it aims to "avoid activities that might lead readers to question the objectivity of the Post\'s news coverage."

post statement

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Voice Staff Threaten Walkout

Staffers at the Village Voice are threatening to walk out if the alternative weekly makes good on its pledge to slash the rates it pays its writers, say sources inside the paper. The strife comes amid rumors that the Voice is in merger talks with national alternative weekly publisher New Times.

http://www.nypost.com/business/51897.htm





From Filter Mag, I saw they have posted a new Eels track, in which the man called E puts down a slightly Mid Eastern tinged electronica track called Jelly Dancers on a new tribute CD to a label called "Dimension 5".

Eels - Jelly Dancers

Here's a low fi oldie but a goodie, the late Peter Tosh of The Wailers jamming with the Skatalites circa 1965. Pete's bringing light to a "real" scanless' situation that is bringing bringing Shame & Scandal in the family... I'll dedicate it to the fools that populate just about every Montel moment, and so called "reality" shows I've ever seen...

Peter Tosh & Skatalites - Shame & Scandal

Janet Weiss, was once the drummer for a band called ED, and for a minute she switched over to guitar and played for a bit in a band I was in. She was doing us a favor, and dating our mandolin guy, but she was way more fun than than the guitarist she was filling in for... I was so bummed when he came back from vacation... and missed her presence at practice for sure...

Then she hooked up with some other dude, and they moved up north to "The Woods "and I hardly ever saw here again...until...

Anyhow, it's neat to see her pounding away on the Letterman show and rocking the world like I always knew she could... here's one from her obscure lil' band's latest album...

Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers

pssst...read an interview with Janet from Drummergirl

Next up, is some tracks from a Brazilian singer that I was sorting digging on the other day... the stuff is ain't too bad...

I have got three tracks from a 2004 release by Mona Gadelha, who comes from the northeastern part of her country. On her third full length album "Everything Is Moved", she lays down sultry dancefloor worthy tuneage somewhere in the smooth grooves neighborhood between Sade & Astrud Gilberto or something like that.




Mona Gadelha - Saint Denis Ceara


Mona Gadelha - Felicidae Pra Mim





Mona Gadelha - Block of Solitude

and here's one last track

a melancholy lil old school number from miss Nina Simone

Since I Fell For You...


anyhow...y'all have fun...

Uh,
I'm still waiting for that package and it's sorta starting to piss me off...

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Happy 70th Anniversary of Social Security - Time Is On Your Side

Before we satiate your curiosity with digital downloads, I thought it would be appropriate to realize that Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the bill creating Social Security ( a.k.a Economic Security Act ) in the US 70 years ago today.

It's a far cry from the creep in chief & his cronies sitting in Crawford TX for 5 weeks this summer and ignoring the mother of a dead soldier parked outside their ranch. Meanwhile, Bush & Cheney Inc. are conspiring to yank the safety net of ordinary working Americans in order to privatize the funds, and benefit the corrupt Wall St. establishment and it's Billionaire Boys Club.



It may seem like an obscure and remote issue to young people decades from retirement age, sitting in front of their computers on a sunny Sunday afternoon, but there are few things to be more concerned about if you are a working U.S Citizen.

I encourage to read on, and contact your elected representatives and do what you can to speak up, and protect ths program that is truly vital to our citizenry, despite that it's critics would have you believe, that as it stands " Social Security goes against The American Way". To contact your represntatives, you can easily do so here if you would like to express your opposistion to changing the basic formula of Social Security.

Don't be fooled by neo-con claims that Bush's proposed overhaul will only make the program stronger, and modernize the agency.

The Social Security program has been overhauled and tweaked every 15 or so years, but at it's core, still stable, solvent, simple in it's mission, functional and likely the most important austerity measure ever enacted in this country. It is not "welfare", as the majority of these benefits are paid for by the recipients themselves.

Since it's inception in 1935, Social Security has always existed as a pay as you go system. Payroll taxes are collected from workers and then paid out as benefits to current Social Security recipients. Currently more revenue is stockpiled than what is needed to pay benefits, and so there is a surplus, a Social Security trust fund invested in U.S. Treasury securities, with a return of approx 2 percent.

The false cries that the program is bankrupt, is really just a smokescreen to obscure a philosophical difference with the program itself.

Social Security is a target of Bush & his neo-con clansmen because it is symbolic, in that it is an iconic emblem of Roosevelt's New Deal, which lifted the country out of the depression and insured benefits for all workers , black or white, rich or poor. This socialist idea represents a legacy that strikes at the heart of the conservative Republican agenda, and is ultimately the antithesis of how they'd like to see the country run. They would like nothing more than to transfer the assets in the Social Security program over to their private investment firms, save the helping hand only for businesses, and eventually take FDR's face off the dime and replace him with the image of Ronald Reagen. [Seriously : Rabid Republicans pushing Reagan dime]




While Long Island Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) calls Social Security “one of the most successful government programs in history”, right wing Think Tank wankers belittle the concept, saying the government controlled program goes "against The American Way". The proponents of so-called "reform" push for "private investment accounts", that could be ripe for plenty "private" mismanagement. The recent accounting debacles at high levels in so many of our nation's leading firms proves that money is a temptation that far exceeds the ability of regulators to control abuse. It is almost flabbergasting to see politicians suggest our nation's Social Security trust account be opened up for exploitation by private brokers and greedy investment houses, merely so that the trust could, in theory, glean potential gains of a few pecentage points in the stock market.

Republican reformists, rebuffed in the last session, plan to make another push for Social Security private accounts when Congress returns for its fall session, with Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, leading the charge.

Don't believe the hype

Art of Noise - Instruments of Darkness

If Bush's foreign policy agenda across the sea includes the abdegnation of human rights agreements, systematic destruction of civilian lives and the privatization of publically owned assets in other countries, what makes you think it isn't in effect here?


Some Social Security Facts:

48 million Americans currently receive & likely rely on Social Security benefits.

Social Security is the sole source of income for almost 25% percent of it's recipients, and it represents approx 40 percent of income for all elderly people.


The first monthly benefit - $22.54 - was issued to Ida May Fuller, a legal secretary from Ludlow, Vt., in 1940. She received more than $22,000 in total benefits before dying at age 100 in 1975.

Designed to provide "guaranteed" income, not a promise of growing wealth...

The original 1935 law contained the first national unemployment compensation program, aid to the states for various health and welfare programs, and the Aid to Dependent Children program. (Full text of the 1935 law.) A 1939 change in the law added survivors benefits and benefits for a deceased retiree's spouse and children. In 1956 disability benefits were added.

The SSA also keeps a record of the most common registered baby names each year, a list from the 1880's til 2004 is found here. Jacob & Emma are #1 for 2004, John & Mary were the top choices in 1880.

FDR upon signing the bill on Aug 14th 1935 :

Young people have come to wonder what will be there lot when they came to old age.

The man with a job has wondered how long the job would last.

This social security measure gives at least some protection to 50 millions of our citizens who will reap direct benefits through unemployment compensation, through old-age pensions, and through increased services for the protection of children and the prevention of ill health.

We can never insure 100 percent of the population against 100 percent of the hazards and vicissitudes of life, but we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-stricken old age.

*This law, too, represents a cornerstone in a structure which is being built but is by no means complete. It is a structure intended to lessen the force of possible future depressions. It will act as a protection to future administrations against the necessity of going deeply into debt to furnish relief to the needy. The law will flatten out the peaks and valleys of deflation and of inflation. It is, in short, a law that will take care of human needs and at the same time provide the United States an economic structure of vastly greater soundness.

I congratulate all of you ladies and gentlemen, all of you in the Congress, in the executive departments and all of you who come from private life, and I thank you for your splendid efforts in behalf of this sound, needed and patriotic legislation.

It seems to me that if the Senate and the House of Representatives, in this long and arduous session, had done nothing more than pass this security Bill, Social Security Act, the session would be regarded as historic for all time."

download this FDR speech as an mp3


Lou Glasse, former president of the Older Women's League (far left) and William J. vanden Heuvel, of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute (2nd from left) join Commissioner of Social Security Jo Anne Barnhart and James Roosevelt, Jr., grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (far right) in cutting the 'Social Security 70th Birthday Cake' on the grounds of the FDR Presidential Library and Home in Hyde Park, New York. (photo: Anders Krusberg/U.S. Newswire)



Crowd gathers in Hyde Park to celebrate 70th anniversary of Social Security

Saving Social Security @ AlterNet

Lil Mike's frequent reader MP3 rewards program :


Here's a few songs whose title sorta has a Social Security style theme.

My Morning Jacket - I Will Be There When You Die

Tennesee's pop hopes expound for y'all ...

Kai Winding - Time Is On My Side

The original version released circa 1963 on Verve

Joe Tex - I Want To Do Everything For You

the late iconic soul man puttin' it down sweet circa 1965,
surreptitious bandwidth courtesy DoginSweater.com


and then for no particular reason I'ma get all Brazilian Portogee on ya azz:


Tom Ze' - Politicar

The Brazilian bad ass, who started with the psychedelic Os Mutantes, gives up a later solo track from a Y2K Luaka Bop release, on one of his least fave subjects: politicians...

Friday, August 12, 2005

Fistful of Friday Fluff w/ Enablers, Hilly Kristal, Grass Roots etc

A Compendium of Half Cocked Crap For The Curious :


Looks like CBGB's is getting a reprieve, and will not have to pay $60,000 in alleged backrent to the building's landlord.

Here's an mp3 of club owner Hilly Kristal from a 1976 7" he put out called mud. More info on this unique audio artifact is available here

if yer still flabbergasted at the pic at the top of this post, it was snagged from the World of Wonder site, and I think we all are still wondering as well...and likely will for long after this weekend slinks away...


in other news:
A Hong Kong councilman reportedly had the big idea that Cheung Chau, one of the territory's little islands where over the last eight years 20 people have committed suicide and five have tried to, should be turned into a suicide theme park. ( story @ News.com.au )


Smokler.com has news about Pandora, a service from the folks behind the Music Genome Project, that is akin to audioscrobbler but differs as well... check out the beta testing as it develops and read more at http://www.pandora.com/mgp.do

The former Tiffany network CBS, is looking to keep it's marketshare in the web realm and is advertising a new position available for an avid podcaster...
Want to be CBS's first podcaster? The network is searching for an amateur DJ to interview CBS stars and create a podcast about the new fall season. The podcaster will join the nation’s top DJs at the CBS Radio Junket on September 10 in Hollywood to interview CBS talent for the podcast, which will be made available to millions via CBS.com and Infinity Broadcasting’s San Francisco-based KYOURADIO, the world’s first-ever podcasting radio station. For consideration, you'll need to upload a mock three-minute interview.

now dig the downloads:



First The Tunes:

A triple threat of darkly atmospheric .mp3 tracks with haunting narratives from SF based band thee Enablers. Guys that are likely either touring some obscure Eastern European clubs or maybe drinking at the seedy bar I work at right now...

These are from their debut release

Enablers - Glimpses, Audio: Driving Late

Enablers - About Last Night

Enablers - Pauly's Days In Cinema

The band is a lanky erstwhile pedigreed bunch featuring dudes who've done time in The Swans, Toiling Midgets, Tarnation, Nice Strong Arm and TimCo. The musician's instrumental skills work the room, scrape, tug, yank, build high tension wire strung platforms that arise behind the dry babbling wordsmith up front. The band members honed themselves for over a year, performing as "Touched By A Janitor" before finding the meandering maintenance man of their dreams.Pete Simonelli circa summer 1998 That would be vocalizer Pete Simonelli, a character I've long referred to as the world's youngest grumpy old man...

But, with two tours of duty overseas completed, all the stage time has lifted our irrascible neighborhood bartender/poet into a league of ranters and ravers ala Saccharine Trust's Jack Brewer, but perha[s shy of the show biz big leaguers like Jim Morrison & Hank Rollins and the mighty Nick Cave...

Enablers page at Neurot...




other stuff to break up the monotony....

The City On Film (a.k.a Robert Nanna w/ Lauren LoPiccolo of Sundays) :

http://www.heymercedes.com/cityonfilm/summertime.mp3

I've always been fond of Canadian hitmakers The Grass Roots , and today seems as good as any to throw in an oldie but a goodie

Grass Roots - Temptation Eyes


Getting Back to The Future: Willotoons alerts me that Sub Pop has a new Rogue Wave mp3 up called "10:1" from their upcoming release

Absolutely Kosher has posted an MP3 called Disco from The Moggs new album "The White Belt IS Not Enough"

Incidentally, Absolutely Kosher, joins Fat Wreck Chords, Burning Heart, Hush, Spinart, Lookout, Taang!, Side One Dummy, and a number of others as official members on the RIAA Membership List.

A website that provides readings for the blind offers up numerous audio programs including a half hour podcast style overview from a New Yorker article of New Hampshire's most infamous girl group The Shaggs...

here's a Shagg's cover of their song "Who Are Parents" from the Danielson Famile featured on a 2002 Shaggs tribute disc

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Now For Some Videos:

A Real Video clip I shot of Deke Dickerson rocking at Speedy's Wig City @ SF's Elbo Room



a video lookback at the ill fated Axl vs GnR tribute act from their 2004 tour:

GNR Video Medley. I'll likely be catching the Rocket Queens on Weds Night @ the Elbo room, who supposedly stick to the 1987 GNR setlist and look...
Guns -n- Roses -n- Burlesque!



a trailer for the Klaus Nomi movie, ( out now on DVD )
Nomi Song Widescreen

DVD $16.69

http://www.manparrish.com/video/nomi.mov





in a truly special exploitive tribute to our friends from down under that likely don't belong to PETA , I share this clip
A pub gets a baby kangaroo drunk on beer
WATCH VIDEO HIGH LOW


BoingBoing offers upa 1.7 mb .mov of The Pink Elephant scene from Dumbo with a Sun Ra twist

And now one last blast from Penn Gillette's new film "The Aristocrats", is the South Park clip seen here...

http://cartmanthearistocrat.com/

Enjoy yer weekend...

When in S.F stop by Sunday Nights for a cocktail with me @ Sadie's Flying Elephant