Videoblogging: Our House

Our mum, she's so houseproud.
Nothing ever slows her down and a mess is not allowed.

UPDATE: There is no song "Our Senate": I checked.

Vote.

Just do it.





The Trolleyvoxx, via Atrios



Just one of the ":Have You Had Enough" commercials, this one from Minnesota. That's the Maxwell-Mosher band there, former members of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. They hung out with a giddy-as-a-schoolgirl TRex the other night.



I haven't actually had the stomach to watch this video for two years and five days, exactly.And this morning I wanted to. Huh. Where did I leave my hoodie?

Scout reminds us of another reason today is important.

And a classic for the kidz. Let's show him some Tough Love: children need boundaries.

(Improbably, The Move's "Vote for Me" does not have a Youtube presence. But I looked!)

Babyblogging: BEARS!

Someone call Stephen Colbert!


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Cavedogs

Powerpopulist contuinues to be delightful. CHeck out this recent post on The Cavedogs, and if you're giving my bud ekim a hard time, kindly permit me to kick your ass.

Happy Birthday!

To the late, great Gram Parsons! From allmusic:

Around the time the International Submarine Band dissolved, Parsons met Chris Hillman, the bassist for the Byrds. At that time, the Byrds were rebuilding their lineup and Hillman recommended to the band's leader, Roger McGuinn, that Parsons join the band. By the spring of 1968, Parsons had become a member of the Byrds and he was largely responsible for the group's shift towards country music with their album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Originally, the album was going to feature Parsons' lead vocals, but he was still contractually obligated to LHI, so his voice had to be stripped from the record.

Gram Parsons only spent a few months with the Byrds, leaving the band in the fall of 1968 because he refused to accompany them on a tour of South Africa, allegedly because he opposed apartheid. Chris Hillman left the band shortly after him and the duo formed the Flying Burrito Brothers in late 1968.
.................
By the summer of 1972, he was prepared to enter the studio to record his first solo album. Parsons had assembled a band -- which included Harris, guitarist James Burton, bassist Rick Grech, Barry Tashian, Glen D. Hardin, and Ronnie Tutt -- and had asked Merle Haggard to produce the album. After meeting Parsons, Haggard turned the offer down, and Parsons chose Haggard's engineer, Hugh Davis, as the album's producer. The resulting album, G.P., was released late in 1972 to good reviews but poor sales.

Following the release of G.P., Parsons embarked on a small tour with his backing band, the Fallen Angels. After the tour was completed, they entered the studio to record his second album, Grievous Angel. The album was completed toward the end of the summer. A few weeks after the sessions, Parsons went on a vacation near the Joshua Tree National Monument in California. He spent most of his time there consuming drugs and alcohol. On September 19, 1973, he overdosed on morphine and tequila, and was rushed to the Yucca Valley Hospital; he was pronounced dead on arrival. According to the funeral plans, his body was to be flown back to New Orleans for a burial. However, Parsons' road manager stole the body after the funeral and carried it back out to the Joshua Tree desert, where he cremated the body. Phil Kaufman revealed that the cremation had been Parsons' wish. Kaufman could not be convicted for stealing the body, but he was arrested for stealing and burning the coffin.

RIP, my almost-birthday-buddy.

Many Thanks!

to the divine watertiger, who has sent me a birthday present.



Woohoo!

And Keith's shattering comment this week.

Punk Republicans

I loves me some James Wolcott:

I feel the Republican Party has misinterpreted the punk ethos. In the last week or so there's been a rash of news items--punks and rashes seem to go together--about Republican candidates and their droogies trying to do the blitzkreig bop on wives, gal pals, and political foes alike. You've got John Sweeney (upstate New York) accused of throttling his wife during a domestic disturbance, real Sid and Nancy at the Chelsea Hotel behavior. You've got Don Sherwood, accused of whupping on his mistress. You've got that alleged bout of Greco-creepo wrestling in Las Vegas starring Congressman Jim Gibbons. You've got Congressional battleaxe Barbara Cubin going all Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? on a libertarian in a wheelchair. Not even Lydia Lunch in her foulest moods ever went that far.

And then there's Senator George Allen of Virginia, who may dress like a phony cowboy, but behaves like Rat Scabies, without any of Rat's compensating charm. It is no secret that Allen likes to spit, which might appear to put him smack in the middle of the germy tradition of punk. Questioned about his projectile saliva dispersal, Allen's goon squad manhandled a modest truthseeker like Hell's Angels descending on a hippie at Altamont.
......................
In his very entertaining and instructive memoir New York Rocker, former Blondie member Gary Valentine observed that the scum chucking at CBGB's didn't start until the arrival of the Dead Boys, led by singer Stiv Bators lapped up his own vomit,* received a blowjob on stage, and peed into the bartender's work helmet, though obviously not all the same time. Valentine: "To me they were the first sign of the mental dry rot that would arrive in full with UK bands like the Damned." The scene got darker and gnarlier, the poets pushed out by the poseurs.

Republican poseurs such as Allen and the aspiring stranglers in his party are mimicking this late decadent phase of punk, not its early sonic idealism and adventure. I just hope one of them doesn't overdo the rough stuff and leave a dead body behind in the hotel room some night. Let Sid and Nancy be a cautionary tale to those Republican lawmakers looking to go a couple rounds with the next woman within fondling range.

And this was *before* we knew about the meth and gay hookers! Hoo boy! (h/t res ipsa loquitur)

Friday Videoblogging: Shrill

The Young Fresh Fellows.



Oh, and a classic for the kidz:

No Surprise.

It will suprise no one that I love this movie.

Haven't seen it in years though--on to Netflix!

In My Inbox

Just received:

Hello, SHOES fans!

This email is sent to inform you of a new book I've written about the early years of our band, SHOES. It's called, "Birth of A Band, The Record Deal and the Making of "Present Tense".

This book chronicles the band's origin and experiences in those early years with over 60 full-color photos and includes a "behind the scenes" peek at how the band signed their major label deal and recorded their debut album, "Present Tense" while in England.

It features personal photos from the studio sessions and exploits as well as anecdotes and personal recollections.

This 70 page, 8-1/2" x 11" book is available after November 1, 2006 for $20, plus $3 shipping and handling from Black Vinyl Records. You can go to ourwebsite at; www.blackvinyl.com and click on "Shoes" and "News" to read more or go to; http://www.blackvinyl.com/2order.htm
to order.

Thanks for your support through the years!

Cheers,

Jeff Murphy/SHOES

Interesting. I do have a birthday coming up....