"8:18" is the third song in the Brad trilogy. If you didn't know Brad, this one might seem like the most cryptic; if you did, it's the most obvious. I'll annotate it for those of you who didn't know him and also because I've always wanted to do such a thing.
From the windows of College Terrace
1. Brad worked at the College Terrace Library in Palo Alto. The promo photo for "Ultraviolet Garden" was taken there, using light from a large window.
To the ushers in the dark
2. Brad also worked at the Stanford Theatre which shows classic movies, and the Aquarius, which plays current indie movies.
From the Hewlett Packard heiress
3. The Stanford Theatre is owned by the Packard foundation. I don't really know if there's an heiress, but I liked the rhyme. Let's just say that the theater itself is the heiress.
To the donkeys of Barron Park
4. The Barron Park donkeys are well known in Palo Alto. One of them was the model for the Shrek donkey.
In Peet's and in Piazza's, the stars no longer shine
5. Karla & I volunteered at Wildlife Rescue in Palo Alto for 5 years before we moved to Redwood City. Before our shift we would usually get a sandwich at Piazza's and a drink at Peets. I guess this isn't directly about Brad except for the fact that he lived in that neighborhood for the time that I knew him.
The protesters of Lytton Plaza have set aside their signs
6. Lytton Plaza is the central square of Palo Alto and it is often filled with demonstrators & conspiracy theorists: Women In Black, 9-11 Truthers, Code Pink, Hare Krishna, etc.
In 8 minutes, 18 seconds the sun will touch our skin
Vitamin D, in spite of windy, rainy weather
We'll still be together
And poppies will bloom once again
7. The chorus was a separate piece, inspired by a magazine article I read in Sportivo Coffee House about Vitamin D and seasonal depression. Angela & Karla set it to music, I added it in to the song I was working on, and of course it made the song 100% better. I like the contrast it creates with my more melancholy, minor key verse parts.
No movies at the Aquarius
8. As mentioned above, Brad worked at the Aquarius theater.
And the fountain ceased its spout
9. The California Avenue Fountain was a huge controversy in Palo Alto for several years, which was eloquently covered by Karla Kane in the Palo Alto Weekly. It seemed like whenever I had something for Brad that I was supposed to drop off, like the key to the practice room, I'd go by the Cal Ave Fountain & he'd coincidentally be there. It was always unplanned.
And in the old libraries the last book has been checked out
10. Again, College Terrace Library.
The letters on the marquee say we'll be back in the spring
As we sit here in the dark we don't believe a thing
11. I remember walking by the Stanford Theatre a few days after Brad's funeral and noticing that the marquee said something like "Temporarily closed while we prepare our Spring program". It struck me as a powerful sentiment, if not a sign from Brad. Life carries on, the poppies will always be back. In real life people change and sometimes disappear, but when you go see a movie at the Stanford, there's Cary Grant or Judy Garland on the screen, and they're 25 years old forever. You can still experience a world that no longer exists and life is all the better for it. I suppose that's the main reason humans do things like make movies, record albums, & write blogs. We don't want our ideas, thoughts, voices, and images to be erased from history.
The nights we spent in Midtown
12. Midtown Palo Alto is the area where Brad lived and where the Variable Stars practiced in 2003-4.
The days of deviled egg
13. In 2008 we had a weekly open picnic in downtown Palo Alto. The description was thus:
Hear ye, hear ye: Hosted by the Holy Roman Brad and the Elusive Magnificat Karla, this event will take place in Cogswell Plaza, downtown Palo Alto roughly once a week.
*Everyone is welcome and no one shall be turned away.
*Time and date will be posted in this group whenever a picnic is about to take place.
*Bring a small snack food item to share.
*Bring an instrument and play us your latest song, or show us an amusing video of your pet from your mobile phone. It's like Facebook except live and with food.
*In the unlikely event of rain or cold, an alternate indoor location will be chosen.
Brad would often bring his famous deviled eggs, and grape juice.
The Mormon tire breakdown
14. Long story. Read it here if you dare.
The grape juice by the keg
15. See note 13.
We'll walk down University with no adversity
And poppies will bloom once again
16. University Avenue is the main street in downtown Palo Alto, and where the Stanford Theater is located. I'm going over there right now.
Notes On The Recording:
*This is the first Corner Laughers recording on which I sing lead. Scary.
*The amazing Jeri Sykes from the Preoccupied Pipers played flute & clarinet and did the woodwind arrangement.
*It was my intention that this sound kind of like a Belle & Sebastian song, after Brad's favorite band.
*Karla plays bass.
*Many digital music players or storage sites will not allow a ":" in a song title.
Wikipedia Trivia:
*The distance from the Earth to the Sun varies because the Earth's orbit about the Sun is elliptical. At it's closest, the distance is 91,402,000 miles and it's farthest distance it is 94,512,000 miles. This gives an average distance of 92,957,000 miles. Light travels at 186,282 miles per second. Dividing the average distance by the speed of light gives 499.01225 seconds which is 8.3168708 minutes. Rounded off, 8 minutes and 18 seconds.
*The Stanford Theatre is a classical independent movie theater in Palo Alto, California. The theater features neo-classical Greek/Assyrian style architecture and generally screens films made between the 1920s and 1960s. Often an entire month is devoted to film festivals for various genres, directors, and actors, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Bette Davis, and Cary Grant. Designed by architects Weeks and Day, the theater was originally opened in 1925. In 1987 was purchased and restored by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. It is currently operated by the Stanford Theatre Foundation, led by David Woodley Packard, the son of Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard. The Stanford Theatre frequently accounts for as much as twenty-five percent of all classic film attendance in the USA.
*Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids. In humans, vitamin D is unique because it can be ingested as cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) or ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) and because the body can also synthesize it (from cholesterol) when sun exposure is adequate (hence its nickname, the "sunshine vitamin"). Although vitamin D is commonly called a vitamin, it is not actually an essential dietary vitamin in the strict sense, as it can be synthesized in adequate amounts by all mammals from sunlight. An organic chemical compound (or related set of compounds) is only scientifically called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. However, as with other compounds commonly called vitamins, vitamin D was discovered in an effort to find the dietary substance that was lacking in a disease, namely, rickets, the childhood form of osteomalacia. Additionally, like other compounds called vitamins, in the developed world vitamin D is added to staple foods, such as milk, to avoid disease due to deficiency.
Angela wrote this one, and as is the case with most of her songs, it sounds like a hit. I believe it's already gotten more indie radio airplay than the rest of the album combined. And why not? It's catchy, it totally rocks, and it has easily relate-able lyrics. I wish I knew how to write songs like this, but I don't have the faintest idea. When I hear the stuff that Angela & Karla come up with, it boggles my mind how obscure The Corner Laughers have continued to remain. Obscurity is cool when you're the listener, not so much when you're the artist. Everyone wants what they do to be liked, whether it's a song or a photo or a status update. That's just human nature. All I've ever wanted is for some douchey strangers to think I'm good enough that they can exploit me and make money off of me, eventually cheating me out of everything and leaving me destitute and washed-up; instead I ended up with a supportive community of genius friends whom I love hanging out with and playing music with. Oh well.
The subject matter is pretty self-explanatory, but it fills a necessary niche in a clever way. Most songs, movies, books, etc. in our culture are obsessed with the beginnings & endings of things. That's nice, but the vast majority of real life is not like that. What happens in the middle? This song will tell you, that's what.
Notes On The Recording:
*Because we're all functionally musically illiterate, Angela had to teach us how to play this song using the "Batman" method. You know, "dunna-nunna-nunna-nunna BAT-MAN".
"So going into the chorus, there's a big BAT-MAN, and then a drum fill."
"OK. Got it."
"And for the intro, it's starts with a BAT-MAN and then goes into a fancy riff."
"OK, intro - fancy Batman."
....
"Hey, after the instrumental part, how about if I play a little surf guitar riff on the bass where the Batman would usually go?"
"Yeah, so going into the last chorus - fancy surfing Batman."
*Thus, "Fancy Surfing Batman" became an all-purpose term that we use to describe anything.
*"Bored" went through the most different mixes and arguments about mixes of any song on the album. Probably because we thought it sounded like it had hit potential and wanted to get it right. I think we turned in the final mix about 5 minutes before we sent the master off to the manufacturer.
*Listen closely to the count-in, it's worth it.
Wikipedia Trivia:
*Boredom is an emotional state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, and is not interested in their surroundings. The first recorded use of the word boredom is in the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens, written in 1852, in which it appears six times, although the expression to be a bore had been used in the sense of "to be tiresome or dull" since 1768.
*Boredom has been defined by C. D. Fisher in terms of its central psychological processes: “an unpleasant, transient affective state in which the individual feels a pervasive lack of interest in and difficulty concentrating on the current activity.” M. R. Leary and others describe boredom as “an affective experience associated with cognitive attentional processes.” In positive psychology, boredom is described as a response to a moderate challenge for which the subject has more than enough skill.
*Boredom also plays a role in existentialist thought. In contexts where one is confined, spatially or otherwise, boredom may be met with various religious activities, not because religion would want to associate itself with tedium, but rather, partly because boredom may be taken as the essential human condition, to which God, wisdom, or morality are the ultimate answers. Boredom is in fact taken in this sense by virtually all existentialist philosophers as well as by Schopenhauer.
*Erich Fromm and other thinkers of critical theory speak of boredom as a common psychological response to industrial society, where people are required to engage in alienated labor. According to Fromm, boredom is "perhaps the most important source of aggression and destructiveness today." For Fromm, the search for thrills and novelty that characterizes consumer culture are not solutions to boredom, but mere distractions from boredom which, he argues, continues unconsciously.
And now we come to the portion of the album containing songs that I had a hand in co-writing. Much like "Thunderbird" from Ultraviolet Garden, "Transamerica Pyramid" pre-dates The Corner Laughers and had been sitting in my demo archive for years before Karla decided it would fit nicely with the vaguely-California-pride theme of Poppy Seeds and declared that we should resuscitate (thanks, spell-check) it. I wrote the first verse in 2001 as part of a rock opera I was working on for Karla's parents' 20th anniversary. (Legend has it that they really did meet at the Transamerica Pyramid.) I didn't think it was good enough, so I never finished it or played it for anyone except Karla.
For the Corner Laugher's version we raised the key, dramatically changed the arrangement (We took out the blues harmonica that I use on all my demos. Sorry bro, I just love blues harmonica), and added two more verses and a bridge. Lo and behold, it actually started sounding pretty good. The 2nd and 3rd verses (written by Angela and Karla/Charlie respectively) contain some of my favorite lyrics on the album. There's a bit of a hip-hop rhyme scheme going on that you don't normally hear in a Corner Laughers song. (You might have to listen a couple of times to get all the interior rhymes.) My brother,
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halphasian added a verse about the Giants which was too late to make the recording, but I'll publish it here for posterity:Past Bryant and King, just a walk from the station
The Giants flash their rings in the park by the Basin
In the Cove of McCovey fans in droves stretch their gloves and their nets
From their kayaks to the splashdowns they're chasin'
There's a Mays cast in bronze in a haze of green fronds tracing bonds of three brothers Alou
But the Transamerica Pyramid is what bound me to you
The Transamerica Pyramid is where I first met to you
Notes On The Recording:
*This was the first song recorded for what would become the Poppy Seeds album. On the Friday before Labor Day Weekend 2009, Charlie, Karla, AC and I were setting up the studio for a William Cleere Band (not yet known as The Marvellous Fellas) session that was to take place the next day. To soundcheck the piano and drums we ran through "Transamerica Pyramid" a few times. We got a good take and kept it. Over the weekend we recorded the entire William Cleere & The Marvellous Fellas album.
*The instrumental section is my cheesy attempt to create a musical "pyramid". It starts with 4 instruments playing low notes, then moves on to 3 instruments playing medium notes, then 2 playing high notes, then 1 playing a really high note. Get it?
*In the Beach Boys-esque vocal breakdown we name-check Wazu, our cat. His name already sounds like a backing vocal.
*This is one of only 2 songs on Poppy Seeds that have no ukulele. The other is a bell-choir-only instrumental.
*An earlier mix of "Transamerica" is still available as a Bandcamp single. The B-side, a cover of R. Kelly's "Ignition" is our most downloaded song. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.
( Wikipedia Trivia: )
"Twice The Luck" was the final song written and recorded for "Poppy Seeds", and is basically a Karla solo effort. Although we live with two black cats, I have it on good authority that the inspiration for the song was actually two other black cats that we met in Cambridge while walking to ASDA with Anton Barbeau to pick up some Quorn for curry after playing a gig in a boat on the river and singing Soft Boys songs in the park on the day that the world was supposed to end. I take it to be a dissertation on the triumph of the natural over the supernatural, the real world over the imagined one. Each verse takes to task a different creation of the human mind (superstition, new-age mysticism, & organized religion) and makes you realize how small and recent it is compared to the grandeur and wonder of the natural world. Cutting off a rabbit's foot doesn't make you lucky; seeing a rabbit in the wild does. It's fun to make up stories about what the lines on your palm mean, but why not use your hands to do meaningful, creative work instead? Seeing what looks like a picture of a religious icon on your toast is kind of cool, I guess; but you know what's even cooler? The fact that there's such a thing as toast that can be made from fire and things that grow out of the ground, and you can put it in your mouth and it's the most delicious thing ever.
If you've ever watched David Attenborough's "Life On Earth", you know that there's nothing dreamed of by the greatest human minds of science fiction and mysticism that's even one-millionth as weird and crazy as what already exists here on our own planet. Folk duo Lou & Peter Berryman wrote another song with a similar theme, and I've always loved this verse:
Of all of the things we've invented, from indelible ink to elastic
I would say without batting an eyelash, that nothing is stranger than plastic
And the oddest of all are the posies, that seem perfectly real till you feel one
But I don't think they'll ever convince me that a plastic one's weird as a real one
It's just perfect. Too bad they can't sing.
More often than not, you find the opposite sentiment in pop music - that reality and science is somehow unromantic and boring. Take the otherwise very catchy song by Farrah entitled "DNA" which opens with the line "If all that I am is DNA". As if that isn't the most amazing and incredible thing that has ever happened or ever will happen??? I'd like to think of "Twice The Luck" as a clever, succinct response to the anti-intellectualist strain that infects so much of modern life. Or maybe it's just a cute, twee, sunshiney little pop song. Either way, I like it.
Notes On The Recording:
*Aside from a few pieces of percussion, Karla played all of the instruments and sang all of the vocal parts. There are no drums, bass or guitars.
*The rhythm track is a loop of non-traditional percussion instruments such as: a filing cabinet, a can of chinchilla food, a container of Zoloft and some tea.
( Wikipedia Trivia: )
"Laughing Stars" is Angela's tribute to Brad and the 2nd song in the "Constellation Man" trilogy. The title is taken from the theoretical name of a supergroup consisting of every member of the 2007-8 Variable Stars (Brad's band) and Corner Laughers. This supergroup existed to play only one song (entitled "Antares"), and when it happened it looked kind of like this. I wish I had video because that was one of my all time top 10 favorite musical moments.
"Laughing Stars" is as direct as "Sugar Skull" is cryptic and I don't think there's any way to interpret it other than as a sad song about the suicide of a friend. It's not happy or sunshiney or any of those other things that the critics think we are, although it is catchy and jangly and seems to be getting a lot of airplay on the underground pop radio shows.
Various trivial notes:
*The instrumental section of "Laughing Stars" is based on a guitar riff from The Variable Stars song "Morse Code".
*You can hear The Variable Stars' final recording "Lights Above Los Gatos" here. The line "and the lights from afar" in "Laughing Stars" refers to this song.
*Antares (α Scorpii, α Sco, Alpha Scorpii) is a red supergiant star in the Milky Way galaxy and the sixteenth brightest star in the nighttime sky. (It is sometimes listed as 15th brightest, if the two brighter components of the Capella quadruple star system are counted as one star.) Along with Aldebaran, Spica, and Regulus it is one of the four brightest stars near the ecliptic. Antares is a slow variable star with an average magnitude of +1.09. The orbit is poorly known, with an estimated period of 878 years.
*The name Antares derives from the Ancient Greek Άντάρης, meaning "(holds) against Ares (Mars)", due to the similarity of its reddish hue to the appearance of the planet Mars. It is the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius. However, it is also thought that Antares may have been named after the ancient Arab warrior-poet Antar. Its distinctive color has made the star an object of interest to many societies throughout history.
*Antares is one of the 4 first magnitude stars that lies within 5° of the ecliptic and therefore can be occulted by the Moon and rarely by the planets. On 31 July 2009, Antares was occulted by the moon. The event was visible in much of southern Asia and the Middle East. Every year around December 2 the Sun passes 5° north of Antares.
*The Town of Los Gatos is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 29,413 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area at the southwest corner of San Jose in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Los Gatos is an established affluent neighborhood in the Silicon Valley. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Los Gatos ranks 33rd in the United States where the "1%" live in relation to the 99% campaign on Wall Street. Homes in Los Gatos varry from century-old one million-dollar cottages in the downtown area to 15–30+ million-dollar large custom homes in the surrounding hills. The town is noted for its small, pedestrian-friendly downtown, with boutique shops, upscale Michelin Star restaurants, and thriving arts community. It is also a preferred destination for antique shopping.
*The name Los Gatos is Spanish, meaning the cats. The name derives from the 1839 Alta California land-grant that encompassed the area, which was called La Rinconada de Los Gatos, ("Cat's Corner"), where "the cats" refers to the cougars that are indigenous to the foothills in which the town is located. The name has been anglicized to /lɔːs ˈɡætəs/ (lawss-gat-əs), although one also hears pronunciations truer to the original Spanish, /loʊsˈɡɑːtoʊs/ (lohss-gah-tohss).
Firstly, the Wikipedia cut & paste:
The word calavera, Spanish for "skull", can refer to a number of cultural phenomena associated with the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead and the Roman Catholic holiday All Souls Day. Calaveras de azúcar ("sugar skulls") are used to adorn altars and can be eaten.
Sugar art was brought to the New World by Italian missionaries in the 17th century. The first Church mention of sugar art was from Palermo at Easter time when little sugar lambs and angels were made to adorn the side altars in the Catholic Church.
Mexico, abundant in sugar production and lacking money to buy fancy imported European church decorations at the time, learned quickly from the friars how to make sugar art for their religious festivals. Clay molded sugar figures of angels, sheep and sugar skulls go back to the Colonial Period 18th century. Sugar skulls represented a departed soul, had the name written on the forehead and was placed on the home ofrenda or gravestone to honor the return of a particular spirit. Sugar skull art reflects the folk art style of big happy smiles, colorful icing and sparkly tin and glittery adornments. Common ingredients for making sugar skulls include powdered sugar, egg white, corn syrup, vanilla, and corn starch. Typically, sugar skulls need to dry overnight or for several hours. Sugar skulls are labor intensive and made in very small batches in the homes of sugar skull makers. However, these artisans are disappearing as fabricated and imported candy skulls take their place.
My personal liner notes, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Corner Laughers as an entity:
Don't get me wrong, any time anyone outside of our inner circle takes the time to write a review of our album for a music website, magazine, or blog, it is a huge honor and cause for celebration and rejoicing, whether they give us an A+ or a 0/10. However, it seems like almost every review I've seen declares the album to be "sunshiney", "happy", "fun", "summery", "feel-good", etc. Maybe the front cover and some of the instrumentation and arrangements give that impression, but if you read or listen to the lyrics (most of which we've published on the Bandcamp site), you'll find that this is not the case at all. The album was built around a trilogy of songs dedicated to our genius friend and collaborator Brad Johnson who committed suicide in 2009 at the peak of his creativity. The whole Mystery Lawn Music collective was kind of his idea and one of his big dreams. He was always encouraging us to put together a scene of like-minded people, but based in the suburbs and smaller towns, not in SF. Three years later, it exists. We have whole a stable of amazing musicians, record producers, graphic artists, videographers, writers, journalists, photographers, web designers, and even architects and handymen. Whatever you need done, there's someone at Mystery Lawn who can do it for you. (The only thing we haven't figured out is how to make any kind of money.) I only wish Brad could have seen his dream become reality.
"Sugar Skull" is, in my opinion, the most poetic of the 3 eulogies. Karla based the lyric on a quote from Brad:
"Whenever I get bummed ... I think about the rain and the wind. Leaves falling. Halloween and my birthday ... a wistful melancholy.. A painfully pleasant longing. Dude, it's such a Scorpio thing, I swear. "
The part about "all of our songs are in F sharp" was a running joke we had with Brad. He used to cover Belle & Sebastian's "Piazza New York Catcher" in his live act, but he played it in literal F#, with all the crazy barre chords. To my robotic, logical mind this made no sense. I explained to him "Brad, no one plays guitar in F#. They either capo up 2 and play in E or tune down 1/2 step and play in G, which is what I'm pretty sure the Belle & Sebastian guy does". He didn't believe me, and after that he started writing songs in F# just to spite me.
Notes On The Recording
*The marching band in the ending section is all Charlie, overdubbing himself on a variety of different drums. The recording and editing of this portion caused some of the most contentious arguments in Corner Laughers' history.
*I think we may have recorded the drums & bass soon after Michael Jackson died because it sounds like Charlie & I are doing an "Off The Wall" / "Thriller" kind of groove in the verses.
*It is not in F sharp.
"El Camino Real", which roughly translates as "The Royal Road" or "The King's Highway" usually refers to the historic 600-mile (966-kilometer) California Mission Trail, connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions (along with a number of support sites), 4 presidios, and several pueblos, stretching from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego in the south to Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma in the north. Most of it has now been incorporated into Highway 101, but on the SF Bay Peninsula, El Camino Real (which we almost always abbreviate as simply "El Camino") is kind of the heart and soul of the world. It's either a vibrant, bustling artery of multi-ethnic markets and restaurants or a suburban hell of chain stores and gas stations that repeat in sequence every 5 miles, depending on your interpretation. In my 18 years in California I've always lived on El Camino or within 3 blocks of it.
Sometime in 2005, Karla & I started noticing old-fashioned mission bells popping up in various places along El Camino, which we became obsessed with. It turns out that there were originally 450 bells installed in 1906, but most of them were destroyed in the 50s and 60s when the new super-highways came in. A restoration project was launched by Caltrans in the late 90s and by 2005 there were 555 new missions bells, each forged from the original 1906 molds.
Notes on the recording:
*The featured duet vocalist is none other than Mike Viola of the Candy Butchers. We met Mike when The Corner Laughers opened for his side project The Major Labels back in 2008 and we've played together a couple of times since. I've been a huge fan since "That Thing You Do", so it's kind of surreal to hear him singing on a Corner Laughers song.
*The unusual drum sound was created by recording two separate full drum tracks, each playing totally different rhythms. Producer Allen Clapp wanted to simulate the sound of futuristic transportation or something. At first I hated the idea; it sounded like two separate songs playing on top of each other. (I'm not really a fan of experimentalism for its own sake, I'd rather be able to hear the lyrics and the melody.) But after hearing the finished version it's obvious that he was right and I was wrong. It sounds bloody fantastic.
*The bell choir is not synthetic, but rather an actual bell choir, recorded in a church. The session looked like this:
*There's a slight subliminal message in the fade-out, which will cause fans of Mike Viola to chuckle to themselves when they find it.
Other trivia about the subjects covered in the lyrics:
*To facilitate overland travel, the mission settlements were situated approximately 30 miles (48 kilometers) apart, so that they were separated by one day's long ride on horseback (or three days on foot) along the 600-mile (966-kilometer) long "California Mission Trail." Father Lasuén is credited for having brought the concept to life in 1798 when he successfully argued that filling in the "spaces" along El Camino Real with additional outposts would provide much- needed rest stops, where travelers could take lodging in relative safety and comfort. Heavy freight movement was practical only via water. Tradition has it that the padres sprinkled mustard seeds along the trail in order to mark it with bright yellow flowers.
*An unpaved portion of the original Spanish road has been preserved just east of Mission San Juan Bautista in San Juan Bautista, California.
*In 1987 there were only 22 known California Condors living in the wild. Thanks to an extensive conservation and captive breeding plan, as of December 2011 there are 390 condors known to be living, including 210 in the wild.
*Mount Tamalpais is the highest peak in the Marin Hills, which are part of the Northern California Coast Ranges. The elevation at the East Peak, its second highest point, is 2,572 feet (784 m). The West Peak, the mountain's highest peak where a radar dome currently stands, is 2,574 feet (785 m). It stood over 2,600 feet (792 m) before the summit was flattened for the radar dome construction. The mountain is clearly visible from the city of San Francisco and the East Bay region.
Track #1: "Grasshopper Clock"
This is one of those songs wherein when Karla first played it for me I was all like "Wow, you really wrote this? How?? Are you sure it's not already some classic English folk song from the 1800s?" It's that good. The demo sounded great with just vocal and ukulele, which is how we kept the intro on the recording. After that, we went a little studio crazy and ended up with something like 96 tracks. My only real contribution was attempting to come up with a bass line that was both clock-like and British sounding. What I did was play a riff based on the famous chimes of Big Ben, starting on the "and" of the 1st beat to make it more XTC-esque. (Side note: I only recently bothered to research the Big Ben bell tune and discovered that it is often called Cambridge Chimes, due to the fact that it was was written in 1793 for a new clock in St Mary the Great, the University Church in Cambridge. The titular Grasshopper Clock is in Cambridge as well, so it's even more fitting than I had originally thought.) On top of that we added KC's clicky, chimey guitar part played in artificial harmonics and Charlie's tick-tock drum beat which we recorded to a click track at exactly 60 beats per minute, so yes, the recording will sync up to a real clock. And seeing as we were visiting psych-pop legend Anton Barbeau in Cambridge when we first discovered the Grasshopper Clock and it was his story about golden ants in a sugar canister that inspired the first verse, it seemed necessary that we should have him do a guest appearance. He contributed synthesizer and backing vocals recorded remotely at his Cambridge home-studio, which was enough of a connection to get us airplay on the BBC's Introducing In Cambridgeshire. The always-brilliant Astrid Smith provided string arrangements and played all of the violin parts.
I hear the song as not being specifically about one clock, but about time in general. It's always being eaten away, so make the most of it while you can. Go see places and things, drink tea, pick flowers, row a boat, look at the sky and realize that in the grand scheme of things you're no more important than any of the 4 insects mentioned.
More trivia about the actual Grasshopper Clock:
*The clock's face is a rippling 24-carat gold-plated stainless steel disc, about 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in diameter. It has no hands or numbers, but displays the time by opening individual slits in the clock face backlit with blue LEDs; these slits are arranged in three concentric rings displaying hours, minutes, and seconds.
*The dominating visual feature of the clock is a sculpture of a grim-looking, devouring, metal insect similar to a grasshopper or locust. The sculpture is actually the clock's escapement. John C. Taylor (the inventor) calls this beast the Chronophage (literally "time eater", from the Greek χρόνος [chronos] time, and φάγω [phago] I eat). It moves its mouth, appearing to "eat up" the seconds as they pass, and occasionally it "blinks" in seeming satisfaction. The creature's constant motion produces an eerie grinding sound that suits its task. The hour is tolled by the sound of a chain clanking into a small wooden coffin hidden in the back of the clock.
*It was officially unveiled to the public on 19 September 2008 by Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking.
*Below the clock is an inscription from the Vulgate 1 John 2:17: mundus transit et concupiscentia eius ("the world passeth away, and the lust thereof").
*The Corpus Clock is expected to be able to run accurately for at least two hundred years. In practice, however, it stopped three times in the first month of its operation.
Things that have changed or not changed in our neighborhood since 2008:
*My favorite coffee shop, The Daily Boost, is now out of business.
*Our favorite Thai restaurant, Ladda's, is gone.
*Both video rental stores have gone away, which is not surprising considering the obsoleteness of physical objects. (Except for vinyl records, which are still a hipster novelty. The Record Man on El Camino remains open.)
*The downtown area still has many empty storefronts, but we've recently seen the opening of an Old Spaghetti Factory, a fancy Vietnamese cafe, a cook-at-your-table Japanese restaurant, an upscale burger joint, an Ike's Sandwiches, a Pier One Imports, an In-And-Out Burger, and a store that sells combo cowboy/skateboard clothing and accessories.
*There are now not one, but three farmer's markets.
*We have city-wide composting.
*After living in self-imposed poverty for a couple of years, our monthly mortgage payments have now decreased to the point that we are paying less per month for our entire house than we would be if we rented a 1 bedroom apartment in RC, according to the latest Craigslist figures.
*You still can't get a gig here unless you play in a tribute band.
Speaking of gigs, I'll be playing at this tomorrow.
I haven't kept up with the King Arthur movies, but thanks to
jimmi_vacant's connections, we scored free tickets to Spamalot at the Orpheum in San Francisco which we went to on Wednesday. It was OK, but slightly disappointing. Most of the jokes from "The Holy Grail" are so well known that the audience could pretty much recite along with the cast, and the new comedy bits were kind of lame. Really, is it still funny that Jews and gay people love Broadway? No. Maybe if it had the delivery of the real Monty Python guys, but maybe not even then. I think I laughed harder at the fake "playbill" than I did at the actual show.Anyway, now that most of the people mentioned in the song are probably long gone from LJ, I'm going to post it in its original form. The experiment is - if you're reading this and you see your username, comment and tell me if the fact I gleaned about you from 2006 is still true.
( 44 Lines About 88 Livejournal Friends )
I do have a new pancake lens camera though, and I've found that what it does best is take food photos. Here's a gallery.
If that's not enough, I have decided to share my precious carrot soup recipe with the world. Click on the embedded photo and go forward from there if you want to know. It's based on two recipes from "How To Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman, with a few revisions and additions. We first had it when
globalesque was visiting in December '08. Since then we've made it almost once a week during the winter months and every time it's a little bit different. My goal is to replicate the curry carrot soup that we used to get at Bayleaf Cafe, RIP.12. Camelot (1967) My rating: 8/10. IMDB summary:
The story of the marriage of England's King Arthur to Guinevere is played out amid the pageantry of Camelot. The plot of illegitimate Modred to gain the throne and Guinevere's growing attachment to Sir Lancelot, whom she at first abhors, threaten to topple Arthur and destroy his "round table" of knights who would use their might for right.
Yeah, finally tracked down the real Camelot - a high-budge medieval musical epic seen through the filter of Swinging London & The Summer Of Love. Great look, great soundtrack; my only complaint is that it is just too damn long. I've never been able to watch it in one sitting. The bonus documentaries are pretty cool, especially if you like footage of 60s celebrities getting out of cars and walking into theaters, which I definitely do.
Interesting trivia about the actors who played Lancelot and Guinevere:
*His (Franco Nero's) romantic involvement with British actress Vanessa Redgrave began in 1967 when they met on the set of Camelot. In 1969, they had a son, Carlo Gabriel Sparanero (known professionally as Carlo Nero), a screenwriter and director. After separating for many years, during which they both had relationships with other people, they reunited and married on 31 December 2006.
*They appeared together in the 2010 movie "Letters To Juliet".
Interesting trivia about Alan Jay Lerner, the lyricist and screenplay, um...ist:
*At both Choate and Harvard, Lerner was a classmate of John F. Kennedy; at Choate they had worked together on the yearbook staff.
*Lerner's personal foibles were the stuff of tabloid legend. For nearly twenty years he battled an amphetamine addiction; during the 1960s he was a patient of the notorious Max Jacobson, known as "Dr. Feelgood", who administered injections of "vitamins with enzymes" that were in fact laced with amphetamines. Lerner's addiction is believed to have been the result of Jacobson's bizarre practice.
Part of the cable series "HBO Theatre", this is a videotaped presentation of the 1980 Broadway revival of the musical.
How many times has this happened to you? You type the word "Camelot" into your local library's online catalog search; the first DVD result that comes up says "Camelot - Richard Harris - Broadway Musicals", so you click "Reserve", completely convinced that you're going to be getting the 1967 big-screen spectacular. When you pick up the DVD at the library a few days later it turns out to be a 1982 live recording of the Broadway revival. Disappointing, but I did pledge to watch every filmed adaptation of Arthurian legend that I could find, and this definitely counts as such. Once you get accustomed to the weird early-80s medieval costumes and hairstyles it's really not a bad version at all. Richard Harris is always great, and the fake Julie Andrews almost sounds like the real Julie Andrews (who was in the original Broadway musical but not in the 1967 movie). The story sticks to the familiar legend, starting a few years after "The Sword In The Stone" and flashing back to several events mentioned in that movie. I'm a big fan of the Lerner and Loewe soundtrack and I always enjoy seeing stage acting up-close on film, but... I'd still rather see the real movie.
11. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974) My rating 8/10. IMDB summary:
King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Grail, encountering many very silly obstacles.
Is there anything left to say about "The Holy Grail" that hasn't been said? It's the "Spinal Tap" of King Arthur movies: everyone my age knows every single line and quotes it constantly to the point of annoyance. As part of the Arthurian cannon it doesn't make a lot of sense, but it was never meant to. The 3-disc deluxe reissue does have a lot of stuff I hadn't seen before, including, and I quote: "extremely expensive packaging". I'll leave you with some fascinating trivia:
*The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles per hour, beating its wings 7-9 times per second rather than 43. It's true: a 5 ounce bird cannot carry a one pound coconut, but furthermore, no swallow weighs 5 ounces. The barn swallow, which is what most English people mean when they say "swallow", weighs only 20 grams (2/3 of an ounce).
*Funds earned by Pink Floyd's album "The Dark Side of the Moon" went towards funding The Holy Grail. The band were such fans of the show they would halt recording sessions just to watch Monty Python's Flying Circus.
*As part of their stained glass and interior decoration, several medieval cathedrals included illustrations of virtues and vices. The vice of cowardice was depicted as a knight running away from a rabbit. Notre Dame in Paris has no fewer than three such medallions of the "Killer Rabbit".
Arthur (aka Wart) is a young boy who aspires to be a knight's squire. On a hunting trip he falls in on Merlin, a powerful but amnesiac wizard who has plans for Wart beyond mere squiredom. He starts by trying to give Wart an education (whatever that is), believing that once one has an education, one can go anywhere. Needless to say, it doesn't quite work out that way.
Like all nerdy people my age, I assumed I had seen this movie when I was a kid, but now I'm not so sure. It didn't seem all that familiar, so maybe I just read the storybook or had the re-recorded soundtrack record/book set. You'll forgive me if I add it to "My Movies 2012" as a movie that I had not previously seen. And what a huge disappointment it is,
zimbra1006's warnings notwithstanding (Or maybe super-withstanding). First of all: the animation - was this drawn in a cheap Korean sweatshop? Disney would never release such a shoddy product nowadays. It looks like the bad 70s Hanna Barberra and Underdog cartoons that I grew up with. The backgrounds are all stationary paintings. The moving characters are bare bones outlines. The mouth movements don't even match the dialogue half of the time. Not that it matters because the voice actors are God-awful. The fake British accents wouldn't fool Dick Van Dyke, and the guy playing Wart isn't even trying. Sometimes he's from California, sometimes he's from the South, but never is he English. The plot and character motivations are almost non-existent. We never find out where Wart comes from or why he deserves to be the king. All through the movie they keep foreshadowing a big tournament that the viewer expects to be the climactic finale, but it never really happens. I guess they decided it would be too expensive to animate. Maybe the most annoying production element is the incessant clarinet / saxophone combo that punctuates every movement and action. The Sherman Brothers did the music, so you'd think that would at least be halfway decent, but it's not. There's even a bonus feature where the Sherman Brothers kind-of apologize for the soundtrack and play some of the songs that got cut, all of which are better than the ones that made it into the movie. So why did I give it a 4 rather than a 3 or 2? I liked the owl. I know
clyde_park probably reviewed this for his animated Disney project a few years ago. I purposely did not re-read his review before posting this. I'll go look at it now and see how many things we agreed on. 9. A Kid In King Arthur's Court (1995) My rating: 3/10. IMDB summary:
Young Calvin Fuller is pulled into King Arthur's court by Merlin. His mission: to save Camelot. To do this he must overcome the villain known as Lord Belascoe, train to become a knight, and rescue the Princess Katherine whom he has fallen in love with him. Ultimately, He must help Arthur regain his confidence before he can go home.
Another Disney take on the King Arthur myth, and another piece-of-crap movie. Where to begin? How about: "That's not a clamor - that's ROCK 'N' ROLL." And every other 90s G-rated teen cliche. Bad, unlikeable actors. Nonsensical plot. Villain has foreign-sounding name and is only dark-skinned guy in movie. New-world foods eaten in old-world times. Rollerblades, again. There's only one good thing about this movie, and it's a spoiler but I'm just going to say it anyway in an attempt to prevent any future viewings of this by anyone: Kate Winslet is the black knight.
7. First Knight (1995) My rating 5/10. IMDB Summary:
Lancelot lives by the sword. In fact, they're next door neighbours, so teaming up to fight for money comes pretty naturally. Lady Guinevere, on her way to marry King Arthur is ambushed by the evil Sir Malagant. Fortunately Lancelot is lurking nearby and he rescues his future queen. They fall in love, but Guinevere still fancies the idea of wearing a crown, so she honours her promise to Arthur. Can Lady Guinevere remain faithful, or will this Pretty Woman become a lady of the knight?
I don't have much of an opinion on this one, pro or con. It's your standard mid-90s period-costume-action-drama. Sean Connery is in it, so that's good. Other than that, it's watchable but nothing special. The scenery is nice, especially if you like English sheep.
Deviations from standard Arthurian mythology: King Arthur is portrayed as being much older than usual. In fact, most King Arthurs would be long dead by the time they reached Sean Connery's 1995 age. This movie calls him "the king of Camelot" and does not mention England or Britain, almost as if it is set in a fictional land. No sign of Merlin or any supernatural elements, no sword in stone.
Although the legend of King Arthur has not been historically established as fact, this film attempts to place King Arthur within his possible historic context, smack between the fall of the Roman Empire (just a few hundred years after Gladiator) and the long road through the Dark Ages (roughly set in the 5th or 6th centuries). The magic and fantasy of the legend is absent. (Merlin may still be around; just not performing the magic seen in Excalibur.)
I was really hoping to be able to complain about how awful this one was, based on the rockin' extreme-o DVD cover in which Keira Knightley sports an action bikini, but alas, it was far better than expected. It was filmed in the now-familiar dark, ominous green-filtered-lens style that is so common to historical epics these days, and most scenes take place in snow and ice. There are no magicians or swords in stones. The closest they get to that is a scene in which young Arthur pulls a sword from his father's grave. There's no love triangle with Guinevere and Lancelot either. In fact, Guinevere is a kick-ass soldier who kills a bunch of Saxons. Lancelot (spoiler alert) does not survive. There's also no Morgaine or Lady Of The Lake. There's a Merlin character, but he only has a few lines and is not a wizard. It is set in the 400s, as decreed by Geoffrey of Monmouth, rather than the erroneous much-later settings that you so often see. I do like the idea of going back to the historical source material and removing the supernatural elements, at least for one movie. Of course, history geeks have pointed out numerous anachronisms, only one of which is at-all worth noting here:
One of the knights flies a hawk in several scenes. The hawk is a Harris' Hawk from the Americas, which had no commerce with Britain until nearly 1000 years later.
The only real complaint I have is: "Why does Clive Owen's Arthur character have to tediously hit us over the head every 5 minutes with what a great guy he, himself is because he fights for liberty and equality for all and you don't?" One mention would have been enough, or even too much. Just show it.
Bonus points: One of the DVD extras is a "Roundtable" with the filmmakers. Ha.
Based on the bestseller by Marion Zimmer Bradley It tells the story of the women behind King Arthur; including his mother, Igraine; his half-sister, Morgaine; his aunt Viviane, the Lady of the Lake; and his wife, Gwenwyfar.
I've never read the famous novel upon which this film was based, but
goldenmoonbear is obsessed with it and was able to keep me informed about which parts were accurate and which parts were pure Hollywood. The book is epic, and although the miniseries (presented on the DVD as one continuous movie) is over 3 hours long, it apparently leaves out a huge percentage of the story. Nonetheless, I found it to be well-done and compellingly watchable. The 3 main roles are played by highly recognizable American actresses and it's clearly intended for American audiences. The old English religions and Pagan goddesses are overly explained, as if we've never heard of them. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, since most Americans probably don't know or care very much about English or religious history, as indicated by every poll or survey I've ever seen. Departing from the majority of Arthur re-tellings, Morgaine is portrayed as a sympathetic, tragic figure who only wants the best for Arthur and Britain. Avalon is a real place (full of Averbury-esque megaliths) that only certain followers of the religion know how to find, but there are no dragons or gryphons or hocus-pocus magicians. All of the major elements of Arthurian mythology are present, including the sword / stone bit which takes place inside a burning building with only the hologram of The Lady Of The Lake as a witness. Bonus: young Morgaine was played by Tamsin Egerton, who 10 years later played Guinevere in the CBC series "Camelot", which was on my Netflix cue but has now been rescinded and labeled "not available". Booo. For further (entertaining, not too scholarly) reading about ancient Britain, the old religions, and insight into how languages develop and what words and stories really mean, I highly recommend:
The Modern Antiquarian - Julian Cope
Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd
The Sacred Mushroom And The Cross - John Allegro
January 22nd: Starry Day Matinee with The Corner Laughers and Alison Faith Levy
( Alison Faith Levy and The Starry Plough Present: STARRY DAY MATINEE WINTER WONDERLAND, A MONTHLY FAMILY MUSIC SERIES )
January 25th: Instructional interludes from "Schoolhouse Rock" performed by Karla Kane & The Definitive Articles.
( FIRST PERSON SINGULAR )
Back to my ongoing King Arthur movie series:
4. Arthur's Quest (TV 1999) My rating: 3/10. I think the IMDB blurb tells you all you need to know about this less-than-stellar effort:
To escape the clutches of the evil warrior and sorceress Morgana, Merlin transports young King Arthur into modern day America. When Merlin comes back ten years later to retrieve him, he finds a hip 15 year-old Arthur who does not believe Merlin, nor does he want to return to the past. Merlin must convince Arthur of his true identity, before Morgana can retrieve Excalibur and allow the Dark Forces to take over the world.
About 5 minutes in I had to verify that the release date was 1999 and not 1989. The amateurish acting and production values had me convinced that either something really sexy was going to happen soon, or that I would be learning a lesson about Jesus. Sadly, neither of those occurred. It's just a cheaply done Hollywood B-movie that probably should not have been made. They didn't even bother to give any of the characters English accents. Yeah, yeah, I know that we don't really know what people sounded like in 5th century England, but when making movies about historical British royalty, it's traditional to have the characters talk in a way that people in our time would identify as vaguely British or Shakespearean. Not in this movie. And the costumes. Wow. Don't be fooled by the DVD cover photo on IMDB that has Merlin with a long white beard, wearing a majestical robe. In the movie he's more of a 90s-stand-up-comedian looking guy wearing a black sweatshirt or something. As a time travel movie it suffers from the same baffling flaw as "Time After Time", which is; why would time travelers from England end up in California? I suppose you could justify it with an explanation about the rotation of the earth, but they never do. And besides, the coolest thing about time travel movies is being able to see the same location in different times. I guess in this movie it's pretty obvious that 5th century England was filmed in modern day LA but that kind of makes it worse. Oh, and King Arthur loves rollerblading.
halphasian watched every James Bond movie and blogged about it? Or when clyde_park watched all of the Disney animated features in order? Or when vovat watched everything that ever existed and reviewed all of it? I've always wanted to do something like that, so in 2012 goldenmoonbear and I have decided to track down as many filmed adaptations of the legend of King Arthur as we can find. I've been a pretty serious Anglophile for the past 20 years, and yet I have never really gotten into King Arthur. This year I will remedy that. I'm starting with this list that I found on Wikipedia, but I'm interested in hearing your suggestions as well, if you know of something that Wikipedia left out. Here's what we've seen so far this year:
1. Excalibur (1981) My rating: 3/10. OK, I kind of loved it, but I had to watch it in short segments over several days because of the highly irritating acting style. It's basically early-80s dudes yelling as loud as they can in fake Medieval accents and treating everything they say as if it is a huge proclamation. Although it's set in ancient England, a lot of the plot, dialogue and look is clearly stolen from Star Wars. The knight costumes look like space suits and the backgrounds are all very sci-fi. Even the titular sword is given a green glow as if to make it resemble a light saber. The plot only makes sense if you're already familiar with Arthurian legend, otherwise you'd think this was the stupidest thing you ever saw. Notable for early appearances by young Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart and Helen Mirren.
2. Avalon High (TV 2010) My rating: 5/10. If it's made by the Disney Channel or ABC Family, there's a good chance that I shamefully love it, and this is no exception. The gimmick is that modern day American high school students are somehow the reincarnations of King Arthur and his cohorts, as foretold by a prophecy. There are some clever things about it, such as the possible Arthur reincarnation being homecoming king (get it?), and having a girlfriend named Jennifer who is cheating on him with football star "Lance", though most of it is exactly what you would expect from a Disney / ABC Family movie: popular people are jerks, adults are out-of-touch, underdogs triumph, etc. There are a couple of surprise twists; one of which is obvious from the beginning and the other of which kind of ruins the continuity of the whole movie and doesn't add up at all. There were multiple ways that it could have been better. Why not have the Lady Of The Lake be the captain of the swim team? Why don't they eat at Round Table Pizza all the time? But I digress.
3. Merlin (TV Series 2008– ) So far I've only watched the first two episodes (out of a possible 39) so I can't really give it a fair rating. In this re-telling, instead of having Merlin be a contemporary of Uther Pendragon and the one responsible for bringing Arthur into the world, they have Merlin & Arthur meeting each other as young 20-something hunks. Rather than Arthur being a lower class servant who doesn't realize he is royalty, this Arthur lives in the palace and is already a Prince and somewhat of a douche. Uther has outlawed all magic, so Merlin has to keep his abilities a secret, all the while using them to keep young Arthur safe and out of trouble. At least that's what I think the show is about. Like I said, only 2 episodes in. Bonus: Uther is played by the prime minister from "Little Britain".
4. The 4th Agony Aunts album tentatively titled "Undecimber": That's right, even though we've only done one previous album, we're skipping right to album #4 which we expect to be our masterpiece. Albums 2 and 3 will have to wait until we've become washed-up bloated drug addicts. Expected release date: 12/12/12.
2. Mystery Lawn Music multi-band bus tour of America: During a recent Brain Trust meeting we came to the startling realization that we could put together an old-school package tour in which the number of separate acts would almost exceed the number of personnel needed to compose them. With just 8 or 9 people we could be The Corner Laughers, Agony Aunts, William Cleere & the Marvellous Fellas, Allen Clapp & His Orchestra, The Orange Peels, KC Bowman, John Moremen's Flotation Device, The Fairwood Singers, etc.
3. Super-secret Chris von Sneidern album: It's so secret that even though I've recorded 5 or 6 keyboard tracks for it, I have not actually been allowed to hear the songs. CvS is utilizing the old Ray Davies method of giving the band chord charts and instructions but not telling us what the lyrics or tunes are going to be. Regardless, I got to play with Prairie Prince, the drummer on "Skylarking". That was pretty exciting.
As is customary, I'll be keeping track of movies here and books here.
You can probably guess where I'm going with this. Now that I'm once again a guitar player, I feel it's imperative to post my own top 10 list, updated for 2011 (I don't remember the last time I did a top 10 guitarists list, which means it was probably at least a month ago.) For those on my list who also made the Rolling Stone list I will include their rankings as comparison.
1. Richard Thompson (#69 in RS) - My #1 hasn't changed in almost 20 years. (Bonus: I just discovered that he's a birdwatcher.)
2. Brian May (#26 in RS) - Not only can he make his guitar sound like an entire Dixieland jazz band, he's an astrophysicist and he has a charity that helps British wildlife. How cool is that?
3. Robyn Hitchcock - In terms of influence, he's probably #1 since I can actually (almost) play most of his parts, which I don't think I could say for anyone else on this list.
4. Nick Drake - Surprised he's not on the RS list, to tell you the truth. He's white, male, British, from the 70s and dead. Seems like just their type.
5. Maybelle Carter - Not on the RS list because, of course of 98% of the greatest guitarists of all time were male. Oh wait, she's better than all of their top 10 combined, which seemed to be chosen by a 15 year-old kid in the 80s.
6. Mark Knopfler (#44 in RS) - My favorite during my formative guitar years.
7. Donovan - He'll surprise you.
8. Abby DeWald (Ditty Bops) - Even though my list is 10 times smaller than RS's, it manages to include 50% more women.
9. Andy Partridge
10. Erin McKeown
If my top 10 were restricted to guitarists from the RS 100, I would include the above 3 with RS #s and the following 7 in this order:
RS #51) Johnny Marr (Smiths)
RS #93) Paul Simon
RS #91) Dave Davies (Kinks)
RS #75) Joni Mitchell
RS #95) Roger McGuinn (Byrds)
RS# 71) Robert Johnson
RS# 38) The Edge (U2)
1. As you can see by the inset promo photo, I have suddenly joined Allen Clapp And His Orchestra as, get this, lead guitarist. I attempted to play lead guitar for a while in the 80s and 90s, but now I only play ironically. And the reason for that is that I'm just not very good. My entire repertoire consists of 3 tricks: the Robyn Hitchcock bounce-off-the-open-E-string-while-playi
We're playing in LA on December 1st and in San Francisco on December 2nd.
2. We now have a wood and wire aviary in the backyard, thanks to the architectural and constructorial skills of KC Bowman. Scroll through the set for more angles.
3. Remember way back in 2006 when I did NASOALMO and live-blogged the results right here? I'm re-releasing "November" as a free download with 8 bonus tracks to celebrate its 5th anniversary. (All of the lead guitar on that album is played ironically, by the way, as is the singing, unfortunately.)
4. While I was in Michigan I put together an album of newspaper clippings documenting my early childhood as a minor local celebrity. You've probably seen this already.
5. 2011 Almanac - Still going. I added a bonus selection of November Leaves, just because.
6. Single-Of-The-Month Club - Believe it or not, we made it all the way to November without any loss in quality. This month's artist is Andy Siff, and he's brilliant.
1. Last weekend we discovered what we presumed to be a raccoon latrine on the roof of our shed. (I am already horrified that "raccoon latrine" is a term that exists, and that I am repeating it here.) I stupidly swept the contents from the roof to the ground; not because of the latrine specifically, but because I was attempting a thorough cleaning of all of the roofs and gutters. Karla then showed me several panic-y internet publications about raccoon latrines from reputable sources. Some highlights:
*What do I do if I find a raccoon latrine? Keep children and pets away from the area and if possible, clean it up. Cleanup of raccoon latrines is difficult. The eggs of raccoon roundworms can survive for many years. They are resistant to all common disinfectants including bleach. The best way to kill the eggs is through flaming the area (including soil) with a blowtorch or burning affected material such as straw or wood cages. Alternately, boiling water can be poured over small areas at a time. In heavily contaminated areas, it may be necessary to remove and bury the soil in a deep spot elsewhere. When cleaning up any latrine area, proper protection is a must. This should include a dusk mask over the nose and mouth, disposable clothing, disposable gloves and heavy rubber boots that can be cleaned with boiling water.
*What are the symptoms of raccoon roundworm?
In people: sudden lethargy, loss of balance, abdominal pain, paralysis of one or both sides of the body, loss of muscle coordination, head tilt, blindness, coma and death.
in case you were wondering, no, I did not follow any of the instructions in bullet point one, having not had the proper information beforehand. If you never hear from me again, refer to bullet point two for explanation.
Back to yesterday: I decided to hire a professional to clean up and remove all contents of the latrine from our yard and shed. This cost me $179, but seemed worth it if only to avoid the inevitable heat tilt, coma, and death.
2. While the raccoon clean-up was taking place, I had to go to the dentist to get a filling replaced. Not a regular filling though; one where they keep me in the chair for an hour and a half, remove half of the inside of my tooth, and then take an impression to send to the lab. That means I don't get the real filling for two weeks. In the meantime I have to wear a temporary plastic filling that hurts whenever I chew and does not allow me to have anything crunchy or sticky or cold. The two week period of painful eating corresponds exactly with American Thanksgiving and my annual Back To The Future marathon gathering, so that should be fun.
3. After returning from the dentist, I took the rest of the day off work and let the chickens run around in the yard for a while. At about 4pm, all 3 of us were extremely surprised to hear what sounded like another chicken on the other side of the fence. Although I don't make a habit of interacting with the neighbors' business, it seemed like the chicken was in distress and I decided to investigate. What I found on the other side of the fence was my neighbor and her 3 little kids chasing a tiny chicken that was terrified of them. I caught it for them and put it back in the wooden box that it had arrived in. She said that her brother (I think) gave them two chickens and that one had run away and escaped under the fence to the other neighbor's yard. They had no coop, and had seemingly just assumed that the chickens could live in the backyard?? I explained to her that this was an immediate 100% death sentence due to the raccoons, and I let them borrow an extra metal cage that I had in the garage until they got a suitable coop. (I also gave them a chicken waterer and some chicken food since they apparently had not planned for that either.) The other neighbors (where they thought the 2nd chicken had escaped to) were not home, so I broke into their yard to search for her, but alas, failed to find her. I looked under every plant and bush in the neighborhood until dark. I hope 2nd chicken is smart and found a good hiding place, but I really don't see how she can survive on her own in the wild. The neighbors are nice people and I'm sure they mean well, so It's kind of baffling that they would suddenly obtain chickens without properly thinking it though. Normally I'm at work at 4pm on a Thursday. What would they have done if I hadn't been there? The obvious answer is that they would have lost both chickens. If not immediately, most likely they wouldn't have survived through the night. So now I not only have to worry constantly about my own chickens; I have to worry about my neighbors' chicken because they don't seem to be responsible enough to take care of it themselves and I've already gotten involved.
Whatever. I probably won't survive the next two weeks anyway, since I can't eat and I've been exposed to the deadly raccoon fever.
"5 Things" Meme - Also From stacyinthecity
5 things from
stacyinthecity:1. Climate best by government test. - This is the motto of Redwood City, the town where I live. You can learn about the history of the phrase here. Is it still true? I don't know. I don't like to devote more than 5 minutes to researching anything, and my attempts to find more recent government tests have come up empty. This is the best I could do, and it's just an editorial in Patch. Obviously, the climate has changed drastically worldwide since the supposed test approximately 100 years ago, but Redwood City still seems pretty comfortable to me. Don't get me started on the tribute bands though.
2. Birds - Yeah, birds. I haven't done much birdwatching lately. I went out every morning when I was in England in May, but not much since then. I did go see the movie version of "The Big Year" and then immediately re-read the book to see what the discrepancies were. Turns out the movie was pretty faithful except for the fact that they changed all of the characters' names and set it in present day rather than 1998. Also there were a ton of other things, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone.
3. Bikes - Biking season is coming to a close. Once it starts getting dark at 6pm, I'll have to take the train home. Remember a few posts ago about how I was going to get back to my driver's license weight by the end of biking season? I still have 3 pounds to go, and it's looking unlikely that I'll make it. I'm wondering if it's time for a new bike. I've had my current one for 8 or 9 years. If we assume that I ride an average of 10 miles every work day (I ride about about 12 miles a day for most of the season, 20 during the height of summer and 5 during the off-season, so that's my best estimate), then during my time in Redwood City I've gone about 2500 miles per year, or approximately 8750 for the 3-1/2 years I've lived here. Add that amount again for 4 years in Mountain View (since it's slightly closer to work than RC), and a much smaller amount for the time in Palo Alto and I've probably put over 20,000 miles on it, not even counting recreational riding.
4. Bigwheel - Bigwheel rarely exists these days, but when we do get together we always do something totally awesome. Here's a single we did back in February, and if you want free downloads of our old albums, you can find them here. Of course, you can follow our Facebook page, which gets absolutely no updates.
5. Chinchillas - Did you know that we have a secret chinchilla of whom we have never published a photo online? His name is Smoke Monster (Smokey for short) and we got him to be Pean's friend after Scooter died. They got along for one day and then decided that they hated each other. We thought we would probably have to give Smokey away, so we deliberately didn't take or post any photos of him. That was over a year ago. We still have him and he's still unmutual, but I think Pean (who turns 10 this month) enjoys having an enemy, and Smokey's kind of a crackpot genius, so we keep him around.
Book Meme Stolen From stacyinthecity
Example #1: When I look at Facebook on my phone, there's a lag between what the "last updated" time is and what the posts are that I'm actually looking at. This is probably because my phone is old and doesn't get very fast internet. Anyway, it will say "last updated 10/24/11 2:50pm" and show me a post that says "2 minutes ago" even though I'm quite certain that I saw the same post at the top of the queue when I turned the phone off last night. Sure, eventually it will load the more recent ones, but why not just say "8:45 pm PST" on the post itself? Then I wouldn't have to wonder what time and date the "2 minutes ago" is referring to. (If there's already a setting for this I don't apologize for complaining. It should be the default.)
Example #2. I know a guy at work who, whenever he adds a new album to his iTunes, makes a specific playlist for just that album (don't ask) and calls it "New Whatever The Artist's Name Is, Probably Only Their First Name". He has been doing this since about 2006. If an artist has made 3 subsequent albums since 2006, the playlist for the 2006 album will still be called "New Whatever The Artist's Name Is, Probably Only Their First Name" and he'll just add more playlists with the same name. Every aspect of this drives me insane.
Example #3. If you're a musician you'll understand this one. If not, I'll explain how recording works. There are usually several steps involved in recording a song; first you do the basic tracks with drums, bass & guitar, ukulele, whatever, then after listening to rough versions of those for a while you pick the ones you like and add vocals, other overdubs, etc. So after each session the producer will typically email or cloud a rough mix to the entire band. By the time a final mix is decided on there are always 4 or 5 rough mixes floating around. Let's say the song is called "Smokehouse Brown". Here's how the producer should NOT label the most recent MP3 that's going out to all of the band members: "new_smokehouse_with_vocal". WRONG. It should be called "Smokehouse Brown (Rough Mix w/ Vocal 10-24-2011)". No more, no less.
Ned Sykes from Preoccupied Pipers edited that together from hours of tedious iPhone & digital camera video that we took in England back in May. Amazing skills that guy has. I had to watch it several times to pick out all the little subliminal details.
And here's the latest Single-Of-The-Month: ( Read more... )
( IPO SF 2011 )
Speaking of other things, a couple months ago
globalesque forced me to weigh myself because he thinks we're having a brotherly competition or something. I had purposely avoided scales since turning 40 because I knew it would inevitably be bad news. It was; I was 13 pounds above what my driver's license says I am. I suppose globalesque did me a favor because two months later I'm now only 4 pounds heavier than my driver's license weight. Here's my new regimen that I've been following:1. Avoid main office cookies and snacks: I had a bad habit of going to the main office and casually picking up cookies. The worst thing about it is I don't even like the main office cookies. They're horrible. They always buy the cheapest, crumbliest, Wal-martiest cookies ever and there's absolutely no logical reason to eat them. They have no nutritional value and taste like chemicals and paint. But what am I supposed to do? It's hard to turn down free cookies.
2. No more chips: In the summertime I usually pack a healthy lunch for
goldenmoonbear and myself which we then eat outside at the picnic tables on California Ave near her office. (We've seen Steve Jobs walk by twice.) In the past we would often supplant our home-made lunch with a totally unnecessary bag of chips from Country Sun. This is no longer allowed. 3. Bring reusable food container when eating out: When
goldenmoonbear and I go out to eat, I'm usually full after about 75% of the food is gone. What to do with the other 25%? My Asian side says that food must never be wasted; my "white" (in the Christian Lander sense) side says that asking for a disposable container for such a small amount of food is even more wasteful than wasting the food. Usually I just end up eating it. Solution: bring a Tupperware with me anytime we go out to eat. I can take the 25% home guilt free and eat it later at a time and place of my choosing. 4. Continue riding my bike at least 10 miles per day during biking season: Biking season is April - October; when there's enough light and heat to ride home from work. I would do this anyway, so it isn't really part of my new regimen. My goal is to be at driver's license weight by the end of biking season, after which I may or may not gain it all back.
( Cut for minor spoilers. )
Goofy Mistaken-Identity Movies from the 1960s
Dinosaur TV Shows for ages 8 to 10
Classic Period Pieces about Royalty
Cerebral Science & Technology Historical Documentaries
Dark Workplace TV Shows
Feel-good Talking-Animal Children & Family Movies
Canadian TV Shows Featuring a Strong Female Lead
Fight-the-System Social & Cultural Documentaries
Goofy Con-Game Comedies
Understated Biographical Art & Design Movies
clyde_park will likely be the only other person who actually participates. So then, day 1 was "list 10 items that are always recommended to you by iTunes Genius, Amazon recommendations, Pandora, or whatever other services you use, that for whatever reason you just don't like at all." Day 2 was "8 things you think you should be a fan of based on your overall lifestyle, that you have never explored or partaken in."
Day 3: Your biggest 180 - something for which you once had ultimate disdain that you are now rabidly obsessed with, or vice versa. It can be any aspect of culture; music, movies, food, computer software, farm animals, furniture, sports, you name it.
Mine would have to be The Beach Boys. In high school and college I thought they were the epitome of bad music. If you look at how they were representing themselves in the 80s and early 90s, it was an easy mistake to make; singing at Reagan fundraisers, appearing on Full House, Kokomo... To a young person living in the midwest during those years, the Beach Boys were just about the un-coolest band in the world. They were the music everyone's 50 year old Republican uncle listened to while barbecuing in his Hawaiian shirt.
It wasn't until I moved to California that I learned about their more adventurous stuff when a co-worker introduced me to "Sunflower", "Surf's Up", "Holland", "Friends", "20/20", & "Smile". Hearing those albums while driving along the Pacific Coast, I finally understood. I got into the whole underground cult of Brian Wilson that was being spearheaded by young (at the time) LA bands like The Wondermints. (We all know the fortunate story of how that turned out for them.) I collected "Smile" bootlegs from the internet and became a minor player in the Poptopia / IPO subculture that was then based in LA, but has now spread throughout the world. 16 years later I still haven't gotten tired of those songs and I'm now of the opinion that the Beach Boys output from '65-'73 is about as good as pop music gets. In the past few years I've even re-evaluated my stance on their early surf, cars, & girls stuff. I'm still slightly horrified by their 80s & 90s antics, although Brian Wilson's solo albums "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" and "Orange Crate Art" are much better than you think. Strangely (or fittingly) enough, I only listen to The Beach Boys between Memorial Day & Labor Day.
1. James Bond - I've read my brother's descriptions of all the movies & novels, but I don't think I've ever seen an entire James Bond movie.
2. Dr. Who - Never seen it. Why? I don't know.
3. Cricket - Never watched it, don't understand it.
4. Dark Side Of The Moon - It's one of the biggest-selling, longest-charting British albums of all time. Every guy my age probably has a tattoo of the album cover, or at least drew it on their Trapper Keeper in high school. I've still never heard it.
5. Gracie Fields
6. Coronation Street
7. East-Enders
8. The Prisoner - Oh, but wait. I WAS ignorant of The Prisoner up until about a month ago. I finally broke down and checked out the DVDs from the library. Now I understand all of those references on The Simpsons, Michael Penn albums, other British shows, etc.
1. Julian Cope (musician): All of my England friends are obsessed with him, and he seems to be smack in the middle of my favorite demographic of new wave / psychedelic British guys from the 80s, but I've never heard anything from him that I liked very much. Granted, I haven't really tried that hard. I do love his books about ancient megaliths, which is why I included (musician).
2. Harry Potter: I usually love all things Anglophile, and I'm into Star Wars and chosen-one mythologies, but I just can't get excited about Harry Potter stuff.
3. The Jam: According to the greatest minds of the internet, I should like them based on my love of Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, XTC & The Kinks. Again, I've never heard anything of theirs that's even remotely appealing, and I've tried hard to like them.
4. This American Life: I like the premise, but I can't handle the guy's voice.
5. Pink Floyd (after 1968)
6. Black mushrooms
7. Woody Allen movies
8. Todd Rundgren
9. Converse All Stars
10. Raiders Of The Lost Ark series
1. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
2. Tristen - Charlatans At The Garden Gate
3. Bright Eyes - The People's Key
4. The Tree Ring - Generous Shadows
5. Amanda Palmer - Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under
6. Cake - Showroom Of Compassion
7. Weird Al Yankovic - Alpocalypse
8. The Nines - Polarities
9. Ron Sexsmith - Long Player Late Bloomer
10. The Smithereens - 2011
Movies seen in 2011, from all years (since I've only seen two new releases this year, "Jane Eyre" and "Midnight In Paris", neither of which would make the list):
1. Good Hair (2009)
2. Paul McCartney Really Is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison (2010)*
3. Colma: The Musical (2006)
4. This Is England (2006)
5. Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune (2010)
6. Anita and Me (2002)
7. Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him?) (2010)
8. Heaven Can Wait (1943)
9. A Star Is Born (1976)
10. The Jazz Singer (1980)
Books read in 2011, from all years:
1. At Home: A Short History of Private Life - Bill Bryson
2. Zeitoun - Dave Eggers
3. Cardboard Gods: An All-American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards - Josh Wilker
4. One of Our Thursdays Is Missing - Jasper Fforde
5. Music: What Happened? - Scott Miller
6. Paul McCartney: A Life - Peter Ames Carlin
7. In the City: A Celebration of London Music - Paul Du Noyer
8. No One You Know - Michelle Richmond
9. Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson
10. The Red Queen: A Novel - Philippa Gregory
*One of the few cases in which a "Like Ironically" button would be both appropriate and necessary.
As I was on May 30, 2003, I'm still into Sherlock Holmes, and I highly recommend the 2010 BBC programme Sherlock, which is available in the US on Netflix and other various video sites. It's the Sherlock Holmes stories, but set in modern day London rather than Victorian times. Sherlock has a website, uses an iPhone (cleverly concealed as a "Me-phone") & GPS & stuff, wears a nicotine patch instead of smoking a pipe, is obviously ambiguously gay. Sounds like it could be disastrously extreme-o-ized and cringe inducing, but it's done very respectfully. The best part is that Watson is played by Martin Freeman, whom you'll recognize as Tim from "The Office". And they didn't even have to change the fact that the character was wounded in the Afghanistan war.
Back to where I left off with the photo galleries:
Part 5: Oxford & Liverpool
Part 6: Cambridge & London
Bonus video:
Bonus podcast.
UK tour wrap-up:
Day 12: I collected on my pledge for a bowl of cereal with Anton. Supplies are limited so please pledge now. We recorded a back-garden acoustic video of Grasshopper Clock, then spent the morning in Grantchester Meadows, which is apparently based on a Pink Floyd song that I'ver never heard. After that, we headed back to London, checked in at a new Easy Hotel and walked around Covent Garden & Seven Dials, watched the sunset from Waterloo (as I always do), decided to walk all the way out to the City Of London itself (it's only 1 square mile in area and most of the places where people who don't already work there hang out are not in it) just to say we had been there.
Day 13: We needed to be at the airport by 8:30, and I wanted one last morning walk, so I woke up at 4:30 (sun was already out) and went down to Battersea Park. It was as I remembered it, full of herons. The flight home was bittersweet, reminiscent of what the last day of church camp was always like when I was a kid. For a week or two you're in your own little world full of new adventures & inside jokes and then suddenly you have to go back to real life. I've been playing music for 20+ years, but until now I don't think I've ever gone on a full band tour. Many things could have gone wrong, but amazingly, nothing really did. We had ideal weather (for England), I didn't get sick like last year, and I didn't even get any blisters on my feet (for the first time ever). Part of what made it work so well was that Karla made us all take an oath before we left that we would not argue about anything and that everyone was free to enjoy England in whatever manner they so chose as long as we all showed up at the gigs on time. There were to be no forced activities. I could go birdwatching at 5am, Charlie could drink Guinness at the pub all night and no one could complain or judge. KC was kind of stuck in the middle; joining Karla & I for early morning outdoor walks and staying out late at pubs with Charlie & Tracy. He's probably still catching up on his missing sleep.
I'm still sorting through the 1000+ photos we took. I've put up 4 albums so far:
Part 1: Brighton
Part 2: London
Part 3: Oxford & Swindon
Part 4: Avebury
5 & 6 will be up later today.
Day 9: On the train journey to Liverpool I saw a fox in a field, which would turn out to be the only fox we saw on the entire trip. The cross-country trains are fast, efficient and smooth. It feels like you're riding on air. I had never been to Liverpool and other than the knowledge I picked up from hundreds of hours of Beatle documentaries, I didn't really know what to expect. The first thing I noticed was that the majority of the downtown area is a super-modern outdoor shopping mall that looks like it was build in the last 10 years; comparable to our Metreon & Yerba Beuna Center. Nicely designed, but not very charming. The Cavern district is still pretty much the way it looks in Beatle movies; little windy streets, brick buildings, and music everywhere. You can wander into almost any pub for free and see a great band or singer. KC ran into David Bash at the hotel when we were checking in and he offered us a 2nd show that night because one of the other acts had canceled. Fab. We would now go on at 7:45pm as The Corner Laughers & 10pm as Agony Aunts. We briefly considered changing clothes and putting on glam make-up between shows but decided it was too much trouble. Charlie & Tracy got a room at The Hard Day's Night; a fancy Beatles-themed hotel right next to the Cavern district. The lobby is tastefully decorated in old black & white photos from the 60s and we were looking forward to seeing what room they would get. Charlie could never have guessed that he would be sleeping under a giant portrait of Yoko Ono dressed as the Mona Lisa. Make of that what you will. We met up with our Facebook friend Maxi, a talented musician in her own right, and she showed us around town for a while. They have the best accents here. Both of the sets went really well. The crowd seemed enthusiastic and it was a thrill just to be playing at the Cavern in Liverpool. After the IPO, KC, Charlie, Tracy & Maxi went to sing at an open mic at the Lennon Bar at 1am. Karla & I were too tired, but I hear it was a crazy time.
Day 10: Visited Liverpool Cathedral, the largest cathedral in England, then met up with Maxi and the others at The Hard Day's Night for a Beatle tour. Instead of paying for the 50 pound cab tour or taking the Magical Mystery bus, we thought we'd get the best for our money & time if we flagged a random cab driver and asked him to show us stuff. Surely every cab driver in Liverpool knows the Beatles sites only too well. And it worked, the cab guy charged half the price of the tour and showed us everything we wanted to see in half the time: Penny Lane, Strawberry Field, John & Paul's childhood homes, etc. It's sometimes the case that when you see a place that's been romanticized in a song, especially a really great song, it doesn't live up to it. And that's definitely true of Penny Lane & Strawberry Fields. Two of the greatest songs of all time, two of the most boring places of all time. In the afternoon it got a little rainy so we went to some museums on Albert Dock and learned about slavery & shipping. Our 3rd IPO was across the street at the Cavern Pub, which has better sound and seating than the Cavern Club, but not quite as much mystique although they do have displays of famous guitars & such. Liverpool on a Friday night is kind of insane with hen parties. I guess the American equivalent would be something like a bachelorette party, but those don't usually have matching t-shirts and sashes do they?
Day 11: From Liverpool we took a morning train to Cambridge, which contained an annoying transfer in London. A guy named Daniel in Cambridge saw us at the 12 Bar Club in London and really wanted us to come play in his town. We didn't have anything booked, so he came up with this amazing idea of having us play on a punt on the river, with 10 other punts being the audience. He put out a Facebook announcement and within 2 days he had over 50 participants. We were planning to go there anyway, to hang out with Anton & Lorna, and we had already bought the train tickets, so he was able to plan this all around our schedule. It was as fantastic a time as we could have imagined, and there are already hundreds of photos and some Youtube videos out there so I won't go into too much detail, just that it was probably the most magical thing we've ever taken part in. Of course we were all expecting the world to end that day, so we gathered in the park afterward and sang Pink Floyd & Robyn Hitchcock songs while waiting for the rapture, but unfortunately it didn't happen, so we went to see the Grasshopper Clock and have dinner at our photographer friend Karen's house instead & spent the evening playing Candyland with her daughter. Oh, and we saw a hedgehog in her garden at midnight. That and the boat gig was all the rapture we needed.
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