happy birthday george ivan

George Ivan Morrison - 61 years of age - 31 August 2006

keith richards shock

The Glasgow City Council has received a report that Keith Richards lit up a cigarette during a gig in Glasgow.

The gig was at the Hampden Park stadium an open-air football ground. Scotland has a smoking ban for indoors. Richards, who has twice been charged for drugs offences, could be fined £50 if he is found to have contravened the ban.

In further news, after the break, we reveal that The Australian Minister for Health Tony Abbott is a Catholic, and we have the shocking news that some Australians are overweight.

friday cat blogging

Following Amanda Acuff over at Flop Eared Mule we have a Friday Cat blog. This Friday Amanda's choice of cool cat is The Silver Fox, Charlie Rich.

Although often pigeon holed as a popular country singer / writer because of his 40 or so country hits Rich was a person who understood and used jazz, blues, gospel, R&B, rockabilly and country. Starting off as a jazz and R&B performer, influenced by Dave Brubeck and Ray Charles, he absorbed country, became a session player on Sun Records, playing behind Jerry Lee Lewis and wrote songs that were recorded by Cash and Presley.

When he was on top with hits and acclaim Charlie got stuck into the grog. Regarded by many of his fans (well me) as a highlight, but seen by the country establishment as a low light, was the 1975 Country Music Awards where Charlie was the presenter of the CMA Entertainer of the Year Award. He opened the envelope and instead of reading the name of the award winner, Charlie set fire to the paper onstage. The winner's name that year was John Denver.

Charlie was then shunned by mainstream country pop so he removed himself from the country scene and performed only occassionally but on his own terms.

In 1992 he re-emerged with the late night country jazz masterpiece Pictures and Paintings, produced by Peter Guralnick. Do yourself a favour and go out and buy it. File it on the shelf alongside Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours.

Born in 1932 Charlie Rich died from a blood clot in his lung in 1995.

The Silver Fox, Mohair Sam - Cat of the Week.

bukowski, pekar: by crumb

goofer dust, mojo hands and conjure bags

A normal crisis for bloggers is to hit writer's block or blog constipation or to call a halt or a hiatus.

Afflicted bloggers spend hours at the crossroads around midnight uncrossing and jinx-breaking and also searching around the backyard by candlelight trying to find that buried bottle spell, perhaps stealing into a functioning prolific blogger's abode and purloining a chunk of John the Conqueror Root or some gris-gris. Mostly the zombie blogger just mopes around, occassionally feeling hesitantly with one hand above doorways, hoping to stumble over the lost mojo bag.

Others just keep quiet when they go quiet and hope no one notices.

Some announce a halt then bounce back less than a week later with more posts than you can poke a USB stick at. It's a funny old world.

more family art

Clothes

Dolls or bags or mobiles or..

japanese blues muso

Caught George Kamikawa playing as he put it, a John Lee Hooker version of a Ray Charles song by a Japanese in Melbourne. He was in the Bourke St Mall again over the weekend. He's worth a few minutes of your time and a few bob from your pocket. George will be playing his National Steel and JLH boombox at The Noise Bar 291 Albert St Brunswick, in front of the station. On Thursday 17 August 2006. As part of Australian Japan Rock exchange Vol 2. Also playing: The Styles, Japanese Samurai Kabuki Rock of Orochi, The Christinas.

Hear, and see, George playing slide on YOUTUBE and perhaps a better performance here. George rockin it up with When The Saints Go Marchin In, Shake Your Money Maker,

artwork by expat daughter

Cover of Total Cardboard 8

More offspring artwork at Total Cardboard 8 - a small magazine, includes interview with Robert Dessaix

candid in the wind

Theodore Dalrymple writing in Our Culture, What's Left Of It, notes that Blair both created and caught the mood of the nation when he called Diana "the people's princess" and that this appellation made it difficult (for the British) to express reservations about the ensuing circus or to cast doubt upon her historical importance. With that branding a doubter was exposed as an anti-democratic elitist.

Despite Dalrymple not always reaching useful conclusions, I do enjoy his writing and get more than the odd chuckle. Take this example:

"That her tastes were, despite her privileged upbringing, utterly banal and plebian appeared very clearly at the funeral, where Elton John sang his bathetic dirge immediately after the prime minister read St. Paul's magnificent words in Corinthians. It was highly appropriate (and symbolic) that this lugubrious booby, with his implanted wig, should sing a recycled version of a song initially dedicated to the memory of Marilyn Monroe - a celebrity who at least had to make her own way in the world, and who also made a few films worthy of commemoration. 'Goodbye, England's rose,' he intoned in a mid - Atlantic accent that spoke volumes for the loss of Britain's cultural confidence, 'from a country lost without your soul'

You can say that again."

the craggy island examiner circulation up

Shaun, no doubt worried about being untruthful about his impure thoughts about Chrissy Amphlett last time he went to confession, in a comment below, asked if I'd be going to Craggy Island.

Probably not, as the island itself was just filmed from one of those modern helicopter things and is actually Inisheer but I will be looking for The Parochial House and feckin' around and posing for eedjit photos snapping a few well framed mementos out front.

Apparently it's McCormack's at Glenquin, on the Boston road from Kilnaboy, on a backroad in the Burren about 15-20 miles from Ballyvaughn. Basically you have to get onto the R476 from Corafin and go to Kilnaboy (look out for a ruined church, post office and phone box), take a right, go past the school, and just keep on following the road, you know you are near when you see a stream running on the left of the road, a bit further and the house is on the left. (not that I've thought about such purile time wasting trivia much - as you can see)

And Shaun I've told you before - the money was only resting in my account.

I will be looking for a priests' shop to buy proper black socks:

"You see, ordinary shops sell what look like black socks, but if you look closely, you'll see that they're very, very, very, very, very, very, very dark blue. "

"That's true. I thought my Uncle Tommy was wearing black socks, but when I looked at them closely, they were just very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very dark blue. "

"Never buy black socks from a normal shop. They shaft you every time!"

a quick one

A million half started, or is that half finished, posts. A longer one coming up. A short one here to keep us going.
I'm off to Ireland in October and was looking up gigs on while I'm there. The Saw Doctors reminded me of their song, Bless Me Father:

Bless Me Father, for I have sinned
She had big brown eyes and silky skin
Bless Me Father I couldn't resist
Father, you have no idea what you've missed

and who hasn't pined for a Presentation Boarder:

she's the last of her species
be no boarders anymore
the nuns say it is far too dear
to keep the girls away from home
ah! but who's gonna tease the boys now
standing at the window in the light
and who's gonna pack out novena
every monday night

john howard answers questions

In 1955 a 16 year old John Howard appeared on a radio broadcast of Jack Davey's Give it a Go quiz show. It is mighty revealing. The Prime Minister is exposed as a cocky kid with absolutely no clue about the answers, but a cheeky confidence in going for it, anyway.

All schoolteachers are familiar with this kind of kid - basically ignorant but always open to negotiation when it comes to catching the teacher's eye. It is an old plaint of feminists that the schoolgirl who happens not to know the answer won't put up her hand; the boy with half an answer (or in young John's case, none at all) will still have a crack at it in the hope that something will turn up. In the broadcast, it becomes evident that the audience (which probably doesn't know the answer, either) begins to side with the kid, and the quizmaster, sensing this, encourages him - an early lesson in populism; perhaps a crucial one.

Why does Howard stay on? The naughty-boy thesis would be that he could not help himself - he was just having too much fun! Years ago, everybody wrote him off, but now he's the king of the castle.

The prize was 10 cakes of Velvet soap for every correct answer. Howard didn't answer questions correctly, but it didn't matter, he walked off with 100 cakes.

Listen to Howard on Jack Davey's Give it a Go quiz here. (Unfortunately it's in Real Audio - my least favourite audio program)

Text slightly edited from: Naughty boys rule, OK?, By Alistair Mant, The Age August 2, 2004

costello in shock announcement

NEW YORK Jun 25, 2006 (AP)— Diana Krall and husband Elvis Costello announced Sunday that the jazz singer is pregnant and due in December just in time for their third wedding anniversary.
A spokesman confirmed the pregnancy.

Costello, 51, is touring with Allen Toussaint in support of their album, "The River in Reverse."
The 41-year-old Krall will release a new album this September.

...a glimpse of stocking was something shocking...

A shocked father wrote to THE ARGUS (19 Sept 1925) .." .. a dance is but an excuse for kissing and cuddling, and even worse"

Also in 1925, The South Australian Methodist Conference after discussing "The Lure of the Dance", passed a motion recommending that their halls should not be used for "mixed dancing" as it was an "inexpedient pastime"

Anticipating the current education debate by a few decades, P. F. Rowland, in an article entitled "Five Thoughts on Education" (Australian Quarterly 14 September 1932) wrote: " .. speaking generally, in music do we ask anything more than jazz, in art the jazz equivalents, in literature the latest naughtiness in novel form? Is not this due to the fact that in our age.... the cultural subjects are being crowded out of our curriculum?"

From: Black Roots - White Flowers - a history of jazz in Australia Andrew Bisset ABC, 1979.

kiss kitsch koffee klutch

Yesterday the world's first KISS Coffee House was opened by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. You can get a Demon Dark Roast or a French Kiss Vanilla or a Rockuccino. The plans, building and menu.

The tongue tied Gene Simmons says: "Every army needs food and drink and the KISS Army is no exception! Even the non-enlisted will find our treats and java rockin' good!"

The KISS Coffee House, joins the KISS Kasket, a KISS themed coffin and KISS Kondoms (“Rock N' Rubbers” ) in the product line.

Even though I'm a rock snob, I'd go to KISS Coffee for a jolt of java, a pot of hot, a mug of mud. It looks like fun. Somehow a Kiss themed coffee shop seems a lot more authentic than a lame Hard Rock Cafe franchise. For a bit of chat on authenticity in rock you can go to Shaun's Rock'n'Roll Damnation where he notes and points back to Gary Sauer-Thompson's Junk For Code where Gary writes about the authenticity of Cobain and Nirvana

this is what is wrong with australia

I just made myself 15 minutes late for a meeting by waiting in the car listening to ABC radio because they said Les Murray would be on soon.

Turns out there's a soccer guy called Les Murray. Not the real one.

I hope Keith Windshuttle can sort those ABC wankers out.

marvin gaye doco tonight

Living Famously Marvin Gaye
ABC TV 11:05pm Thursday, June 15, 2006
The life and career of one of soul music's true legends, Marvin Gaye, from his unhappy childhood in the ghettos of Washington to global fame as Motown's top solo star, to his drug-addled decline and death at the hands of his own father.

slippery slope

e-commerce doesn't work

As noted in my previous post I had ordered a Bob Book and Scott Walker CD online from Amazon USA. I'm here to report that cross border e-commerce is a fraud, con, shonk and unworkable for honest people like myself.

I ordered online from Amazon using another computer and location from my usual spine killer. I ordered on Friday the other week. On the Tuesday I thought I'd log in and do a bit of supply chain observation and track my order. Nothing recorded. I refreshed and logged in again. Still nothing. I was about to pick up the phone and complain to Amazon. (How I don't know but that's what I was thinking) Checked again. Nothing. No record of order. Mmmh perhaps I should check the email address I used. Oh dear. Three or four emails requesting confirmation of order and one telling me order was lapsed due to non confirmation. Bugger.

Anyway I mooched down to JB in Motor Bike Elizabeth St. Strolled nonchalantly over to the W's under Alternative !! and picked up Scott Walker's The Drift for ~$23. Hitching my frayed overcoat collar up against a sharp CBD alleyway wind I shuffled past the lunchtime civilians in Chinatown, dodged a Big Issue extravert, stumbled into a bookshop and fell upon Jared Henry's Head Shot, a mean streets crime novel set in Melbourne. Bingo.

Think Global. Act Local.

Review of CD coming. Sometime.

globalisation

As Ned Kelly said on the gallows "I guess it had to come to this". Despite my doing a CBD gig for the last little while I haven't been able to "........get what I want"

I have remembered intermittently to check my to do list. I wandered, lonely as a melbourne cloud, down the lanes and alleys of the city centre looking to buy a copy of Scott Walker's The Drift. No luck. Sold out or blank looks. Some had it on computer - "Computer says,.... yes" - but not to be found on shelves. "Should be in the pop section". I only muttered wtf silently.

I had also been, less determinedly, looking for Song & Dance Man 3: The Art of Bob Dylan, by Michael Gray. No luck.

At about 2:18 pm this Friday, whilst tanning in the blue light of a poor definition LCD screen searching for that sentence that wasn't too academic, too rhetoric filled, too poetic, too animated, too idiosyncratic, too dry to make it through the various spending departments' secretaries and ministers and to also satisfy the dry departmentals and their ministers by not being too wet and perchance have it survive almost recognisably intact to cabinet policy and even a news bite, thereby thrusting me into immortality, I decided it was a lost cause. Facing my addictions head on I pondered how to decide between the new collection of all (except The Biplane Houses) Les Murray's poems, or Seamus Heaney's new hardback, or the Neil Young Nation book, or Neil's new CD or....

I logged on the Amazon USA. Scott Walker isn't released until June 6 in USA. The Bob book is available. Tipped them into my online shopping cart, entered Visa details and for $49.00 usa = $65.5203 AUD. I'll have them in my mailbox possibly in 6 - 10 days. Possibly also cheaper and quicker than I'd get them by mooching around Melbourne and hard acquiring them the old way.

Let's see how it pans out.