Alfred Peet, entrepreneur and the founder of  Peet's Coffee & Tea, who opened his first store in Berkeley over 40 years ago and is credited with spawning our insatiable appetite for gourmet coffee has died at his home in Ashland, Ore. He was 87.

He was born in Alkmaar, Holland in 1920 where
his father ran a coffee roastery business.  After the Second World War, Peet left Europe and in 1955 immigrated to San Francisco working for E.A. Johnson & Co, importing coffee.

Peet set up his first shop in 1966, opening a small store in Berkeley at 2124 Vine Street, near the UC campus. To set himself and his coffee apart, he personally hand roasted high-quality beans, soon he opened new stores in Oakland and Menlo Park.

The founders of Starbucks, such as Jerry  Baldwin,  were among his early customers and
found their inspiration in Peet's business plan.
Early on, before Starbucks became the
gargantuan enterprise it is today, they purchased their roasted coffee from Peet’s, until Peet could no longer keep up with the supply demands of the chain.

After Alfred Peet retired in 1983, Baldwin and his partners purchased Peet's Coffee for $4 million.

I can’t emphasis how important a great cup of java is to me. Back in the old days, before internet time itself, whenever a friend of mine traveled up to the Bay Area, I would beg them to bring back a couple bags of Peet’s coffee.

I salute you Alfred Peet! You've made my life richer!

Amoeba Music recording artist Brandi Shearer, whose anticipated album Close To Dark on Amoeba's newly launched record label just dropped this week (8/28) and who just wound up a month of dates on the East Coast, will be doing a very special free instore performance at Amoeba Music Hollywood on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 1st) at 2PM sharp. Note that this return to the Amoeba Hollywood stage for Shearer will be streamed live online via audio and video feeds -- so just return here to this site on Saturday starting at 2PM PST. Other artists performing for free at Amoeba over the next upcoming days include Norwegian Prins Thomas, who will be bringing his "cosmic disco" sounds to the Amoeba Music Hollywood stage tonight (Friday August 31st) at 8PM. For more info on this talented artist and his Amoeba show click here. And on Tuesday at the San Francisco Amoeba Music there is a recommended free instore when the New Orleans group Galactic perform with special guests (the Quannum emcees who also make cameos on their new album-- From the Corner to the Block) Gift of Gab and Lateef the Truth Speaker. For more info on this Tuesday evening show at the Haight Street store, which starts at 7PM, click here. Update: the previously scheduled Amoeba Berkeley instore with Patton Oswalt for this coming week has been canceled.

IS THAT ANIMAL FUR YOU'RE WEARING?  NO. IT'S MY DOG"S HAIR. AND IT'S MORE LIKE WOOL SINCE IT'S A SWEATER KNITTED OUT OF HIS FUR.

September 3 is Labor Day. Everyone else in the world celebrates on May 1. In April of 1856, stonemasons in Melbourne protested in favor of the work day being reduced to 8 hours as suggested by the "8 hour movement" (8 for rest, 8 for work, 8 for leisure). Previously, working 16 hours per day, 6 days per week was perfectly normal.


On May 1, 1886 over 400,000 workers protested in favor of the adoption of the 8-hour-workday in the U.S.A. Government troops responded by opening fire, killing 7 in Milwaukee, followed by the Haymarket Riots in Chicago 3 days later. There, a cop was killed and at least 4 workers as well when violence flared up between cops, scabs and protestors. 8 activists associated with the rally were sentenced to death. One commited suicide in his cell and four others were hanged. In 1893 the 8 were pardoned. Of course, most had been dead for six years, so...


So, taking a page from the Christian Church, which successfully co-opted countless heathen holidays by re-branding them feast days and religious observations (e.g. Easter... in which a breeding rabbit carries eggs that symbolize... Jesus, and his, uh, hatching from the tomb-metaphorically speaking); Labor Day in the U.S.A. was moved to September. 

Paramount Home Video 83421

Parker Posey has been doing movies now for almost 15 years. I have been a devoted fan of hers since the very beginning. I sort of feel like I have grown up with her over the years.I still remember seeing Dazed and Confused for the first time and falling in love with her. I had just moved away from home and started college. I am not really sure what it was about her. But she just seemed genuine and real. Like someone I would want to hang out with. She also continued to pop up in brilliant little indie films over the years. And she was always good. Her first real film was Dazed and Confused in 1993. But she also had a part in the Tales of the City miniseries. Check out my pal's blog about Tales of the City right here. For anybody dealing with coming out of the closet in 1993, this was a super important little piece of television. This was definitely the first time I saw a positive gay character on television. There had not really even been that many on film up until this point. I knew I had to move to San Francisco after I saw this. Maybe this is why Parker has been so embraced by the Gays. She had a role in an important part of gay film history.


I just watched "Broken English" last night. I wanted to see it in the theater really badly but didn't get the chance. It just came out on DVD last week. I had heard that this was a new sort of dramatic role for her. I have loved seeing her in all these brilliant little roles over the years. But I was also ready to see her do something sort of different. The film is a tragic little romance film that seemed to really get the critics talking about her. The movie totally broke me heart and made me laugh at the same time. A brilliant little movie by Zoe Cassavetes, the daughter of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands. Her mother, Gena, also has a role in the movie. The film reminded me a bit of "Come Early Morning" starring Ashley Judd. Maybe just a bit less depressing. It doesn't hurt that she has a great supporting cast. Both her love interests Justin Theroux and Melvil Poupaud are not to hard to fall in love with. Justin also is fantastic as Jesus in "The Ten."

New Orleans emcee Mia X is from the old school and has been making hip-hop for twenty plus years. She is probably best known by most rap fans for the period she was signed to and associated with Master P's No Limit label, but her rich rap history goes back long before that. However, searching under the artist's early rap years online will inevitably yield inaccurate results -- whether searching on the AOL.music, All Music Guide, Yahoo, VH1 websites, or on "her" Wikipedia bio which erroneously states: "Although born in New Orleans, Mia began her rapping career in Queens, New York as part of New York Incorporated, which disbanded after only four years. She then returned to New Orleans and met with Master P, an aspiring rapper and producer who signed her to his record label, No Limit."

"That's not correct and I am tired of people telling me that I used to live in New York and started my career there," Mia X said by phone recently, noting that she never lived in New York -- always in New Orleans. So how did this misinformation get out there in the first place? "I think it was someone at VH1 who first got it wrong in a story about me," Mia X said. It turns out it was John Bush -- a writer for All Music Guide -- who got it wrong, but then all the other websites listed above (Yahoo, AOL, VH1), plus many others, including whoever entered the artist's Wikipedia information, copied the erroneous bio. The original mistake came about apparently based on the fact that one of the members (Denny D) of New York Inc. was from New York, but he lived in New Orleans before returning to New York, according to Mia X. So, for the record, here is the updated, accurate bio on Mia X c/o the AMOEBLOG:  

I have never liked the idea of listening parties just because most of the listening parties I’ve been involved with have come off as being insincere marketing ploys by record labels. So, when it was suggested that Nativo, the club that I spin at, was to host the Manu Chao listening party I was optomistic about the turn out. First off, this is Manu Chao’s first album in six years and fans have been waiting for this for a while. Manu Chao’s fans are generally open-minded and like a diverse variety of music. So, I hoped that we didn’t have one of those listening parties where you play the album and everyone sits around and gets some cheap label promotional item.

Myself, Mexican Dubweiser and Mando Fever took turns deejaying that night, playing Cumbia mash-ups, Latin Alternative remixes and some Brazilian House. After the crowd had a few drinks in them the dance floor started to come alive. Around 11:30 we decided to play Manu’s new album, La Radiolina. I watched with a shared excitement,  the Manu fans hearing the CD for the first time. It’s been a while since I have been so into an artist where I was excited about hearing a new album for the first time. The Manu fans were dancing as if they were at one of his concerts.

Nacional Records & Amoeba who were sponsering the listening party, gave us some dope giveaways, including a $50 gift certificate for Amoeba Records that we raffled off during a slight intermission while playing the album. That gift certificate was a big hit! After the album was done playing, I expected most people to leave but people stayed until the end. Mexican Dubweiser played a straight-up Cumbia set and I finished the night with some Baile Funk. I enjoyed playing that stuff at the end of the night because people were so wasted by then that they started to dance pretty crazy.

AMOEBLOG: How long have you worked at Amoeba Music Berkeley and what exactly is your job there?
 
DEAN SANTOMIERI: I started working in the record business in 1971 when I dropped out of SUNY Buffalo. I moved to the Bay Area in 1975, and although I thought I was through with the record business, unemployment was high and my friend Ivy got me a job at Tower Records in Berkeley.  In November 1990, I visited Marc (one of the Amoeba owners) the first weekend Amoeba opened and he offered me a job. I thought about it over the weekend, then gave my two employers, Tower and Revolver Records, notice and started two weeks later. This would be late November or early December 1990. A year later I took a job running the Media Center at the California College of Arts, but continued to work Saturdays at Amoeba. In 1996, I left CCA and went back to Amoeba full time. I am a buyer and I work in the classical department. Most of my time is spent helping customers and pricing used CDs.

AMOEBLOG: What makes working at Amoeba unique compared to other jobs you've had?                

DEAN SANTOMIERI: I could say many things, but Amoeba’s generosity in accommodating its employees stands out; for example, many of us are touring musicians and are graciously given time off. But the lengths to which the owners, managers and Amoeba employees have gone to help each other in time of need is what I find most unique about Amoeba. It is also what makes me most proud about working here. We live in a time when the escalating cost of health care, salaries and pensions have caused companies to drastically reduce or eliminate benefits, but what the Amoeba family has done for Dax Pierson (Amoebite pictured above, who was in a serious auto accident while on tour with his band) and others is unlike anything I have ever seen.
 
AMOEBLOG: What are the Top Three Items at Amoeba this week that people are seeking out?

Hilly Kristal has died.

Apparently he had lung cancer. 

It's sad to me that after fighting for years to save the seminal punk club he founded, CBGB's, and losing that battle, he then lost his life less than a year later. 

He was 75 years old.

R.I.P Hilly.


Here's a performance by the Ramones at CBGB in 1977.



And here's Blondie performing there the same year:





It's lame and depressing how almost all the cool parts of New York City are being swallowed up by rents and landlords and all that gentrifying junk.

The first time I ever went to NYC I was 19 years old and super wide eyed and I dragged my friends to CBGB.  I coulda sworn I could still smell Lou Reed and Dee Dee Ramone in the dirt coating the street there in the Bowery.  We didn't have fake IDs and we were obviously too young to get in to the club but I went into the shop next door and got a shirt and wore it proudly for about 5 years....until Hot Topic started hawking them and every mall rat across America suddenly had one...Everything rock n roll started to feel even more hollow at that point.

So I am continuing watching the Tales of the City complete series.  Now I'm on to More Tales of the City! 

I have to say, it's not as good as the first series, just like everyone told me, but it is still highly enjoyable.


More Tales of the City is the second part of a 3 part mini series based on Armistead Maupin's novels about San Francisco and the lives and loves of some of its inhabitants in the 70s.

One of the most unfortunate aspects of the More Tales is that several of the characters from the original series Tales of the City have been recast, most unfortunately Michael "Mouse", one of my favorites from the first series. His replacement has a dimpled chin and a sleazy moustache.  Not exactly the sweet Brian Boitano look alike I so adored from the first series.  But whatever.  Brian, a sort of side character in the first installment, has been recast for More Tales by this aqua netted hair older looking dude. The character of Mona has been recast also.  I never thought I would miss scary tiger face lady Chloe Webb but now that she's gone I must say she added a certain gravitas to the flighty character of Mona that her much younger, less interesting replacement lacks. 

Mad brothers know his name....It's a daily operation

These infamous hip-hop words are among some of the numerous memorable lyrics uttered by GURU (Gifts Unlimited Rhymes Universal) over DJ Premier's track on the February 1991 Gang Starr single "Just To Get A Rep" (Chrysalis/EMI) which, with "Who's Gonna Take The Weight" on the single's flip side, is a true hip-hop classic! Same for the January 1991 Gang Starr album Step In The Arena that "Rep" was culled from. Both are key parts of hip-hop's legacy, with each phrase and rhyme known by heart to any true hip-hop fan. "Just to Get a Rep" harks from a time (late 80's/early 90's) that many agree was the "golden age of hip-hop" and a time that is very close to my heart as a longtime hip-hop fan.

And listening to "Just to Get A Rep" again (see the video below and read the lyircs under video screen) brings back memories of that time when the single and the album had just dropped, a time that was brimming with amazing new hip-hop joints that (as a DJ) I was dying to play. Back then I was doing Bay Area hip-hop radio and TV shows and interviewed Gang Starr many times. It was no big deal back then.   At the time, rap had still not gone 100% fulltime mainstream -- it was pre Dre's Chronic, which ushered a new, more mainstream era in rap's consumption. This meant that if you were a Bay Area DJ on such independent small stations as KUSF, KALX, KZSU, KPOO, KPFA, or KFJC, you could get artists like Gang Starr to make a live appearance on your show with little effort (today you are competing with David Letterman and People magazine). Back at that time Guru and Premo made numerous trips to the Bay regularly to perform (shows for example were at one of Dave Paul's BOMB Hip-Hop Showcases at the DNA) and do the rounds of local radio stations and retail outlets (big up to Leopolds in Berkeley and T's Wauzi at Eastmont Mall in East Oakland). If you have any memories of this hip-hop classic or wish to nominate one of your personal fave hip-hop classics, please do so below in the COMMENTS. Thanks!

Well right now my wife is making homemade preserves, and then canning them … I’m not sure who this person is, but I do recognize her in that pair of Levi’s …

Mixology: well I am an old timer, so whenever I here that word, I think of cocktails. Then again, I often think of cocktails. Do you know that one of the oldest known cocktails was first concocted in New Orleans in the 1850’s? Called a Sazerac, it mixes Cognac with bitters. Just useless information I  picked up along the way, back when I ran a
speakeasy in the old country.

So I was thinking that many adult beverages would benefit by a soundtrack, the right
soundtrack. Humankind’s millenniums-long fascination with booze and music (they go hand in hand) is in many respects the zenith of civilization. I bet early humans invented some kind of alcohol long before they discovered fire or invented the wheel or prostitution or god. Perhaps music existed before the advent of booze. I’m not sure. But then came club owners, and it’s been down hill ever since.

 

It is a widely acknowledged thought that I am a man who enjoys his Irish and Scotch Whiskey. As sinful as it sounds, I often like my whiskey with a couple cubes of ice, and sometimes I even enjoy a whiskey with a splash of seltzer, like my man Sinatra.

Here we go, today’s taste:  Jameson Irish Whiskey. The back of the bottle reads, “John Jameson founded his whiskey distillery in Dublin in the year 1780.  All the craft of the centuries-old tradition of making Irish whiskey is used to produce ‘Jameson.’ From the rich countryside of Ireland comes nature’s finest barley and crystal clear water. These natural ingredients are carefully distilled 3 times, and slowly matured for long years in oak casks to create the natural smooth whiskey that is Jameson.”

Vestron Video VA3104

The Liars have a new album for us this week. With their fourth album they decided to go for that basic s/t title of "Liars." This band has sort of been all over the place with the four albums in their history. They started on the label Gern Blandsten with "They Threw Us All In a Trench and Stuck a Monument On Top. This was way back in 2001. And although they were not originally from New York, they were stuck into that whole new New York Indie post-rock dance-punk kind of sound. Along with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Liars were sort of an exciting change to how boring indie rock had become. They combined experimental techniques with a sort of more traditional indie rock style. It was exciting. Over the past 6 or so years they have put out another 2 albums on Mute and now another one. And they have managed to stay interesting and exciting. It was probably better for them to not become as quickly popular as Franz Ferdinand or the Arctic Monkeys. But I guess they have always been a bit too weird to get that popular. They have sort of slowly managed to get critical acclaim and hold on to their more loyal fans while getting a few more with each album.

This new album can easily be mistaken for some early Jesus & Mary Chain or Spiritualized. The band is made up of Angus Andrew on guitar and vocals, Aaron Hemphill on percussion, guitar and synth, and Julian Gross on drums. Angus is from Australia. The other two are from the U.S. They really do sort of capture that amazing Jesus & Mary Chain sound. But they don't come off as an imitation. It sounds like something new and exciting while reminding you why you fell in love with bands like the Jesus & Mary Chain.

See More Video SMV 101

Felix the Cat isn’t just a silent film star and  animation's first superstar, or a 1950’s TV phenomenon, or the logo for a Los Angeles Chevrolet dealership, (opened by Winslow B. Felix in 1921), with its benevolent, three-sided neon sign looming over the Harbor Freeway, or the doll aviator Charles Lindbergh took with him on his historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, or the mascot for the U.S. Navy's Bombing Squadron Two during WW2, or the image on tabs of LSD in the mid seventies, he's:

Felix the Cat,
The wonderful, wonderful cat!
Whenever he gets in a fix,
He reaches into his bag of tricks!

Felix the Cat,
The wonderful, wonderful cat!
You'll laugh so much
Your sides will ache
Your heart will go pitter pat
Watching Felix,
The wonderful cat.

Drummer and Texas transplant Simon has been working at the Hollywood Amoeba Music store for a little over a year now. Recently I caught up with the SoCal Amoebite, whose "best of" lists include AC/DC and Iron Maiden, to ask him about his all time favorite albums and films and the first album he bought (and if he still likes it? -- he doesn't). I also talked with him about living in LA as an artist, about his experience working at Amoeba, and what he sees as the future of the music business. Simon also offered his recommendation for a good spot to grab a bite to eat near Amoeba Hollywood.

AMOEBLOG: How'd you end up working at Amoeba and what exactly is your job there?
 
SIMON: Well, I was working in the service industry for about a year fixing security systems when I found Amoeba Music. I didn't like my job at all and always liked working in record stores. I decided to give Amoeba my resume and in three months I was hired. I was hired April 10th 2006 and I work in the video department, new rock, and on the registers as a clerk.

AMOEBLOG: When not working at Amoeba, what music or other creative type things do you do?

SIMON: When not working at Amoeba I play drums in two metal bands:  Lethal Acts Properly Demonstrated and Mercenary Angel.

AMOEBLOG: What makes working at Amoeba unique compared to other jobs you've had?

SIMON: Amoeba is unique due to the fact that everybody is great to work with and there is no stress at all. I've never worked in a job where i can relax around the owners and managers. They are awesome!

In continuing my best of lists, here is my list of the best films of the 70s. In case you missed my list of 80s films, you can go back here and check it out. Since I was born half way through the 70s, I did not see most of these films in the theater. But through the magic of cable TV and the VCR, I watched and fell in love with these movies. The 70s still remains my favorite time for film. The style and sound of these films is something that could only be captured in the 70s. Many of these movies have been remade or are in the process of being remade. But they never live up to the 70s originals. Dawn of the Dead, Stepford Wives, The Omen, Superman, Assault on Precinct 13, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, King Kong, Poseidon Adventure, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas, The Amityville Horror and The Hills Have Eyes have all been remade. There is obviously something magical about this period in cinema that Hollywood tries to recreate. I am really hoping that Rob Zombie creates a brilliant reinterpretation of Halloween. I know that versions of Logan's Run and The Warriors are already being worked on as well. Nothing can really come close to what these films are and the memories that they have created in all of us.

top 100 movies of the 70s



The Exorcist (73)
William Friedkin



                                                                                             Alien (79)
                               Ridley Scott
                                  

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CFP Video 11801

The bar at The National Hotel. That's me in the denim shirt.

Originally, I thought this trip to Nevada City would consist mainly of me giving my sweetheart the royal tour – showing him details, hidden mysteries and beauty that only a local knows, but the new and improved Film Festival proved to monopolize our schedule. Conveniently, the entire staff were the same people I would have tried to hang out with anyhow, so that was okay, but the only hidden mystery I got to expose Corey to was the dazzling amount of booze that an average NC townie can down in a day.

It’s historical.

He did get to meet my family.

I can’t even begin to tell y’all about my family. Sufficed to say, it is eccentric. Like, I’m one of the normal ones, and I bark at UPS trucks and punch people for offering me a “slice of melon”. But, odd as they are, they’re also loving. Corey did just fine.

Well, well – Look who’s come sauntering in like everything’s normal. If it isn’t little ol’ me. I think I can just waltz back in here after having been missing for days and expect you to just read my blog as though nothing’s happened? Is that it?

Well, I have another thing coming. You’re not some screensaver I can leave on, perpetually cycling a kaleidoscope of flying toasters while I go out and have a life! This is unacceptable! I mean, am I a blogger or not?

STOP!

You want the truth? Is that it? YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH.

Actually, you can, but I love that line. YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH. It’s so over-the-top. I’m totally going to say it to my future kids whenever possible.

Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City has been capturing the vast majority of my attention this past week.  Even though it was on KQED in the early 90s I have never seen it before.

I recently was eating with some friends at Zazie and the they immediately noticed Armistead himself enjoying his brunch on the scenic patio with none other than Judd from the Real World San Francisco.  You gotta love this city, right?  Jesus.

Armistead apparently does, cause he's written a bunch of books all about it and its various inhabitants.  They made this miniseries based on the books.  I love it!  It is just chock full of one scandal after another.  It's kinda like a 70s SF and with both gay and straight main characters version of  Melrose Place....or maybe I just think that cause everyone is pretty good looking and they mostly live in the same building complex on Barbary Lane.  Oh yeah -- there's tons of drug use in every episode.  This must have been "cutting edge" when it was on, with all the drugs and the bare butts and boobs and gay lifestyles....No wonder it was on PBS.  Whatever, I love the interconnectedness of all the characters and how parts of each person's story unfold slowly and tantalizingly.

“The amateur is the kind of a guy who draws a 9 to 5 line around his job … makes his own little box that he never gets out of … the professional doesn’t put on his cloak of excellence only at certain times … he wears it all the time”  -  Dr. G. Herbert True

“Over 2500 power-packed visual-verbal extravaganzas with slides, magic, music and wit.”

A self help seven inch record! On Idea Records (1966), and if this doesn’t help enough, you can always look for his full length album, “Are You A Prisoner?”

In his recommended new book Tour Smart and Break the Band, about the real deal of touring as a band or artist, longtime drummer Martin Atkins (PiL, Killing Joke, Ministry, Pigface, etc.) tells it like it is to be on the road in a rock band, or in any band for that matter.  These days the busy author runs a record label, invents new types of drums, books bands, and teaches a univeristy course in Chicago at Columbia College about the business of the arts! The 592-page book (which is in stores Sept. 1st but available online now) exhaustively explores every aspect of touring. The highly informative and entertaining how-to book is written and edited by Atkins, who invited about a hundred music biz experts (from bus drivers to bass players) to voice their tales and experiences of life on the road for touring artists. Topics include making contracts, sketching itineries, pros and cons of drug use on the road, the importance of merchandise, sound checks, and dealing with everything from club sound checks to handling radio interviews and driving a tour bus 330 miles in unfamiliar conditions at 4AM after just leaving a gig. Atkins' guest contributors include Henry Rollins, Steve Albini, and Kevin Lyman of the Vans Warped Tour. Lee Frasers of Sheep on Drugs describes the difficulty of being on stage tripping on acid and playing his guitar, which felt to him like it was made of sponge rubber, and trying to somehow keep in the (onstage) moment.

I recently caught up with author Martin Atkins via email, to ask him about the book and also the exhibit  entitled The Religion of Marketing that he just wound up in New York City at Fuse Gallery on 2nd Avenue. It featured items that are included in the illustration-heavy Tour Smart.

AMOEBLOG: What exactly was at your recent exhibit in New York that tied in with the new book?

I don't know if I have really explained how much I love the great late Mr. Jim Henson. I know I just talked about him and his great films Labyrinth and Dark Crystal. But there was also this amazing little show called "The Muppet Show." I don't really know where I would be without this show. I did watch a lot of Sesame Street. But it was the night time show "The Muppet Show" that really made me who I am today. It was one of those great shows that appealed to kids as well as their parents. So it wasn't like my parents had to make me watch the show. And they also never minded watching it along with me and my brother. It was hilarious and brilliant. Nothing really like it. And although some of the jokes may not be as relevant today, they are still hilarious. Season 1 of the Muppet show came out in August about 2 years ago. But this month, we get Season 2 of this great show.

The Muppet show was on the air from 1976 to 1981. It lasted 5 seasons. But it didn't get canceled or fade into obscurity. Jim Henson simply needed more time to devote to his feature films like Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. And his amazing trilogy of Muppet movies. The Muppet Movie (1979), The Great Muppet Caper (1981), and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). These were followed by more similar Muppet movies. But these early movies were the best. These movies only made me more obsessed with the muppets.

Each episode of the Muppet Show featured a guest star. And there was never the same guest on all 5 seasons. Season 1 featured Phyllis Diller, Paul Williams, Rita Moreno, Sandy Duncan, Ben Vereen, Jim Nabors, Florence Henderson, Joel Grey, Twiggy, and in one of my favorite episodes, Vincent Price. The list of season 2 guests is just as great. And the first episode features the amazing Don Knotts! Also featured in season 2 is Milton Berle, Judy Collins, Steve Martin, George Burns, Dom Deluise, Bernadette Peters, Elton John, Lou Rawls, Peter Sellers, Petula Clark, Bob Hope, John Cleese, and Cloris Leachman.

Amoeba Music & Phil Blankenship are proud to present the QUINTESSENTIAL counterculture car film:

Saturday August 25

Vanishing Point (1971)

From this week's issue of The Onion:
The barriers between exploitation and art began to erode in the late '60s and early '70s in the wake of the European New Wave's skillful appropriation of B-movie elements. In the U.S., that influence was reflected in films like Richard Sarafian's bizarre 1971 chase picture Vanishing Point, which stars Barry Newman as "the last free man on Earth" and "one of the last great drivers." When Newman offers to drive a new white Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco in less than 15 hours, blind local DJ Cleavon Little makes him a counterculture hero as he reports on how Newman dodges the cops and hooks up with "the gentle people" along the way.

New Beverly Cinema
7165 W Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 938-4038
Midnight, $7

http://www.myspace.com/newbeverlymidnights
http://www.myspace.com/newbeverlycinema

Please come on down, tell your friends & repost!

As if you needed an excuse to visit that loveliest of all the lovely San Francisco venues, the Swedish American Hall, this coming Sunday it will be filled with the music of Bert Jansch.


Yes, that's right, Bert Jansch, oh -he- of- that- difficult- to- pronounce -last- name (last time I checked it was Yan-sh) will be making a rare-ish appearance here in our fair city.


Bert's one of those lucky people who came up in the U.K. in the late 50s/early 60s, so by the time he was a young man, he was in Swinging London's folk clubs impressing many a drunken lout.

My favorite records of his came out in the mid-to-late 60s:

Jack Orion (1966)    


and
Birthday Blues (1968) 




If you like your folk music straight up with just a slight twist of mournfulness, Bert's a guy for you.  His voice is so rich and warm.  It doesn't sound like anyone else's ever.  He's had somewhat of a comeback lately, with a great record released last year called Black Swan, produced by Noah Georgeson and with requisite omnipresent guest Devendra Banhart, among others.  From what I hear about his live shows, he's still got chops for miles.  Unfortunately, I can't make the show Sunday, so some of you will have to go for me and report back....Please?

New York City: Aug 23rd 2007

You gotta love Amoeba Music recording artist Brandi Shearer, who earlier tonight (Thursday 23rd) treated everyone to cupcakes at her final New York City gig in a series at downtown Lower East Side club the Living Room. As a thoughtful display of gratitude for her New York supporters, the generous Shearer celebrated her last night of a month-long East Coast tour by buying a few dozen cupcakes (from Sugar Sweet Sunshine bakery on nearby Rivington Street) for all who packed into the Ludlow St. venue. "I bought cupcakes for you all for after the show," she told the delighted Living Room crowd before she and her band, led by legendary guitarist Jim Campilongo and including Richard Hammond on bass, launched into their last offering of the night -- another song in the 45-minute set that drew exclusively from the singer/songwriter's brand new album Close To Dark, to be released on the newly launched Amoeba Music label next Tuesday (August 28th). Fittingly, Shearer's next gig (post album release date) will be back in California at Amoeba Music Hollywood on Saturday, September 1st at 2PM, PST. (Note that this gig will be streamed online so you can catch it if you are not in LA.)

But for the past few weeks Shearer has been hella busy out here on the East Coast doing an assortment of concerts, radio and TV interviews and performances in Boston, Philly, and New York City. Here in NYC, in addition to her Living Room series, she also had several other performances including one for ASCAP and another on New York City's WPIX TV Channel 11. "I'd never been to New York before recently," she informed me shortly before taking the Living Room stage. "But I like it here." She said that the New York audiences have been incredibly attentive and well-behaved, especially compared to some of the more rowdy types of crowds that she has witnessed over her rich and varied career. She recalled the semi-shock she encountered the first night, three weeks ago, at the Living Room when "In between songs there was not a word, not a word. And I am just not used to that. I have strategies for people yelling and fist-fights. But for a completely attentive crowd I have no strategies," she laughed. But still, she had absolutley no problem adjusting to the well behaved audience, as proven by tonight's winning performance in which she shone (as did Jim Campilongo who plays the Living Room every Monday) during such songs as the roadhouse blues styled "Oh, Singer" and the sultry, hauntingly beautiful and sad country-soul of "Congratulations," a song that sounds like it's made to be featured in some movie soundtrack if ever there was one. (You can just imagine it as the perfect backdrop to some sad and moving love story.) Between songs Brandi got a warm response when she told the New York crowd that she herself had become a New Yorker of sorts during her past few weeks in the Big Apple -- proof being that she had mastered how to ride the New York City subway while transporting an instrument.  

Cordell Jackson was probably best known as the "rock-and-roll granny" whose git-pickin’ ran circles around Brian Setzer in the 1991 Budweiser commercial. But she is also an early rockabilly pioneer and is thought to be the first woman to write, arrange, engineer, produce, promote and manufacture her own rock and roll record label: Moon Records founded in Memphis in 1956.

Born into a musical household in Mississippi in 1923, her father played fiddle and lead a popular local string band called the Pontotoc Ridge Runners, she had  recorded several demos at Sam Phillips' Memphis studios for Sun Records. But without any success, or the likelihood of getting signed to Sun, she took the advice of Chet Atkins and formed her own label.

Her first release was "Beboppers  Christmas" b/w "Rock and Roll Christmas.” Soon she was releasing other singles from other rockabilly artists such as Allen Page and the Big Four, best known for their single "Dateless Night," written by Jackson.

Jackson continued Moon Records through the 1970’s and 80’s, remaining active in the rockabilly music scene. She recorded a novelty song called "Football Widow," which became probably her best known recording.  After the Budweiser ad, she enjoyed her quirky, new-found fame: she had a small role as the "Bathroom Lady" in “The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag,” appeared on the David Letterman show and had her original Moon singles displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

Released in theaters a little earlier this year, Eddie Murphy's movie Norbit -- in which, once again, he plays way too many different characters, somehow mistakenly thinking that this feat will make up for another not-so-funny comedy -- is already out on DVD and I watched it last night. At least, I watched as much of it as I could bear to sit through before hitting the eject button. Like other comedians and/or actors who have similarly gotten increasingly lamer onscreen over the years (think Ice Cube or Rob Schneider), Eddie Murphy has lost that certain edge that he once possessed long, long ago in his immediate post SNL years. In fact, so lame was Norbit that it forced me to go back twenty years to seek out a clip from Murhpy's 1987 Robert Townsend directed live concert film Raw -- included below.

And speaking of Ice Cube, who has morphed from homeboy in Boyz In The Hood to cuddly family-man in Are We Done Yet? over his 17 onscreen years, the former NWA member has just announced that he will be starring in the forthcoming movie Comeback, to be directed by Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst for Dimension Films.   Scheduled for a mid 2008 release, Comeback will begin shooting sometime in November.
 

New World Video 9556

I feel like I am turning into a PG version of Elvis....

Coffee in the morning to wake up, Tylenol PM in the evening to fall asleep....it's the cycle of life at the moment.  And since it's rated PG, I don't think I will end up dying on the toilet or anything anytime soon at least.

But I digress.....

Speaking of R-Rated drug/alcohol habits, after about 6 months of picking it up and putting it down again, I finally finished the biography of Townes Van Zandt I've been reading.  It's called To Live's To Fly, and it just came out this March after almost a year's delay.


As far as interesting lives go, Townes is right up there with Roland Kirk and Brian Wilson.  He went through it all.

Born into a family so well off in the oil business it had an entire county in Texas named after it, Townes shunned his family's wealth and took to a life of alcoholism, rambling and flawless song writing.  I love that in the summers he would take off for Colorado with just a horse and a pack.  I've written about him on this blog before, so I won't go through his whole life history and bore all y'all, but if you have ever heard one of his records, like really listened to it, chances are it stuck with you.  So you probably don't need an explanation from me.

I've been waiting for years for someone out there to research and write a great bio of Townes cause his life was so crazy and lived to the fullest.  Last year's well made documentary Be Here To Love Me  contains beautiful shots and interviews but ultimately scratches the surface of Townes' life and leaves rabid fans like myself with even more unanswered questions than before. 

One of the most damaging drugs of our age has to be crystal meth (aka Tina, Crank, Speed, Ice, etc.), which doesn't discriminate when it comes to those who get caught up and spun into its dangerously addictive web. It seems to attract and in turn hook members of every age, gender, race, economic background, and sexual orientation it can, if given half the chance. However, of all the groups that fall prey to the drug, it seems that the urban gay communities are the most resourceful in their fight against meth, or at least in disseminating useful  information about the drug's dangers. But others are active too, including the infamous, sobering Multnomah County Oregon State campaign that shows the before-and-after pictures of meth abusers. The visually powerful project began when a deputy in the Corrections Division Classification Unit put together mug shots of persons booked into Oregon's Multnomah County Detention Center -- not pretty. Although not one of these meth offenders booked into the North West detention center, Mark E. Smith of the Fall (right), who is an admitted longtime speed freak (inspiration for the Fall's classic "Totally Wired" came from somewhere), could easily qualify as a part of this shocking-but-effective anti-drug campaign. One of meth's side effects is the awful damage it does to teeth.

The Los Angeles bus-stop poster (above) photographed directly outside Amoeba Music Hollywood about a month ago was sponsored by West Hollywood's weholife.org, which is funded by the City of West Hollywood. According to this organization and other US health groups, longterm and widespread methamphetamine abuse can lead to devastating medical, psychological, and social consequences. Its abuse can include such adverse health effects as memory loss, aggression, psychotic behavior, heart damage, malnutrition and severe dental problems. Additionally, according to one health care organization, it can "contribute to increased transmission of infectious diseases, such as hepatitis and HIV/AIDS, and can infuse whole communities with new waves of crime, unemployment, child neglect or abuse, and other social ills." 

The Lookout was written and directed by Scott Frank. It took ten years to get made and is a labor of love... and a big piece of crap.

It's set in Kansas City. Why? Scott Frank says, "I spent time there, but mostly what I loved was that there was an urban environment right next to a rural environment and they're very close together. He can live downtown but work two hours away in the middle of nowhere and I really liked that." That is true, if you drive two hours outside Kansas City you're in the sticks, or another city. So, the setting is very important obviously. Kansas City is like a character in the film, you might say. Of course, his observation applies to nearly every city in the country between the east and west coasts. Obviously Frank had a window seat on a cross country flight or maybe a just layover at Kansas City International. And the in-flight entertainment, I'm guessing, was Memento.
 
"I really didn't know why, but I just loved where it was. I loved that the mob was no longer there, that it was sort of a dying mob city and more of a "sons and sons of" place now. I just thought it was kind of interesting. I ended up doing a lot of research." Apparently meaning he watched lots of old movies with Kansas City in the title because Kansas City has a very high crime rate and most gangs there don't look much like the Lookout's.

Note to Frank: If you'd googled "Kansas City" and "mafia," you'd have learned this:

Despite being in prison in 1995, Anthony “Tony Ripes” Civella was seen as the new crime boss. In 1992 he had been convicted of a scheme to divert pharmaceutical drugs from traditional sellers on to the gray market. He was convicted and sentenced to 4 years. Since 1996 he has been free and very active. The remaining Las Vegas interests fall under power of Kansas City LCN Family member Peter Ribaste. His underboss is William Cammisano, Jr. In 1997 all three were placed in Las Vegas’s Black Book and are barred from casinos in that area. Today the Kansas City LCN [la Cosa Nostra] Family is reported to have 20-30 “made” members and is a very tight knit group controlling many street-level rackets.

Continue reading

While the Bay Guardian, The Examiner, the Onion, and SF Weekly may be the widely known and widely available free papers around San Francisco, they are by no means the only free newspapers to pick up and read in the City by the Bay. Other free papers, which are usually weekly or monthly and in the tabloid size format, include the Noe Valley Voice, Bay Times San Francisco, Marina Times, San Francisco Bay View, The Potrero View, and the Bay Area Reporter (aka BAR). There are numerous other free papers found around San Francisco but I just want to take a quick overview of these ones and the aforementioned Bay Guardian, Onion, Examiner, and SF Weekly. Please add in COMMENTS below any omissions that you see.

The daily San Francisco Examiner (which has gone through a lot of changes over the years) is currently in a tabloid size format and is free. While it gets critiqued for running stories from other papers and wire-services, overall it's not such a bad read on the bus or train, as it offers a decent blend of local and national news (usually accompanied by clever, eye-catching headlines) with a pretty decent San Francisco entertainment guide, often doing stories on SF events not covered by the Guardian or the Weekly. Meanwhile the always fun to-read Onion, the parody newspaper that publishes in ten US cities, including SF, offers a really good local entertainment listing in its (straight-faced & serious) A.V. Club section.

The SF Weekly, while owned by New Times (the Clear Channel of the 'alternative weeklies'), is not all bad and offers some strong investigative pieces on local politics in addition to some excellent music reviews/interviews (especially local San Francisco/Bay Area artists). But like many of the New Times imprints, the Weekly is often given to smart-ass editorializing that seems more geared to getting a reaction than making a concrete point. That aside, it is a good read overall with good entertainment listings. Additionally, their website is really good with up to the minute reports on news items that eclipse the paper's Wednesday street date. For example after MF Doom's pathetic 12 minutes (possibly lip-synced) show at San Francisco's Independent club last Wednesday night that had concert goers demanding refunds, the SF Weekly online version the next day around noon, based on an email from a reader, opened a discussion group about MF Doom's SF-diss. Good stuff!

Out today is the new album from your favorite San Francisco band "Imperial Teen." They may not all live in San Francisco anymore, but they will always be a San Francisco Band. They became a band in San Francisco in the mid 90s and released their first album "Seasick" in 1996. This was also the year I moved to San Francisco. So this band is sort of special for me. I think this band is super special for anybody who discovered them in the 90s.  I was listening to a lot of super depressing and dreary bands in the 90s. I still love all those bands but I think I really needed some Imperial Teen in my life. I was always a bit afraid of pop music. I thought it would make me too happy. Around this time I started listening to bands like Heavenly, Henry's Dress, the Aisler's Set, and the Softies. But Imperial Teen combined great fun pop music with that sort of San Francisco indie rock that is hard to explain. I don't know if it just sounds like that cause I heard all these bands play live in San Francisco so much. Or if it really is a certain type of sound. I just can't separate the bands from the city.

Seasick was a great album and everybody who heard it loved it. But it was really in 1999 that Imperial Teen started getting more popular. They released the amazing second album, "What is Not To Love."  They also had their hit song "Yoo Hoo" on the Jawbreaker soundtrack. It was sort of hard to to get away from that song that year. But I really loved that record. Just like Imperial Teen will always be tied to my memories of San Francisco, "What is Not To Love" will always be tied up with the year 1999. It is part of my own little soundtrack to that year and the end of the 90s. In 2002 I had moved to Hollywood. A couple members of the band also ended up down there and they released the album "On." They left their major label for the indie Merge. Both those first albums are now out of print. So it is up to Merge to do some little reissues for some essential ablums that nobody should really be without.

MTI Home Video 1021

Posting for our good friends at the monthly Grindhouse Film Fest:
http://www.myspace.com/grindhouse 


Don't miss our next mind-boggling installment of the monthly Grindhouse Film Festival at the New Beverly Cinema, LA's greatest independent theater and the perfect home for our cinematic sleaze flashbacks. We've got a great reel of vintage exploitation trailers before the show, and our world famous free raffle (with loads more porn to give out this month, along with other trash).

Show up alone, bring a date or bring your momma...guaranteed fun for all.

Tuesday, August 21st

7165 West Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(One block West of La Brea)
(323) 938-4038
http://www.newbevcinema.com/
Admission: All seats $8.00

Cannibals and Zombies Take Over!

7:30pm BLOODEATERS {aka TOXIC ZOMBIES} (1980)
Directed by Charles McCrann

9:30pm THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER (1972)
Directed by Umberto Lenzi

In contrast to so many rappers today who pride themselves on 'going dumb' and acting 'ignant,' Brooklyn emcee Talib Kweli prides himself on staying smart, both in his life (along with Mos Def he owns an independent, non-profit black bookstore in Brooklyn) and through his refreshingly conscious music that harks back to the golden age of hip-hop, when saying something positive was as important as a laying down a catchy hook for the radio and dancefloor. It is no coincidence that "Kweli" in Swahili means "true," since the artist is 100% true to hip-hop as a positive black art form meant to uplift rather than dumb-down the masses.

Like his longtime collaborators and old Rawkus pals Mos Def and Hi-Tek, Talib Kweli has always stayed true to hip-hop's roots and yet has managed to stay current and vital. Personally, I think he is one of the few contemporary artists making hip-hop that is worth a damn and when I first got his 2006 single "Listen" (off his new album Ear Drum), it just got stuck both in my head and on my turntable for weeks on end. It is the way hip-hop should be: good track and hook with lyrics that actually say something. Check out the video for "Listen" below. But later today (Monday August 20th) if you are in the Los Angeles area you can probably see/hear him perform it live if you check out his Hollywood Amoeba Music instore. It starts at 6PM, but get there early to jockey a good position. And if, like me, you will not be in SoCal, take advantage of the live streaming of his instore via our website, also scheduled to start at 6PM Pacific Standard Time.  

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The new BBC Television series Jekyll -- an updated version/reinterpration of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde -- is one highly recommended TV show that offers a strong plot, an excellent script, great acting, and a perfect balance of horror, sci-fi, suspense, and humor. There are only six episodes in this short but addictive series that is still ongoing on BBC America (also On Demand) and just finished up on BBC One over in England. But it is also available to view in good quality on YouTube -- painstakingly posted by "BBCJekyll" with each of the six episodes broken into eight parts.

James Nesbitt plays the series' main character(s)-- the good-natured and nice Dr. Tom Jackman (as Dr. Jekyll, the good half of his split personality) and also his alter-ego Mr. Hyde, the deranged psychopath side of himself. As both, Nesbitt turns in an amazing performance, especially when he morphs into the demonic and deranged Mr Hyde. What I love about this role is that when he becomes the crazed monster side he does so with great flair and with a winning sense of humor,  at times reminiscent of Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice. He rattles off some wonderful one-liners that just beg to be quoted or sampled.

Jekyll's strong cast also includes Denis Lawson, Gina Bellman, Michelle Ryan and Meera Syal. The series is up to Episode 4 on BBC America, where it plays weekends as part of its "Supernatural Saturdays." To see all episodes right now, click on that YouTube link above. Meantime, below is a video clip of the ad for the TV show.

It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the original release of "Labyrinth." This movie was one of my favorites at the time. It came out a couple of years after Time Bandits, The Neverending Story, and Dark Crystal. The same year as Legend. A year after Goonies, Back to the Future, and Teen Wolf. The year before Willow and The Princess Bride.  Like many of us, I was a big fan of the fantasy film as a child and teenager. To be honest, I guess I still am.  Many of these films, like Labyrinth, had a story within a story. It allowed the story to be believable as a dream or "fantasy" world. But also never really that scary since we knew it was just a story. It wasn't until I was a bit older when my love of fantasy films turned into my love of horror films.  I was also obsessed with Jim Henson and the Muppets. Jim Henson directed both The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Labyrinth also starred David Bowie. This movie really had everything going for it. It was sort of impossible for it not to be as successful as it was. The movie made its way deep into our hearts and still remains there to this day. This week we get the release of the Anniversary editions of both Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. Muppets Season 2 also comes out. It is a big week for Jim Henson fans.

I have been in the process of replacing all my VHS with new DVDs. But I always have to wait until the deluxe versions of the movies come out. I want all the special stuff that they add on to the DVDs. And while there is always something missing, these versions often convince me to buy them. The Anniversary Edition of Labyrinth is 2 discs. I guess they meant to put this out last year as the 20th anniversary. But 21 years is close enough. Last year was also the 70th anniversary of Jim Henson's birth.  The movie starred Jennifer Connelly as a young girl bored with babysitting. She imagines herself into the world of goblins and creatures and the evil leader "David Bowie." The film is brilliant. And with the work of Jim Henson the film was ahead of its time. The creature effects still hold up and end up looking better than any modern film such as The Lord of the Rings. And with David Bowie we get an amazing original soundtrack. The soundtrack included 5 original David Bowie songs. The songs were sort of cheesy at the time, so I don;t really think they have gotten any worse.  And they are an integral part of the movie. I still know all the words to "Magic Dance" and "Underground." I always try to imagine this movie with Michael Jackson in the Bowie role. I don't know if it could have been better, but it for sure would have been amazing.

This Sunday and Monday, Aug. 19 & 20, we'll have a Paul Schrader double bill,

a brand NEW 35mm print of ROLLING THUNDER (1977)
Sun: 3:25 & 7:30; Mon: 7:30

plus
TAXI DRIVER (1976)
Sun: 5:20 & 9:25; Mon: 9:25

___________________________

This Tuesday, Aug. 21, Eric Caidin and Brian Quinn present the monthly Grindhouse Film Festival at the New Beverly

Cannibals and Zombies Take Over!

7:30pm BLOODEATERS {aka TOXIC ZOMBIES} (1980)
Directed by Charles McCrann

9:30pm THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER (1972)
Directed by Umberto Lenzi

(all seats $8)
___________________________

This Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 22 through Aug. 25, we present the Los Angeles premiere of Zeitgeist Films' re-release of two early Peter Greenaway classics

THE DRAUGHTMAN'S CONTRACT (1982) (New 35mm print!!)
Wed/Thu/Fri: 7:30; Sat: 3:10 & 7:30

plus
A ZED AND TWO NOUGHTS (1985) (rare 35mm print)
Wed/Thu/Fri: 9:35; Sat: 5:15 & 9:35

___________________________

Saturday, Aug. 25 at midnight
Amoeba Music and Phil Blankenship present Midnights at the New Beverly!

VANISHING POINT (1971)

(all seats $7)
___________________________

Aug. 26, 27 & 28
John Carpenter's remake of THE THING (1982)
Sun: 3:25 & 7:30; Mon/Tue: 7:30

with
Philip Kaufman's remake of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978)
Sun: 5:15 & 9:40; Mon/Tue: 9:40

___________________________

Aug. 29, 30, 31 & Sept. 1

The new prints of Alejandro Jodorowsky's
EL TOPO (1970)
Wed/Thu/Fri: 7:30; Sat: 2:50 & 7:30

and
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (1973)
Wed/Thu/Fri: 9:50; Sat: 5:15 & 9:50

____________________________

My son just named his new guinea pig “Sally,” and though I’m not a fan of rodent type critters, I think Sally is pretty cool. Also, guinea pigs make this really odd electronic kind of sound when their excited.

Some time ago I wrote about a Jean Dushon single on Atco Records “I’m Tired,” produced by Phil Specter. And with absolute over the top aplomb I ranted, raved and foamed like peroxide on a road rash about that track. “How,” I thought  “can it get any better than this?”  A discovery like this, out of the blue, only happens once in a lifetime to a lowly record store employee.

I went so far as to write that my aching back was miraculously healed by the Bo Diddlyesque drumbeat; it had to be the vibrations!

Well … I may have been wrong; I know this revelation may surprise you. I’m generally not one to exaggerate. Really. Anyway, my backache returned and eventually worsened, but did I lose hope? Almost … but no! I felt that somewhere down the line something greater, something deeper was going to breathe life back into me, an empty shell of a man. Carpe Diem! Corpus, Mens, Spiritus! E pluribus unum! Eureka! Ars longa vita brevis!

A few months back I discovered a 7 inch record from a somewhat obscure singer, Anna King … and this time I think I actually had a religious experience. My back wasn’t healed, but I swear to god I didn’t have an asthma attack for weeks. It’s as if my ears and lungs and bronchial tubes were touched by healing hands.

“Was that you Katherine Kuhlman?”

Long ago I discovered that the flip side is often the hot side, and "Sally" is the B-side to "Mama’s Got a Bag of Her Own", a kind of a dig at Anna King’s old boss. "Sally" is an impossibly soulful, medium tempo ballad with just a hint of a musical arrangement. To start with, there’s a little piano, a touch of a bass line, a kick drum and all the room in the world for the vocals. King first starts off a little breathy, a little hesitant, telling her dear friend Sally about her no good boyfriend.  But by the end the full band kicks in and the vocals just lay it on the line: Sally should just forget about that son of a bitch, because as Anna King plainly states, “I’m gonna steal him from you.”  And I thought they were pals! I just don’t have the words to explain the greatness of this cut. Find it, if it takes you a decade, it would still be worth your time. Think of it as a religious pilgrimage. I’m serious!

One day it's the 1970's, I'm trapped in the kind of hell a youngster homo freak usually is trapped in, and hey, Patti Smith is the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. (Who in the '70's didn't watch Belushi when you were 9?) Suddenly, you realize you can stop jumping off the roof of any building you can scale the side of, you stop trying to figure out how to knot a noose, and you ... embrace life.

Because you realize if this woman is on TV in America ... that there is hope. And when Gilda Radner did her Patti Smith impression--you loved Gilda even more. Crazy.

Next thing you know, a some 3 decades later, you are standing on the Santa Monica Pier watching Patti Smith from about 3 feet away. Life is so weird and magical.
30 years later, you can barely stand up, you're half deaf, blind in one eye and ... none of that matters a god damned bit. Yeah, you feel all the pain, and you clutch the stage so you don't fall over ... it's just that being there makes it all bearable for a little while, and that is all any of us can ask for. I'm not a unicorn: tons of people are broken into pieces: but these beautiful and generous artists give to us that magic, that roar of love ... that medicine that the HMO and free clinic can't conceive of ... the kind that really does heal you.
And for the first time since Patti played her show at Amoeba Hollywood, I can feel my soul, I can feel your heart and I keep turning around to witness the joy in the people around me.

Yeah, she's a genius. Yeah, Patti Smith is an inspiration ...  She is a force of nature. I think if there are any Gods at all ... they roar truth and power through her voice. But face it, she doesn't save your soul. You gotta do that. She shows up to do a non-profit, save The Santa Monica Pier, and if you want to know without any question at all that the people do have the damn power--you show up, and you feel pretty damn grateful and powerful.

Academy Home Entertainment 1062

Sabrina
Almost One Year of Employment
Register

ME:  Hi.  So Sabrina, you are a newish arrival to San Francisco.  What do you love about living here?  Why did you move here?

S:  I didn't really tell anyone I was moving out here, I just did it.  I was on a self journey and I was so done with Boston.  I've been called a hippie my whole life so I figured I might fit in here.  My parents would call me "Greenpeace" when I was a kid.  I liberated a petting zoo when I was in high school cause I was a vegan straight edge kid.  I used to be a brawler, big time.

What was the first show you went to see upon arriving  here and where was it?

It was at the Elbo Room and it was the first week I was here.  It was a metal band from Japan and I don't remember the name of them.  I had really long hair and little Lennon glasses on.

So you were really going for the hippie thing!

Dude, I was so surprised-- people were just smoking weed indoors and it was kind of ok.  It's not as acceptable there [Back East].  It's just not as open.

What's your favorite place to see a show?

Great American.  The Lipo Lounge is pretty rad.  Edinburgh [Castle] is rad because they have the fish and chips you can order from next door!

So you're not vegan anymore?  

This second part photo-series (following yesterday's AMOEBLOG) shows the almost-finished art project done by the H.O.M.E.Y. Project (SPIE, Trigger etc.) on 24th Street near Capp in the Mission District of San Francisco. These pictures were taken two days ago, as the painting was being finished up. The mural caused some controversy with the SF Planning Commission, who are funding the art project, over some of its Palestine content. At first glance the art might look the same, but there are a lot of new details filled in on the large and wide mural since the first batch of photos (posted here yesterday) were taken ten days earlier. 

The five pictures below are taken left to right (top to bottom) and almost capture the beauty of the piece, but really, if at all possible, the best thing is to go see it in person on 24th Street just down a bit from  Mission Street.

This was supposed to be a quiet, peaceful morning -- a relaxing respite from the 21st century’s annoying concoction of curs, vipers, vermin, polecats, mongrels and insects that whore off the will of the people. Maybe its just my brain demonstrating its independence. Maybe I’ve finally reached curmudgeon enlightenment years ahead of schedule. Maybe it’s just the goddamn news, but I attempt to start today with a renewed sense of calm. I don’t read the paper. I don’t turn on the radio. I don’t turn on the TV. I don’t read my emails. It’s a blather free morning.

But while I sit at my desk wondering what I should write about next, the sound of jack hammers suddenly emanates from the house directly behind us. My neighbor is actually tearing up his entire cemented backyard and plans on putting in a garden! There you have it: gentrification!

Anyway, here is one last look, for now, at some of the art work on our boxes of used 7 inch records. I wish I had done some of this artwork myself but, just like the jackhammers, my only true talents are more in the nature of noise: my ability to make those kind of sounds 5 year olds forge and the aptitude to blather like the venerable old asshole chain smoking at a bus stop in Hollywood, nursing a cup of coffee from McDonalds, jawing about the flotsam and jetsam that has decimated some of the finer gutters in Los Angeles. “Strength through blather! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Strength through blather!”

New World Video A88036

I went to go see Patti Smith at the Fillmore last night. If you have ever seen her before then you know how amazing she is to see perform live. She did an instore at Amoeba in Hollywood. You can watch the great interview with her and Logan by going here. I know I throw around the word amazing a lot. But nobody deserves it more than her. She really has some power that I can not even explain. This power sort of takes over everyone in the crowd and it is something that will stay with you the rest of your life.

I never got the chance to see Patti in the 70's or 80's. It was not until about 6 or so years ago that I saw her for the first time. It was right after the release of "Gung Ho" and was also at the Fillmore in S.F. A sort of perfect place to see her. These days, I am often one of the oldest in the crowd. So it is always weird to be at a show like this where I am one of the youngest. It does not really matter who you are though. She will put out her power over the whole crowd. I swear, she should just run for president or something. But I think she has already found her calling. She has created some amazing music over the years. Her debut, "Horses," came out the year after I was born. It remains my favorite of hers and I am sure the favorite of many.  They actually just gave it a nice little reissue deluxe treatment a couple of years ago. Three years later came "Easter," which includes her awesome version of "Because the Night."

Max Roach has died.

He was 83.


He was the last  of the Be Bop greats and one of the most inventive and experimental drummers in the history of jazz.

Much has already been written about Roach.

On a personal note, I hadn't been an avid jazz listener, but then I happened to have that oh so common experience which brought with it respect and appreciation for the form:  The College Intro To Jazz Class.

This class exceeded the typical music course though:  My professor, Smith Dobson, was one of the best I had.  He introduced me to Max Roach and many others like Sidney Bechet and Mingus.  I could tell jazz truly was his life and he was continually inspired by what he heard and performed.  He would grab other jazz students and play for us on stage regularly in class.  He made us laugh and taught us about the jazz aesthetic by effortlessly embodying it.  He encouraged all of us to get involved, get out to jazz gigs and recognize how revolutionary the form is.

Sadly, a few months after my class ended, Prof Dobson died in a car accident while returning home from a performance.  It was a huge and shocking blow to the many students who loved him and were not sure how they would continue their musical education without him.  I credit him fully with my appreciation for jazz and its history-- if it were not for him I still might not have heard Max Roach.

Inevitably, sometimes life kicks us in the ass.

When it does, we all have things we turn to in order to cope.

This week, while spending most of my time at home either in bed with the covers over my head or on the couch, blankly staring at the wall, twiddling my thumbs, I felt an utter loss of inspirado.


I mean, after spending most of last week happily indulging in Bridezillas, where does one go from there? Where CAN one go from there when life shifts irritatingly and becomes a pathetic time of need?

Well, welcome to my schizo mind. As much as something as ridiculous as my aforementioned obsession with The View can cheer me up, I also turn to things that are much more nostalgic and "serious" and I do like to allow myself a good wallow every now and again when circumstances call for it.

The supreme wallowing record, at least for the last year or so, for me has been Sun Kil Moon's Ghosts of the Great Highway. Have you heard it?


It's by Mark Kozelek, who formed Red House Painters, made a lot of records I never really got into, got sick of the business and that name and released this record as something completely different.

It's fantastic for a good wallow. In fact, I find it's actually fantastic any time. It's one of those fabulous and few records that morph somehow with my mood and mean different things whether I am ecstatic or down in the dumps or somewhere in between.

As mentioned in the AMOEBLOG posted yesterday about the late, great Bay Area graffiti artist DREAM, here are pics from a brand new large scale mural painted by DREAM ol skool partner SPIE and others from the SF based H.O.M.E.Y. Project. Still being finished up, it is in San Francisco's Mission District.   These pics were taken at the beginning of last week, which was exactly mid-way through the five week painting project that began July 14th. Next I will post pics taken yesterday, as the piece is almost completely done. Meantime if you want to go check out this socially and politically charged mural you can find it on 24th Street in the Mission in a parking lot off 24th St in between Capp Street and Lilac Alley. I took all these pics last week on a sunny afternoon as SPIE and several others were out en force. A part of the ten year San Francisco community/art based H.O.M.E.Y. Project, the new mural's artists also included Mike TRIGGER (pictured above), Nancy Pili, and Marina Prez-Wong (pictured painting below three pics down) among others. 

The large, colorful mural is sponsored by the San Francisco's Planning Commission, who bulit a new raised wall for the art. The space, in a parking lot off 24th, is completely fenced in with a big metal prison-like fence. This provided the artists with inspiration for the piece that was partially planned/sketched out and partially improvised. "The fence all around here kind of gave us the basis for the theme here," said SPIE. "We're commenting on a lot of stuff as far as content here. The theme is loosely about fences, walls and prisons in a sense being utilized to solve problems because this (the metal fence) is supposed to be put up to curb gang violence, which is not a healthy solution to a problem -- it's the gating and jailing of a community in a lot of ways. So we are making a comment about that and a comment about relating it not just local issues but worldwide from the Mexican/American border immigration issue that is going on right now. And you've got the Palestine wall right here which is a big issue...Overall it is about solidarity of communities of color and oppressed people -- black and brown unity..."  

Sony K0565

Legendary Bay Area graffiti artist Mike DREAM Francisco, who was shot and killed in cold blooded murder in 2000, would have celebrated his 38th birthday today (August 15th, 2007) had he been spared his senseless death on the streets of Oakland seven years ago. Dream was not only an amazingly talented artist and integrated part of the Bay Area hip-hop scene (collaborating with countless hip-hoppers over the years), but he was also one of those really cool-and-always down to earth, caring people who took time out for others. All of which made his passing so much more painful for all who knew him. One of those most affected was his longtime partner from TDK crew, SPIE (who is one of the authors of a forthcoming book on DREAM), who I ran into today in the Mission District as he was finishing up a mural project on 24th Street (b/w Capp and Lilac) and about to head over to a meeting at the SF Planning Commission over funding of the H.O.M.E.Y. Project (more on this with pictures over the next two days here on this AMOEBLOG).

Born in Alameda, CA, DREAM was one of the pioneers of the beginnings of the Bay Area graffiti scene from the early eighties up until the time of his death, both as a solo artist and with his crew TDK. But despite his tragic passing his legacy grows and grows each year. A few months ago the RX Gallery in San Francisco had a tribute exhibit to DREAM organized by fellow TDK graf artist WIllie Maze. Meanwhile, outdoors around the Bay Area there are countless pieces dedicated to the late, great artist, including out under the junction of the 280 and 101 freeways in SF -- coincidentally the place where DREAM, along with SPIE, did one of his very last pieces (see below).

I never suspected Matt Polley to be a Hector Lavoe fan. He’s a kid from Indiana and well…he looks the part. So when he asked me to perform with him at this year’s Amoebapaloza covering Hector Lavoe and Willie Colon songs, I was a bit surprised. Amoebapalooza is fun as far as seeing your co-workers live out their rock and roll fantasies, but it’s usually just that; rock band after rock band with a smattering of folk, experimental music and Electronica. Salsa at Amoebapalooza? I’ve always been a punk at heart, so playing Salsa at Amoebapalooza would be more punk rock than actually playing punk rock.

Matt and I talked about it for weeks before Amoebapalooza. We signed up as "Lo Mato" and then went combing the store for people who would want to perform with us. We found two people. Cashier Ricky Ray Rivera was down, as was Erick, who works in the Reggae and Hip-Hop section. Erick and Ray were to play percussion as well as sing the chorus. So that meant me on bass, Ray and Erick on percussion and Matt Polley as Hector Lavoe.

Paul Vasquez, who works in the World Music section, wanted to get in on the action. He told Polley he had a trombone and although he hadn’t played in a while he would start practicing. He had not picked up a trombone since elementary school. For Paul to pull off the Willie Colon parts would be nothing short of a miracle. Most professional trombone players would find the task difficult. So it meant myself on bass, Ray and Erick on percussion, Matt Polley as Hector Lavoe, and Paul Vasquez, a rusty trombone player as Willie Colon.

Weeks went by and we hadn’t practiced once. Amoebapalooza was a week away and Matt was in a slight panic. He had found a piano player and a drummer and by then Paul had backed out, so we had no horns. I called my friend Pat Hoed to take over for me on bass. He is a huge Willie Colon/Hector Lavoe fan so he knew all the songs already. I switched to the keyboards and got my friend Jeremy Keller on guitar to help me play the horn lines. We learned the horn lines an hour before our first and only rehearsal.

Afrika Bambaataa, Donald Glaude, The Chemical Brothers, DJ Icey, Sasha, DJ Dan, Lee Coombs, The Crystal Method, Ladytron, and D:Fuse are all among the many, many acts slated for both this year's SF LoveFest (9/29) and the LoveWeek (Wednesday to Sunday) events leading up to it, all happening next month in San Francisco. The actual SF LoveFest 2007 parade (formerly Love Parade), the annual city party that celebrates dance music and culture, will again travel along Market Street, culminating in a big party at the Civic Center with Spundae and Skills hosting the official after party on the festival door step at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Meanwhile, for those with VIP and press passes, the party will move indoors inside the San Francisco City Hall building.

The actual celebrations of LoveWeek kick off on the Wednesday of that week, while the "Official Pre-Event" party, with The Chemical Brothers scheduled to perform, is set for the Friday of that week. For exact details it is best to visit the event's website, especially since it appears all the details are still being ironed out, with "daily updates" promised.
 
The event "is a testament to the fundamental community desire to come together and break down barriers, in peace and love through dance music," said SF LoveFest board president Joshua Smith, who noted that what makes the festival, which is now in its fourth year and last year attracted 65,000 revelers, extra unique is that it is attended by all ages of house and electronic music fans. It also caters to damn near all strains/sub-genres of electronic music -- of which, as you know, there are many.
                                                                                                                                                       
The  DJs and artists that are booked to perform include Sasha, Ferry Corsten, DJ Dan, Gabriel & Dresden, the Crystal Method, Lee Burridge, Ladytron, D:Fuse, Baby Anne, Meat Katie, Afrika Bambaataa, Donald Glaude, Eddie Halliwell, DJ Rap, 16 Bit Lolitas, Three, Richard "Humpty" Vission, Sandra Collins, Vello Virkhaus, DJ Icey, Lee Coombs, Chris Fortier, Rogue Element, and many, many more. As I mentioned earlier, for full up-to-the-minute details (dates/times/places), best to check in with the SF LoveFest website.

Charter Entertainment 90085

In a short reworking of 80's group a-ha's unique and famous video for "Take On Me," the Family Guy producers do a clever remake of the Norwegian duo's 1985 synth-pop worldwide hit single. Check it out below and for the lyrics to the song scroll below the video screen.

 Talking away I don't know what I'm to say
 I'll say it anyway today's another day to find you
 Shying away
 I'll be coming for you love O.K.
Take on me
Take me on
I'll be gone in a day or two
So needless to say I'm odds and ends
But that's me, stumbling away
Slowly learning that life is O.K.
Say after me It's no better to be safe than sorry.
Take on me
Take me on
I'll be gone in a day or two.
The things that you say
Is it live or just to play
My worries away
You're all the things I've got to remember
You shying away
I'll be coming for you anyway
Take on me
Take me on I'll be gone in a day or two.

Creamsicles are made by Unilever, a company formed when British soapmakers Lever Brothers merged...


...with Dutch margarine giant Margarin Unie in 1930

The Simpsons' intro, with real life humans filling in as the animated family members Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, made in the UK as a promo for the TV show's 17th season in March of this year, continues to grow in popularity online. As of today on YouTube it has gotten well over sixteen million views. And that is just on that site. The video clip is also posted on numerous other popular sites, such as ebaums world, where it is also getting repeated hits -- all of which reportedly have increased in recent weeks following the release of the Simpsons Movie.

The short clip, which accurately re-enacts the title sequence of the animated show with real actors such as at the very beginning of each episode, when the camera zooms into a schoolroom to Bart (above) writing in chalk on the blackboard, got the full approval of Simpsons maker Matt Groening. If you haven't already, see the one-minute video clip that uses the original Simpsons intro theme below and witness the actors' and film-makers' accurate portrayals of each character. Like the TV show, the clip ends with the whole family squeezed on the sofa ready to watch TV- - only in this version they are about to watch the cartoon version of the Simpsons.

µ-Ziq has a new album out today. It is called "Duntisbourne Abbots Soulmate Devastation Technique." This is about the seventh album Mike Paradinas has released as µ-Ziq. Mike has been a busy little man over the last 15 years or so. He has been around through the shifts and changes in the world that is electronica music. I have been listening to him for a while now and am always intrigued and excited to hear what new thing he has worked on. Most of his µ-Ziq albums tend to be on the more minimal side of electronica. He often fits into what has become known as IDM. But maybe on the harder and more interesting side of IDM. But for sure this is some intelligent dance music.

His songs are often multi layered compositions that create brilliant little albums. His first two albums were put out on Rephlex, the label of Richard D. James (Aphex Twin). Later albums came out on Astralwerks and now his own label Planet Mu. He has also recorded under the names Tusken Raiders, Kid Spatula, Rude Ass Tinker, Jake Slazenger, Gary Moscheles, and Diesel M. And he released an album with Richard D. James as Mike & Rich. I first heard of µ-Ziq when he did the remix project "The Auteurs Vs µ-Ziq." Being a big fan of the britpop, I tended to try to listen and buy anything related to it. I was also starting to get into techno music at this point, so this album was the perfect bridge for me to get into it.

One of my favorite albums remains his 1999 masterpiece "Royal Astronomy." The album sort of has a fun circus feel to it. A weird electronic sort of circus. He doesn't seem to take himself as serious as some other electronica artists. Or maybe he just likes to have more fun with his albums. His songs always have a playful feel about them. He also likes to play with the genre. His albums are sort of a mix of drum and bass and IDM. But the songs are also real developed songs. He likes to experiment but he also likes to create music that is pleasing to the ear. This new album does not stray too much from the last couple µ-Ziq albums. Some of the songs could have easily appeared on some of his older albums. The album is a bit daker than Royal Astronomy. The playfulness of that album is a bit muted. But it is still there. The album is more similar to his earlier albums. I am liking the album and I am looking forward to listening to it more. Perceptions always change as you listen to his albums more and more. But it is also making me want to pull out some of his older albums.

Jason Bourne is a guy who's trying to remember his past and figure out who he is because he suffers from amnesia.

In a senseless act, legendary saxophonist King Curtis, born Curtis Ousley, is stabbed to death in front of his New York City brownstone on Friday August 13, 1971, during one of New York City’s nastiest heat waves.  King Curtis was carrying an air conditioner into his apartment at 50 West 86th St. when he got into a scuffle with a group of men standing on the stoop doing drugs. He asked them to move, but during the subsequent argument one of them, Juan Montanez, pulled out a six-inch dagger and stabbed Curtis in the heart.

The attack was witnessed by Aretha Franklin and Sam Moore who were meeting Curtis to discuss a recording session he was to produce. Curtis was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, but was dead on arrival. Four days later the funeral was held, Jesse Jackson performed the service. Curtis' band, The Kingpins, played an hour long version of 'Soul Serenade' and Aretha sang the spiritual 'Never Grow Old.' Here are some of the hits he played sax on:

Hang up My Rock and Roll Shoes - CHUCK WILLIS - (highest charting) #24
The Stroll - DIAMONDS - #4-
What Am I Living For - CHUCK WILLIS - #9
Yakety Yak - COASTERS - #1
Along Came Jones - COASTERS - #9
Charlie Brown - COASTERS - #2
I Cried a Tear - LAVERN BAKER - #6
Little Egypt - COASTERS - #23
Tossin’ and Turnin’ - BOBBY LEWIS - #1
Peppermint twist - JOEY DEE  - #1
Respect - ARETHA FRANKLIN - #1
I Heard It Through The Grapevine - GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS - #2

Some of King Curtis’s solo singles:

But one great earth shaking event did happen on this day, though it would go unnoticed for years and years, Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton records the original version of  "Hound Dog" in 1952.

NON-FICTION TALE

Have you heard the true tale of the 16 year old French lad who painstakingly translated (from English into French) all 759 pages of the new Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) in record-breaking time and within days of its July 21st release date, and then posted it online? If so, you know that this time-consuming task landed him in jail and also facing serious charges of intellectual property violation. 

Now what he did, of course, was illegal, but the smart, swift French high-schooler is hardly a hardened criminal. And it is important to note that he was not trying to make any money off the book or receive any kind of payment for his intense, time-consuming job of translating an entire book. One reason why it is seems crazy to me to go after this young individual is because anyone who is going to read an entire book online (which is a pain in the ass -- most people only read one page online before tiring of staring at their computer screens) is obviously too cheap to buy it in the first place and secondly because if you were to print out all 759 pages you would end up spending more on ink cartridges and paper than if you were to go buy the book itself at the store.

And if you read it online so as to know the story ending before it was published and available in stores, then you are such a diehard Harry Potter fan that you will -- undoubtedly -- have to later buy a copy of the book to own. It is just like the music file downloaders who, while downloading like crazy, also purchase the most music online.

track                                         artists                                                    album title

Cumbia De Los Aburridos     Calle 13                                                 Residente o Vistante
Oración Acere                          Spam All-Stars                                     Eletrodomésticos
Para No Vivir Desesperado  Mexican Institute Of Sound                Pinata
Mundo Insólito                         Toy Selectah & Up Bustle & Out       Mexican Sessions
Tifit Hayed                                 Wganda Kenya                                   Colombia!
Tambo Iya                                 Ricardo Eddy Martinez                      Si Para Usted
Grande de Cadera                  Sonidero Nacional                             Tributo A Los Mas Grandes
Crazy In Kingston                    Beatconductor                                     The Greastest Hits of GAMM
Café Con Sangre                    Jose Conde Y Ola Fresca                 Revolucion
Nuestras Demandas               B-Side Players                                    Fire In The Youth

New Star Video 1008

Charles Saatchi, with his brother, founded the international advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, but Charles' greater fame is as an art collector who has dominated the contemporary art market in Britain since the early 1980s. In fact, the the 1999 retrospective, “Young British Artists: The Saatchi Decade,” uses his name to define an entire contemporary art scene. Yeah, it would be cool to convince him to “invest” in our arty little 7 inch record boxes and help out us poor old ‘45 Room’ employees with our kid’s college funds, but word on the boulevard is he’s a recluse. In my book that’s just a fancy word for record geek. And that Mr. Saatchi is a compliment. I'll be waiting on your call!

If you want to watch the fun-looking Flavor Flav Roast on Comedy Central tomorrow (Sunday 8/12 @ 10PM), best to plan on catching it live on TV and not on YouTube in clips at a later time since the media giant that owns the cable station, Viacom, is doing everything in its power to stop clips from being broadcast on YouTube. And Viacom is not alone in their war on the Google owned YouTube. Earlier this week they were joined by several other TV broadcasters and publishing companies in a major copyright infringement lawsuit against the popular video file sharing website. These proceedings ultimately mean that we should most likely now begin the countdown to the final days of YouTube. One of those involved in the legal proceedings, The National Music Publishers' Association, said it is joining the lawsuit "out of concern that many songwriters aren't receiving proper compensation when their music appears on YouTube videos." Additionally, Viacom Inc. (which, besides Comedy Central, also owns MTV and other stations) and the Football Association Premier League are also part of the lawsuit against YouTube/Google. And while this lawsuit seems crazy for many reasons, including that most artists make no money off of past videos played on TV anyway -- never mind crummy quality dubs on YouTube, which most people only view and don't download (unlike with Napster in its famous lawsuit some years back) -- it certainly looks like it signals the final days of YouTube, at least as it exists today. So my advice: enjoy YouTube while you can.

Amoeba Music & Phil Blankenship are proud to present:

Saturday August 11

Revenge Of The Nerds (1984)

They've been laughed at, picked on and put down. But now it's time for the odd to get even! Their time has come!

And now it's your time to catch this rare revival screening! With a special print straight from the 20th Century Fox VAULT !

New Beverly Cinema
7165 W Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 938-4038
Midnight, $7

http://www.myspace.com/newbeverlymidnights
http://www.myspace.com/newbeverlycinema

Please come on down, tell your friends & repost!

Edited so I could include THIS:

Manchester music maven Anthony Wilson, whose life was depicted in the movie 24 Hour Party People, died in hospital in England earlier today of a heart attack (Friday, August 10th), according to news reports from the BBC, Sky News, and NME.  Reportedly the former radio and TV broadcaster, record label boss and owner of the legendary Hacienda nightclub, who had been suffering from cancer, died at the Christie Hospital in Manchester. He was 57 and last year was diagnosed with kidney cancer and had been in hospital receiving treatment since with the life-prolonging drug Sutent.

Trick or Treat?
Apparently San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, seen here trying on his new Halloween costume, didn't get the memo from his own office that the City of San Francisco had canceled all public Halloween celebrations in the city, including the traditional Halloween in the Castro party. As announced Wednesday by San Francisco City officials, there will be "no official Halloween celebration anywhere in San Francisco in October" (including at the downtown AT&T parking lot, which was rumored as a possible alternative party spot to the Castro). This decision is no doubt due to violence at previous Halloweens in the Castro -- notably last year when a shooting incident left nine people injured. Therefore, the normally celebratory Mayor Newsom, who just over the past few days named August "Barry Bonds Month" and named Wednesday "Virgin America Day" (as in the Richard Branson airline), could easily have named October "SF Halloween-Hater Month."

While I do not wish to see anyone hurt anywhere at any time, I think that this move by the city of SF is BULLSHIT and it reminds me of when you are a kid in school and some clown in the class would do something wrong and instead of punishing the perpetrator the teacher would, unfairly, punish the entire class. And just like in those school days, when the teacher's actions merely frustrated and aggravated the law-abiding majority, so too will this action by the city officials of SF merely frustrate the average Bay Area resident who wants to enjoy a San Francisco tradition -- Halloween in the Castro. It is also not unlike the move several years ago by the leaders of the city across the Bay, who voted to shut down Oakland's famed traditional Festival at the Lake (Lake Merritt) due to many young black males "cruising" in their cars and incidents of violence in the surrounding neighborhoods (not even at the Lake).  And did the Oakland police action curb violence in the East Bay city? Not at all! 

When San Francisco's legendary movie palace the Castro Theatre -- which this weekend is celebrating its 85th year anniversary -- first opened back in June of 1922, the price for a loaf of bread was 5 cents, a newspaper cost 2 cents, and a man's haircut or, alternately, the cost of admission to the Castro movie theater was 25 cents. And tomorrow morning at 11AM (Saturday 8/11), the price of admission will be rolled back to 1922 prices when the historic theater charges only a quarter for admission to a screening of Laurel and Hardy's Way Out West (see clip below) plus some classic cartoons. This is great opportunity to see the classic comedy duo in their 1937 film on the big screen. But it is also a great opportunity to absorb the beauty of the historic San Francisco landmark, famous for its Wurlitzer pipe organ, with the amazing interior and the Spanish Colonial Baroque facade that was designed by Timothy L Pflueger, who also designed Oakland's Paramount Theater.

All weekend great events/movies are planned for the Castro Theatre's 85th year anniversary celebration - although not for 25 cents, but still, at $6 to $9 for most weekend screenings, it is a lot less than going to your local multiplex. These screenings include Clark Gable in San Francisco followed by live music by the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble, plus the Maltese Falcon (Saturday night starting at 7PM). And on Sunday night at 7PM, Warren Lubich will play the famous Wurlitzer as accompaniement to a screenig of Phantom of the Opera, plus a screening of Laurel and Hardy's Big Business.

Here we are, once again with more examples of the fine artwork rendered on our used 7 inch record boxes. Some of these formerly plain/primitive, white cardboard boxes are on the Amoeba Hollywood floor available for your perusal; others are, for now, hidden away in what we call The 45 Room, a paradise for geeky record romantics everywhere who might whisper in hushed tones: “Ahh! Vinyl Shangri-la!” But to those not familiar with supernatural powers of the little record with the big hole, The 45 Room might as well be simply called "that used 7 inch pricing room." O' to be so misunderstood! That is the life record collectors must endure, or if you must: record geeks.

The question I’m often asked: “Hey, Whitmore, if the 45 room is actually a Shangri-la, a heaven on earth so to speak, is there an afterlife, like a 7 inch heaven? And if there is a 7 inch heaven, is there a 7 inch god?”

I always answer with a glint in my eye and a friendly, bemused smirk, “You know, I’m not sure, but I’d like to think there is one somewhere out there in the dark surrounded by platters and acetates.”

Hopefully you’ll enjoy this further examination of Amoeba’s own home grown outsider art. And just like there is always another used gem of a record coming on down the pike, there’s always some new artwork gunning its engine, ready to lay some rubber down in Amoeba Hollywood.

AIP Home Video 7017

I don't know about you, but I have been a big Siskel & Ebert fan since I can remember liking movies. I would try to watch their show every Sunday when I got a chance. Half the time they would review movies that I was not even allowed to go see. But it still caught my interest and I think helped to develop my obsession for the movies. I had not really been watching it that much over the last 10 years. But now with the great amazing invention of the DVR, I can watch it every week. Somebody has to really change the way that shows get ratings, now that so many people watch their shows on DVRs. I feel bad that nobody really knows the shows that I support by watching every week. But I guess most advertisers don't care if you are watching their shows on you DVR since you are most likely fast forwarding through their commercials that they pay so much money for you to watch.

I really always wanted to be a Nielsen Family. Unfortunately you can't volunteer to be one. They must pick you. It is a little weird that I have never met a Nielsen family. Has anybody you've know even know one. I kind of think the whole thing is a big scam. There is probably only like 2 Nielsen families with horrible taste that are deciding the fate of our favorite TV shows. I mean, how else would shows like "Everybody Loves Raymond" last 9 years. I have never met anyone who watched that show. Home Improvement lasted 8 seasons, yet My So-Called Life was canceled. Major Dad lasted 4 years and Twin Peaks only 2? Who are these Nielsen families?
This is what they have to say on the official website...

Q. "Why Have I never met a Nielsen Family"

Ok, it's not really gross. I kid, I kid.

Jack White has this wife named Karen Elson; Here's what she looks like, no joke:

...and she had another baby on Tuesday, for all you Stripes fans playing along at home.

It's a boy and his name is Henry Lee.
How appropriate.  Good for them, and all that.

They already have a baby girl named Scarlett Teresa.  Awwwwww.....
You gotta love a guy who names his daughter after his own momma.

Bridezillas.
The word alone evokes so much these days.  I am sure you all know exactly what I am writing about.  They are really so common.  I have  myself recently experienced the morphing of a friend into a complete and utter Bridezilla.  It was not unexpected, but still, it was not pretty, that's all I can say.  Whomever came up with the term is a genius-- it's just so simple, so to-the-point...

I don't have cable but, perhaps (desperately trying to come up with any rational explanation for my behavior here) to have some form of commiseration about my off-the-charts coo coo friend/Bridezilla, I have been able to wrestle up DVDs of Season 1 of the We (network) reality show Bridezillas. 
I know, I know.  It's a sickness.  This is probably a new low for this blog.  But there is something about weddings and the emotional havoc they wreak that makes me love to watch the show! It's definitely good to be at a distance from the madness instead of having it in real life. I guess I should add though (deep breath, full disclosure), I am a closet  fan of TLC's A Wedding Story too.  There, now you know everything about me.  These shows are my true guilty pleasure.  No, I am not ashamed of the pleasure I derive from my Entertainment Tonight addiction-- I would shout about it from the rooftops; Something about enjoying wedding shows is much more uncomfortable to admit to myself.

It's kind of weird that I like them at all: I swear I am not one of those gals whose parents dressed her in a tiara and told her she was a princess. I have no idea if I will ever get married and, if I do, what my dress will look like or anything like that.  I suppose I should be plumbing the depths of my soul to figure out why the hell I care about wedding shows, but honestly, I just don't have the energy for that. 

Brandi Shearer, the premiere artist on the Amoeba Music record label, returns to the Living Room at 154 Ludlow Street in New York City tonight (Thursday August 9th) to kick off her Thursday nights at the Living Room in August series at the Lower East Side (LES) location. Brandi Shearer's anticipated new album Close To Dark -- the first release on the new Amoeba Music record label -- is slated for release in a few weeks, on August 28th, and tonight Shearer will be including many songs off it in her set, which begins early, at 7PM. Also performing at the Living Room tonight will be Lipbone Redding (8PM) and Cresent and Frost (9PM). There is no cover but a suggested $5 tip jar at the Living Room. Tonight is week one of a series of shows that Brandi will be doing for the next couple of Thursdays at the Living Room, including August 16th and 23rd. Also note that the singer/songwriter will be performing in Philadelphia, PA this weekend on Saturday night at the World Cafe, upstairs on a bill with the Anthony Lattanze Band-- 9PM is showtime.

When Brandi last performed at the Living Room a couple of months ago, she played the more intimate upstairs room (Googie's Lounge), but this time round she will perform in the larger downstairs performance space. If you happen to be reading this while you are in New York City on any of the Thursdays that Brandi Shearer is playing (Aug 9, 16. 23), head for this recommended show and hang out afterwards in this cool part of town.  And if you cannot make it to any of these nights this month but have future plans of being in NYC sometime soon, make a mental note of the club and the immediate LES neighborhood it is situated in, as it is well worth a visit.

When I ran into aspiring young Bay Area rap star Yung Nittlz at the recent Showtime @ the Apollo Amateur NIght tryouts at the Oakland Convention Center, he was handing out his self-designed promo item -- an oversized five dollar bill with his image and contact info. What really impressed me is that Yung Nittlz, as his name implies, is young. Very young -- 13 years of age, and already the freshman at Berkeley High School has taught himself to make beats, and has written and recorded two albums worth of music, set up his MySpace, and found time to perfect his computer design skills by designing things such as his Five Dolla Promo item to promote his song "Money In The Air" that he printed out (two-sided) and cut to size at his local Copy Central. (Note: for my full report on the Showtime at the Apollo Oakland tryouts -- previewed in earlier AMOEBLOG -- check out this week's San Francisco Bay Guardian).

When I saw his cool promo item I remembered that the Luniz -- or rather their label Noo Trybe, a division of Virgin -- created a similar promo item upon the release of the Oakland duo's debut album Operation Stackola (which reached stores on July 4, 1995) and its huge hit single "I Got Five On It." But that was a long time ago, when 13 year old Yung Nittlz was a baby -- only age one. It was a time when labels were still making money (as in profits, not promo funny-money), especially rap labels or divisions, and were often extremely creative and experimental in their promo items. Many others (especially Yay Area rappers) have used paper money as promotional material, including the Conscious Daughters for their comeback album (pictured right).

Academy Home Entertainment 1079

The great Amoeba Hollywood enigma that is  “The 45 Room.”  Some simply refer to this veiled   room as the “used 7 inch pricing room,” but for others, sweaty with desire: “Vinyl Shangri-la.”

Does it really exist, and if so, where? What goes on in there? Who are they? Why is it invisible to non-believers?

Questions abound yet few answers come into the light under ampoule fluorescente compacte.

Inquirers try to penetrate this mysterious place of secret societies revolving/evolving from a dim tiny room, but to no avail.

There are so many myths. Startling tales and conspiracy theories abound, sounding not unlike the outlandish yarns associated with Area 51, Skull and Bones, the Bohemian Club or the Maury/Vashon Island incident of 1947 (look that puppy up!!) ….

One extraordinary 45 room rumor involves a holy modal ceremony around a stack of power-pop 45’s sacrificed at the feet of a giant forty-foot statue of Murry Wilson (aka Daddy Beach Boys). Can this be true? In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king ...

What about the reported appearance of “men in black” or "suits" canvassing, i.e. shopping, in the death metal area and the complex chain of events dating from last July 2, on what would have been Murry Wilson’s 90th birthday -- and my birthday no less -- once again, there are no coincidences…. Management promised those fellows were just from Accounting. Really? Since when do accountants afford such nice threads? There is more, trust me ... but reprisals loom ... but many answers are encrypted in the art work below, just use your Amoeba decoder rings.

From our good friends at the New Bev:

Get yerself down to the New Bev tonight!

Its your last chance to catch

THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN & FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH

Tonight at 7:30.




Wednesday the 8th and Thursday the 9th we have Soderbergh's

OUT OF SIGHT & THE UNDERNEATH at 7:30



Friday the 10th and Saturday the 11th, its Wong Kar Wai's 

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE & DAYS OF BEING WILD AT 7:30 with an additional double feature 
on Saturday at 3:40



Saturday the 11th at midnight we have Amoeba Music's midnight screening of 

REVENGE OF THE NERDS



This coming Sunday, the 12th we have another special event at the New beverly!!!

We are showing HOT FUZZ & SHAUN OF THE DEAD  and director Edgar Wright will be there 
to introduce all screenings on Sunday!!! Both at 3:!5 and 7:30!!!

We are also showing Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead on Monday the 13th and Tuesday 
the 14th at 7:30.



The new Bev is the place to be!! See ya there!!

New Beverly Cinema
7165 W Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 938-4038
http://www.newbevcinema.com

Embassy Home Entertainment 1613

Located on Telegraph Avenue near 66th Street in North Oakland, close to the Berkeley border, is the unique hair salon and vintage boutique Down At Lulu's -- which is owned and run by the fun, music-minded duo of Tina Lucchesi and Seth Bogart, two good friends who both happen to love music, fashion, hairdressing, and retro rock culture. They also clearly love what they do at Down At Lulu's which, while only a little over a year old, has won a Best of the Bay award and gained a strong clientele. The store, which is located roughly midway between the White Horse pub and the Smokehouse burger joint, has a festive storefront window with the large glittery words GABBA GABBA HEY -- a nod to one of their mutual favorite bands, the Ramones. Inside are records (not a whole lot, but carefully selected ones), cool clothing, and of course, the hair styling stations. I recently stopped by the store and caught up with Tina (Seth was away on tour with his band), who talked about Down At Lulu's, and about her and Seth's interests and passions -- especially music.

  AMOEBLOG: How would you describe Down At Lulu's to someone who has never seen it?

TINA: Hmmm !!! A John Waters, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Rock N Roll High School, the Madonna Inn, Rock N Roll Burrito!

AMOEBLOG: How exactly did Down At Lulu's come into being?

This little band called Okkervil River have been a band for almost 10 years. They come from the wonderful little town called Austin, Texas.  Austin is actually not really that little. Not only is it the capital of Texas but it is also the 16th largest city in the United States. It is also home to that little festival called South by Southwest and that brilliant little band called Explosions in the Sky. Although Okkervil River have been around for a while, I really think that this is the album that is going to make them big stars. Or maybe just a little bit bigger stars. They really are brilliant. Any fan of the Shins should for sure also be an Okkervil fan. Imagine the Shins mixed up with some Will Oldham and Willie Nelson along with some darker bands like Black Heart Procession or Arab Strap. "Stage Names" is basically their fourth real album and it comes out this week.

I have been hearing friends talk about this band for years. Numerous people told me of their great devotion for Okkervil. But I didn't really give them the time they deserved until the last album, "Black Sheep Boy." The album was great and a bit magical. It got a lot of praise as I am sure this new one will get as well. I say magical mostly because of singer Will Sheff. He has one of those voices that is really easy to fall in love with. He is also in the band Shearwater with Jonathan Meiburg.
As I have been talking about this band more lately, I have also found out that many of my friends also like Okkervil River. It is always a nice little surprise to find out some of your friends like a band that you had hoped they would like.

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So my back is almost healed. It’s probably at 70%, a passing grade to most but I feel 100 times better than I felt just a few weeks ago. One of the things I could not do, besides sit or stand for long periods of time was go dancing. During that time I went to see Calle 13 in concert and I had to stay perfectly in place or experience more pain than I already had. It was a hard task. Calle 13’s band is amazing. They had three percussionists and a horn section. Residente and Vistante of Calle 13 are step-brothers and they had their kid sister (P-13) as a their back-up singer. She looks like a b-girl but sounds like Toto La Momposina, the Afro-Colombian singer. The Calle 13 album, Residente o Visitante, is still one of my favorites of this year. I wanted to dance, even with the pain in my back but when I tried to dance it looked odd. Imagine Frankenstein dancing to Cumbia and that is what I looked like. (My girl probably still thinks I dance like that, even when I don’t have a bad back.) I appreciated that no one laughed at me. The people at the show had class. Not what I’d expect from a Reggaeton show, but then again, this is Calle 13, one of the more intelligent groups out there.

Class, is something that some people severely lack. I hate to generalize but some of the most awful displays of low class that I’ve seen have come from affluent people. People with money and success can act the most “ghetto” as they like to call it. The funny thing is that you can’t get away with that kind of an attitude in most barrios otherwise someone would put you in check if you did. Last week after I finished my DJ set at Zanzibar (insert shameless self-promotion here) in Santa Monica, I sat with my lady to have a drink. There was an older gentleman that was way into the music we were playing that night. He looked like he could have been someone’s Anthropology professor. He had a little bit of an Australian outback look to him. Anyhow, he was dancing by himself, a little strangely, but harmless. A group of drunken West Side peeps came into the club during Mexican Dubweiser’s set. One Paris Hilton knock-off noticed the guy and immediately started taunting him by dancing just like him. The guy stopped dancing, perhaps conscious of the fact that she was making fun of him. I quietly fumed as I continued to watch the bitchy Paris Hilton knock-off prance around the club.

#    TITLE                                  VIEWS:            Date Posted:

1) The Mountain Goats (Pt 1)                   388,617                      Sept 5, 2006
2) Rodrigo Y Gabriela plays...                     14,381                     Jan 27, 2007
3) Feist at Amoeba Mushaboom               14,127                      Jan 22, 2006
4) Jamie Lidell "A little bit more"                13,281                      Feb 23, 2007
5) Against Me! acoustic                             12,321                      Aug 2, 2006
6) The Blood Brothers                                   9,579                       Oct 10, 2006
7) DJ Cheb I Sabbah @ Berkeley               7,882                       Nov 4, 2006
8) And You Will Know Us...Dead               6,343                       Sept 2, 2006            
9) The Mountain Goats (Part 3)                    5,993                       Sept 19, 2006
10) The Mountain Goats (Part 2)                  5,691                      Sept 12, 2006          

Karl-Lorimar Home Video 338

Yesterday, August 4, Lee Hazlewood passed away from renal cancer at the age of 78 in his home in Las Vegas. Born Barton Lee Hazlewood in Mannford, Oklahoma in 1929, he was a music legend and viewed as one of the more iconoclastic figures of 20th-century pop. Just his baritone voice alone made him sound like a cantankerous, hard living son of a bitch. I suspect he was.

Hazlewood was mostly known for his work from the 1950s through the 1970s, he composed such masterpieces as “These Boots Are Made For Walking,”  “Some Velvet Morning,”  “Sand,”  “The Fool,”  “Summer Wine,”  “Houston” and “Trouble Is A Lonesome Town.” He built a reputation as a solo artist, producer, and label owner. In the 1950s he produced Duane Eddy developing the whole ‘twangy’ guitar sound. The single “Rebel Rouser,” co-written by both Eddy and Hazlewood, became a huge international hit in 1958.  As far as being in the public eye, 1965 was his breakthrough year when he teamed up with Nancy Sinatra for a string of hit singles and an album Nancy and Lee.  A few years later his own LHI label, released what is widely considered the first country-rock record, the International Submarine Band featuring Gram Parsons. Over the next couple of decades he produced a series of beautifully odd solo albums that were mostly unheard of in America until Sonic Youth reissued them in the 1990s. His final release, Cake Or Death (Ever), was released earlier this year. 

Yesterday evening (Friday August 3rd) I attended both the Amoeba Music, San Francisco instore with super skilled turntablists DJs Platurn and Golden Chyld (pictured left) and also the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Best of the Bay soiree at the de Young Museum in nearby Golden Gate Park.

I hadn't been at the de Young Museum since it moved locations to its impressive new state-of-the-art facility in October 2005. Come think of it, I hadn't been in Golden Gate Park for about as long. And after seeing reports about the "homeless problem" in the park on local TV news and reading all the recent newspaper reports, which made it sound like there were homeless people camped out under every bush in the park's confines with dirty syringes poking out of everywhere, I was anticipating stumbling upon a sort of New Jack (tent) City, which didn't happen. Instead I only witnessed a small gathering of poor, unfortunate homeless down by the Stanyan end of the park (not far from Amoeba).   

But anyway, regarding the homeless situation in SF -- I really see both sides. I feel bad for residents (especially those with little kids) who have to endure such things as street people pissing in their doorsteps or leaving dirty needles in their front yards or near playgrounds in the park. But I also feel bad for individuals who have substance abuse problems or who are mentally ill and who have no option but to live on the streets (dating back to Reagan as Governor of Cali). And never do I forget the fact that most of us are just one paycheck away from joining them.

You gotta come down to the New Bev on Sunday, August 5th at 7:30!!

Not only are they showing two 80's classics,

LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN & FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH

But they're also having a Q&A with cast members from both films!!!

Slated to appear, schedule permitting, is Lawrence Monoson, Kimmy Robertson, David Peck, Louisa Moritz and Tessa Richarde from Last American Virgin, and, a New Bev favorite, Kelli Maroney from Fast Times at Ridgemont High!!

It's gonna be rad!!!!!

That's tomorrow night, August 5th at 7:30pm. The double feature also shows Sunday at 3:50, Monday and Tuesday at 7:30.


The New Beverly Cinema
7165 Beverly Blvd
Between La Brea and Fairfax

$7 for both films
$6 for students
$4 for seniors


http://www.newbevcinema.com
http://myspace.com/newbeverlycinema


Today, August 4th you can still catch out Coen Brothers double

THE BIG LEBOWSKI & THE HUDSUCKER PROXY at 3:05 and 7:30

Trans World Entertainment 38011

Last night I bought a first edition hard bound copy of Lenny Bruce’s How to Talk Dirty and Influence People, and this morning I realized it was the anniversary of his death… as they say (whoever they are) “there are no coincidences ..."

Anyway, on August 3, 1966, Lenny Bruce -- legendary stand-up comedian, author, social critic and satirist of the 1950’s and 60’s (born Leonard Alfred Schneider, October 13, 1925 ) was found dead at the age of 40 in the bathroom of his home at 8825 Hollywood Boulevard. The LAPD immediately announced that Bruce died from an overdose of narcotics, probably heroin, and that has been a universally reported fact ever since. However, the official report admits that the cause of death was unknown and the analysis inconclusive. Take that Wikipedia!

Dick Schaap eulogized Bruce in Playboy, with the memorable last line "One last four-letter word for Lenny: Dead. At forty. That's obscene."

Phil Spector, who once described Bruce as “my Socrates,” said Lenny Bruce died from "an overdose of police."

Side Note: I was going to include the entire script of  “Thank You, Mask Man,” but I’ll save that for his birthday in October. Those who might be offended will have to wait a few months. Sorry.

Here are some of Lenny Bruce’s jokes, comments and philosophies. Enjoy.

“If Jesus had been killed 20 years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing little Electric Chairs around their necks instead of crosses"

“Take away the right to say ‘fuck’ and you take away the right to say ‘fuck the government!’”

If you missed Hot Fuzz in the theater, I feel really bad for you. It was hilarious to see up on the big screen where it was meant to be seen. But don't worry too much, it still holds up on DVD. The movie is nothing short of brilliant. Just plain brilliant. The DVD just came out this week and I think you should just go out and buy it, even if you have not seen it yet. It was written and directed by Edgar Wright, the genius who created "Shaun of the Dead." The star of both films, Simon Pegg, also co-wrote both films. Simon Pegg's sidekick, Nick Frost, also stars in both films. These British lads work brilliantly together in both films. They are like the Reeves & Busey, Gibson & Glover, or Murphy & Reinhold of England.

                                                                            
"Hot Fuzz" is sort of a spoof of the action buddy films of America like "Lethal Weapon," "Point Break," and "Bad Boys." Simon Pegg plays a London cop who is basically making the other cops look bad because he actually does a good job. He is sent to a small tranquil British town. Nick Frost plays the local cop who he is paired up with. Of course, the small town ends up having some crazy big city type crimes. Luckily both cops have seen enough of those American action movies to know how to handle the situation. It becomes a hilarious and ridiculous over the top action film. While "Shaun of the Dead" was spoofing the zombie horror movie, it actually ended up becoming an excellent zombie movie. The same thing happens here. It is much more than a Saturday Night Live type spoof made into a movie. It actually works.

So the other morning as I am sipping a latte, watching TV, reading Emails, listening to Bowie's Hunky Dory at the wrong speed and pitch -- - 8 on 45RPM -- and typing up an AMOEBLOG... multi-tasking, I guess you could say... who should stop by my mountainside cottage but my dear friend Zsa Zsa? She (as usual) makes herself way too comfortable at my place -- pouring herself a large glass of my fresh squeezed orange juice and munching on my very last fresh croissant as she reminded me that David Bowie was one of pop music's early cutNpaste, deconstruction, post-modern type, lyric sampling artists. "Huh.  Say what?" I asked confused - stopping typing for a second.  As she explained (and a little bit patronizingly in her know-it-all-music-fact way) how Bowie back in da day (the day being the early seventies)  would reportedly just flip through books and magazines and literally cut out sentences randomly here and there, and literally paste them all together in any which order - and viola -he had "Panic In Detrot"  "Queen Bitch" or "Life on Mars" etc

 "Wow" I said - not about Bowie's lazy songwriting techniques but the bright shiny blue pageboy wig I just now noticed she was wearing. I quickly pointed out that M.I.A., who was just at Amoeba Music Berkeley last Saturday to a packed house, also wears a blue wig...just like that but that MIA has been wearing hers for longer - at least for as long ago as she took that single publicity shot that shows up in every story on her these days.  .And, somewhat smugly I admit, I noted that so does that Aussie woman chef/baker in the East Bay (Bettie I think her name is) who does a great baked chicken, I hear, and who was featured in the front page of the Food Section of this past Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle.  But that the stylish baker woman's blue hair was not a wig at all but her own real hair - dyed blue of course. All of this I rattled out as I continued to type that day's AMOEBLOG with my back turned to Zsa Zsa.  And when I finally swung around in my suede swivel chair expecting to see a look of some kind on her face I realized that I had been talking to myself (again) because she had already split...gone for who knows how long . But I noticed that she had left a magazine on the purple sofa in the hallway. It was one of mine that she had borrowed and on its cover had a picture of a former friend of Madonna's.

Now before you start second guessing that you clicked on the right blog, I’ll explain myself. While I’m known to ogle a pretty gal now and again, the reason for my purchase is for one woman in particular: Sandra Bernhard. There’s a small chance that you and I don’t have the exact same tastes in everything, right? Maybe you don’t think that “Love & Rockets” is one of the finest works of literature in the history of mankind; perhaps you’d disagree that beholding a Rothko in person can be an emotional experience.  If you are under 25 and you are reading this, remember this; I think I’ve finally found an answer to the ol’ question “When did the attitudes of the freewheelin’ 60’s shift in the 70’s, and is there an exact date when it was nailed into the proverbial American forehead?” As it happens, you may not always realize what an important moment it is. It may be months or years later when you look back and reflect on that pivotal moment when you first heard some song that you are now obsessed with. I am a big fan of the hand claps. But only if they really work with the songs.

Jon Ginoli
Returns
Nearly 8 Years Employment

ME: Hi Jon. So what music was playing in your house when you were a kid?

JG: My parents didn't really have records but they always had the radio on. 

To pop stations?

Yeah, and when I turned 6 my parents moved to a new house out in the suburbs in a new development where there weren't any other kids around, so I made friends with the radio. So from the time I was 5 until I was 10, which is roughly 1965-1970, I absorbed Top 40 radio like a sponge. Pretty good timing, huh?

Totally, you lucked out. What was the first song/record that really got you into music? 

Um I remember being really blown away by "Reflections" by the Supremes and "Monday Monday" by the Mamas and the Papas. Oh and "Windy" by the Association.

What's the first show you went to?

The first real concert I went to was one of the worst concerts I have ever been to because when I was 14 I went to see Jimmy Buffett in Peoria.

Gross.

Peoria got very few concerts back then.

Who took you?

I went by myself. He had a song on the radio that I liked. When I heard other songs I thought, "Oh, this isn't very good."

Smart kid.

But the second concert was Bob Seger and that was a big step up.

I checked out the "Spirit of Armenia!" Sunday night up at the Hollywood Bowl with Em. I've lived in L.A. for more than a few years now and, shamefully, it was my first time up there. I'd definitely like to go back soon.

Anyway, I didn't know what to expect at all. My exposure to Armenian music is mostly limited to KSCI where I've seen seen more than enough Tupac-indebted gangsta rap.

Still, I would possibly prefer that to my even stronger dislike of five thousand-year-old tunes played on a fretless bass.

The Bowl was pretty full. Even though we were outside and there was no smoking except outside, the air hung heavy with cigarette/cigar smoke and perfume. We brought 2 Buck Chuck and cheese with sesame pita chips. We found our seats. Saw a couple of friends near us but sat where we were assigned.

I don't think I've ever been to one of those concerts with the big screens projecting what's going on the stage before. No lie, I think the biggest concert I'd ever been to (before last night) was Big Audio Dynamite in a park in 1992.

I found myself alternating between squinting at the stage and craning at the big screens. I wished I'd brought binoculars or opera glasses or something. It's like being at a sports bar. Even if you want to focus on something, the TVs all around hypnotize with their pretty colors! It's even more difficult to look away when you're periodically blinded by the gleam of gargantuan images of Adiss Harmandian cracking smirks and busting out in his Tom Jones-like gestures.

One of my all time favorites, Miss Dolly Parton, is also one shrewd business lady!
After shopping around for a new record label, she has decided to instead start her own record label:
Dolly Records!  Her first album for the label will be released in February!


AND the most exciting part is that she will be touring in March!!!!  PLEASE Dolly, stop somewhere in the Bay Area.  We are tragically ignored by Miss Parton for reasons I do not understand.  Clearly, there are soooooooo many fans here.......

...as she hopefully noticed when she played the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival a few years back. Thousands came out and packed the field just to catch a glimpse of and a tune from Dolly.



I had the honor of attending and, as I have mentioned before in this blog, I was brought to tears, and no, it had nothing to do with her blinding turquoise ice skating type dress.

Although the spectacle of it certainly did add to the experience.
I am ready for a full set in an indoor venue. BRING IT DOLLY!

By creating her own record label, Miss Parton stands to make much, much more dough and have much, much more freedom to create whatever she pleases than if someone else had control of her record(s).

In all of the tributes written about skilled American television host Tom Snyder,  who passed  this week  at age 71 - a victim of leukemia,  one common accolade was how the TV host with the personal yet tough interview style, really knew how to listen to his subjects - something very rare in most television talk show hosts, especially today.  Additionally, unlike most commercial television interviews which never seem to ow to delve deep, his interviews were conducted with enough time for the able host to really allow him, and us, to get to know his guests.

But of all of the interviews he conducted on his NBC program The Tomorrow Show the clip below (in my opinion) is one of the most compelling to watch.  It is Snyder's 1980 interview with both John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten) and his Public Image Limited  (PIL) band-mate Keith Levene. Bear in mind that by this stage that Rotten as main spokesman of the Sex Pistols had earned a justified reputation as one of the most difficult and unpredictable interviewees for any  radio or  television host.  But watch it and witness how brilliantly Snyder handles his tough subject and how Lydon, used to knocking over - especially older generation - interviewers seems to have finally met his match and has to struggle a bit to keep in character and try to maintain an upper hand. 

The end result is a perfect sparring match, with both Snyder and Lydon puffing away on cigarettes, that makes for the most engaging type of TV.  Do me a favor: watch it and in the COMMENTS box below rate (on a scale of 1 to 5)  both Snyder's and Lydon's performances. EG:   Tom = 3,  John = 3.

I've never met a man I didn't mutilate. I only wish I had said that first.
I might be happier today.

A funny thing happened on the way to listening to some Bonzo Dog Band vinyl. I think I’ve finally found an answer to the ol’ question “When did the attitudes of the free wheelin’ 60’s shift in the 70’s, and is there an exact date when it was nailed into the proverbial American forehead?” I think the answer lies in the sound of a tuba.

Side Note: not only am I something of a record geek, I’m also a closeted history geek, and I kind of believe in what philosopher George Santayana once said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to have it shoved up their friggin’ asses!” (Okay, maybe it didn’t go quite like that)

Of course there was a difference between the late 60’s and the early 70’s. Perhaps not a great defining difference (at least not until disco hit big), but let’s say as different as “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” compared to “Blue Bonnet” margarine, or olive oil to canola oil. Actually ignore that part. But there was a slight imperceptible change in attitude somewhere early on in the 70’s and I believe I‘ve uncovered, for my thesis, the linchpin date.

Of course it just dawned on me not everyone knows The Bonzo Dog Band. Created in the early 1960’s by British art-school students (art school, where all great bands begin!) the Bonzos started out playing mostly traditional jazz, early century novelty and British music hall songs.

Later they combined those elements with rock, adding touches of psychedelia and dadaism to confound the public at large. They released about 4 or 5 albums, and toured the US with The Who and The Kinks. Eventually they were aligned with Monty Python's Flying Circus, having met several future members on the set of the children's television show, Do Not Adjust Your Set, where the Bonzo’s were the resident house band. They disbanded in 1970 but had one reunion album released in 1972. There you have it … in a nutshell.

I understand that many of the readers of this AMOEBLOG may not dwell in New York City or be anywhere even close to the East Coast, but the issue that is planned to be protested today (Thursday, August 2nd) in NYC -- fighting the possible ban on our freedom to take photographs in public places in New York City -- is something that seriously affects all of our civil liberties.

Here's the deal with this latest possible ban (bear in mind it may not even happen or may not be enforced even if it is made law) as reported recently by the New York Times and by a New York City politically charged group called NYC 911 Truth. They say that the proposed banning would essentially mean that any non-insured still photographer or filmer, solo and more specifically a team of camera operators, would be targeted by this proposed ban that calls for a requirement of a one million dollar liability insurance policy in addition to a permit for various photography and filming actions that occurs for more then 10 minutes.

Reportedly the city claims it is only enforcing and "adjusting" old permit laws, to justify these actions. The police department has stated it will begin enforcing the laws, as of today August 2nd. Hence the planned protests for today, which are scheduled for protesters to begin gathering at 4:30PM today (Thursday August 2nd) at City Hall, downtown New York City to challenge the Mayor Bloomberg-enduced ban on filming and photography. 

If indeed this ban were to fully go into effect (and even in these crazy post 9/11 paranoid times seems unlikely, but possible), the implications would be very great and far-reaching. For example, at one NYC Critical Mass gathering I attended some time back (like in SF, also held on last Friday of the month) there were countless cyclists (unfairly in my opinion) arrested by the ever-vigilant NYPD, who packed them into the backs of Paddy Wagons and hauled their asses off to jail.

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Trans World Entertainment 0614

It is always interesting to go back and think about the first time you heard a certain band or certain song. As it happens, you may not always realize what an important moment it is. It may be months or years later when you look back and reflect on that pivotal moment when you first heard some song that you are now obsessed with. I can still remember the first time I heard certain songs. I remember exactly who I was with and if it was on the car radio or in someone's bedroom. I remember certain songs being played to me over the phone when talking with friends late at night. I also remember seeing a music video for the first time of some band that I had never heard before. This does not happen so much anymore. But I still do get introduced to new bands all the time. Most of them are not so memorable. I already like a lot of bands so I spend most of my time listening to those bands old albums or getting excited by their new albums. But the best thing about music is hearing a new band for the first time. There is really nothing like the excitement of hearing a song and immediately getting obsessed with it. Knowing that your life will now be better just because of this one new band.

This just happened to me again last month. My friend was given a CD from Sweden of this new  band "Studio." Her friend bought it for her just knowing that she would love it. It then made its way to me. The album "Yearbook 1" was only available in Sweden at the time. The UK version called "West Coast" was out in a couple of weeks. As I listened to it the first time, I knew I would remember the moment forever. I knew I loved the album before it was even over. By the time I bought the UK version, I had already listened to the other version a dozen times. They changed the artwork and got rid of the first two tracks. While the artwork was a bit better on the Norwegian CD, the album does not really miss the missing songs. It is easily one of the best albums of the year already.

Let me just tell you, until you have seen one of your dear friends erupt from a volcano wearing nothing but a body stocking and strategically placed sequins, you haven't really been thrilled.

I was treated to such a glorious sight on Saturday night at Midnight Mass' Showgirls screening.
Good Lord, the event was delicious and horrifying at the same time, much like the film.

Showgirls is pretty fascinating. Isn't it obvious that while Gina Gershon realizes the movie is pure camp and revels in it, Elizabeth Berkley has absolutely no idea what's going on and just thinks she's killing it?  Crazy, huh?

I just can scarcely believe a movie like this got made in the last 15 years, movie making being as difficult as it is.  Someone out there clearly thought it was a great idea though!  And thank goodness they did.

I don't think there is a person alive over 20 years of age who doesn't know this movie's plot:  a young woman arrives in Vegas with a dream of becoming a Showgirl. She'll do anything to achieve this goal, as we see during the film.  Oh, it's good.  It's real good.

At Midnight Mass during the pre-show we were treated to some reenactments of scenes from the film, one of which was the scene where Nomi (Berkley) and Cristal (Gershon) bond over their love of....yes, dog food....and during which Martini, as Nomi, actually ATE dog food on stage! Yikes. There were many more moments of horror throughout the pre-show, during which tampons were thrown on the audience and audience members were willingly assaulted by a freakish posse of lap dancers.

Posted earlier this year on YouTube by "AlwaysThrowROCK," the video clip below of street art (mostly murals rather than graffiti) is a collection of stills of pictures taken throughout 2006 around the city of San Francisco in areas such as the Mission District and transferred to a five minute slide show in video format with music soundtrack by The Books. If you live in the Bay or spend any time in the city of SF, many of the pieces will be familar to you already. And you will also notice that there is a lot of street art that is not included, and also some that has already disappeared.