VIDEO: JULIO, THE DRUNKEN DRUMMER!

HAHAHAHA! Have you ever seen anyone try to play the drums while horizontal?? JULIO! I LOVE YOU, MAAAAAAAN!!! Julio, The Drunken Drummer ...

Read More

TODAY'S MUSICAL CONVERSATION WITH MISS TEN

(On the way home from school today, Miss Ten and I were listening to the radio, as usual. "There She Goes" by The La's was playing.) Miss Ten: (singing/humming along with the song, then pausing to speak) Mom? Nobody likes the music I like. Me: Welcome to my world. Miss Ten: Huh? Me: Continue. Miss Ten: It's so frustrating. I start talking about a song at school and everyone's like, what? They only know pop music. I mean, I like some pop music,...

Read More

I MADE YOU A COFFEE GIF

That is all. ...

Read More

TEN QUOTES FROM "FASCINATING WOMANHOOD" (1963) THAT WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH, CRY, OR BREAK SOMETHING

Now that I have a chunk 'o lifetime banked, it's sometimes a good exercise to look back and think about where the world was when I got here, and how it is now. I am often frustrated by the sad lack of progress we've made in 50 years -- the idealistic, youth-driven belief of the 1960s that we would soon be living in a free, equal, and discrimination-free society has not come to full fruition, and likely never will. But when I get really down about...

Read More

FIVE HUGE LIFE LESSONS FROM THE FILM "HER AIM IS TRUE," AND THE LIFE OF ROCK PHOTOGRAPHER JINI DELLACCIO

What an exciting day it was to be in attendance for the official world premiere of "Her Aim Is True," the feature-length documentary from director Karen Whitehead about rock photographer Jini Dellaccio. Both showings of the film this weekend at the prestigious Seattle International Film Festival were sold out, and SIFF is to be commended for recognizing the special value "Her Aim Is True" has for Pacific Northwest residents, including 96-year-old...

Read More

BOOK REVIEW: "GOD SAVE THE KINKS: A BIOGRAPHY" BY ROB JOVANOVIC (AURUM PRESS, 2013)

It is part of natural human curiosity to want to know more about the things and people that have a profound impact on our lives, I think -- when something is meaningful to us, we like to set that into a context, perhaps reflecting on the unique qualities of a person or thing or movement or event that affected us so dramatically. We are curious, endlessly so, and this is seen no more obviously than in the modern world's obsession with celebrities...

Read More

FAN VIDEO: "I WANNA BE FORGOTTEN" BY BASS DRUM OF DEATH (2013) (STARRING MISS TEN!)

Sometimes a song comes on and you just gotta get up and MOVE! This was the scene tonight in my house, as I played a song from Bass Drum of Death's upcoming (June 25) self-titled album called "I Wanna Be Forgotten." Miss Ten just started dancing around the house like a maniac, and I thought, hey, her spontaneous reaction to music is as good as anything and I told her just to keep dancing in front of my iPhone. And now we have a very mod, very groovy,...

Read More

FOURTEEN WEIRD ITEMS FROM THE VALUE VILLAGE THRIFT STORE IN WOODINVILLE, WA.!

I found myself with a spare hour this afternoon in the Seattle Eastside 'burb of Woodinville, and decided to make a run back to the new Value Village thrift store there to pick up a few items that people wanted from the last time I was there! Of course, there were MORE strange goodies just waiting for me there! I love it. Please to enjoy! Smug Candle Bear is smug. ...

Read More

100 WORD MICROFICTION: "THE ANSWER"

Conversation sparkled, at a pretty nighttime party with friends, drinking wine. Alone together in the kitchen, I asked him about his daughter with the bubblegum-pink cheeks and braces on her legs, her time known to be short. “Fine…you know, fine,” he said with a brief smile, until our eyes met and locked. The room began to lurch and spin, a horrible swirling tunnel forming around us. “…How? How do you…?” I blurted, heartbroken.  “I…don’t…know,”...

Read More

WANNA FEEL SICK? WATCH THIS CLIP FROM A FILM ABOUT WEATHER, CLIMATE, & GLOBAL WARMING...FROM THE 1950s

The best and brightest scientific minds have long been in agreement that global warming is the single greatest threat to the continuation of life on Earth. But just how long we have known that our unchecked atmosphere-destroying waste was an unfolding tragedy was unknown to me until I saw this  today. Made by legendary director Frank Capra for Bell Labs in 1958, "The Unchained Goddess," in this just-over-a-minute-long film clip, is nauseatingly...

Read More

I MADE YOU SOME GRADUATION CARDS

...

Read More

PHOTOS: MAN...OR ASTRO-MAN?, AUDACITY, ATOMIC BRIDE @ NEUMOS; THE BEETS & CMRTYZ @ BARBOZA, SEATTLE, WA. 5/18/13

Five bands, two clubs, one night = FUN CITY! Your leetle foto fren, ME, stepped out on the town last night to see and hear a diverse buncha bands, hailing from Alabama and California and New York and good 'ol Seattle, and playing anything from space-surf instrumentals to minimalist garage rock. It was a good challenge to run up and down the stairs between the two clubs (Barboza is located in the basement of Neumos) and I did at least get to see something...

Read More

WEIRD GOVERNMENT FILM OF THE DAY: "JACKSON JUNIOR HIGH ALCOHOL EDUCATION" (1976)

You thought I found a weird PSA film yesterday? THIS ONE TOPS IT! In 1976, I, too, was a junior high school student, but we never had an alcohol use education film like this one, featuring Patches, a drunken St. Bernard dog. Yes, A HUGE DRUNK DROOLING DOG! This little movie is made extra-mega-awesome by intensely-'70s clothes, hair, and glasses, a 14-year-old girl sitting at a bar quizzing a bartender about alcohol contents, junior high kids drinking...

Read More

WEIRD GOVERNMENT FILM OF THE DAY: "YOU IN PUBLIC SERVICE (INTRODUCTION)" (1977)

AAAHAHAHA! Aw, MAN. I tell you, sometimes you just come across something that makes you wonder, "WHAT were they thinking?" I've been doing a lot of old film footage digging for a project lately, and today I uncovered this gem, made by your pals at the United States Department of Health in 1977: "You In Public Service." This series was designed to entice people into working for Uncle Sam by explaining in a hyper-friendly yet slow-witted way how to...

Read More

TEN SONGS THAT I REALLY HATE WITH ANIMALS IN THEIR TITLES

Now, before you judge me, Judgey McJudgersteinbergarama, let this fact be known: I am a pet fan, and have been so all my life. I have always had pets of one kind or another, take my animal ownership responsibilities seriously, and think other species are pretty darn awesome. But DAMN, have there been some HORRIFIC pop songs written about animals! I thought I might vent a few on you tonight, because catharsis is good. Get it? CAT-harsis?? AH HAHAHA!...

Read More

HOW TO HAVE REALLY GREAT FRIENDS

Miss Ten has been quizzing me a lot this week on the nature of friendships, something I think a lot of girls her age begin to take more seriously as a measure of both the quality of their lives outside their homes, and of their perceived worth to others. Miss Ten: Were you popular when you were a kid? Me: Hmm...yes, I think so, maybe. At times. I never had any problems making friends, but sometimes my situations were such that I couldn't be as...

Read More

ANOTHER CHILDREN'S BOOK NOT FOR CHILDREN: "SOMETHING FOR SUSAN" (NSFW)

...

Read More

UNINTENTIONAL PSA: "SHUT YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU SNEEZE" BY SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS

Everyone around here except ME has been getting colds; typical, I think with the change in seasons. Because I I I I I don't want to get sick, I find myself barking out orders to the kids: "WASH YOUR HANDS! COVER YOUR MOUTH! DON'T COUGH RIGHT IN MY FACE IN A CLOSED VEHICLE! USE A KLEENEX, GOD!!!" and things of this nature. I think it would be much more fun to just play this song by the late psychobilly musical pioneer, Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Please...

Read More

MOM VS. FRIEND

I think most mom-and-daughter relationships are a complex thing, all mashed up with fierce love, old baggage, and an ever-changing world to navigate together. To be truthful, I was relieved that my first child was a son and not a daughter, because at 29 years old, I worried that I had not yet worked out my own issues enough to avoid projecting them onto a mini-me. But at 40 and by then an experienced mom of two sons, I was up for the challenge of...

Read More

SEVENTEEN WEIRD RECORD COVERS FROM THE VALUE VILLAGE THRIFT STORE IN WOODINVILLE, WASHINGTON!

Woo hoo! I was super-excited to go to a brand-new Value Village thrift store here on the Eastside of Seattle tonight, and as always, went on the hunt for bizarre old album covers to share with you. PAY DIRT! Please to enjoy! I...I just don't understand what Mr. Taylor is trying to say here. Is this anti-religion or pro-religion? Why is he bursting through the castle/church doors? Is he trying to stop a marriage? Is he late to the altar himself?...

Read More

TOP FIFTEEN MUSICAL MISCONCEPTIONS FROM MY '60S YOUTH

I was a born music fan; this is indisputable fact, Jack. I don't remember a time when I wasn't absorbed by rock n' roll. I do remember, however, that I didn't fully get everything I musically took in, which is totally understandable since I was so tiny. Understandable, and funny, since many misconceptions reflected my very, very limited exposure to different ethnicities. Here are 15 things that I got so wrong: 1. I thought the title of...

Read More

A CHILDREN'S BOOK NOT FOR CHILDREN, MOTHER'S DAY EDITION: "A SURPRISE FOR MOTHER" (NSFW)

...

Read More

FAN VID: DEERHUNTER "BACK TO THE MIDDLE" (2013)

I am absolutely CRAYZAY about Deerhunter's new album, "Monomania," in a similar fashion to how I was CRAYZAY about their last one, "Halcyon Digest," from the long-ago days of 2010. In a similar fashion to how I was compelled to assemble (with friend WN) a fan video for Halcyon's "Coronado" with twist dancers from the '60s, I was now compelled to make a fan video for "Back To The Middle" from Monomania with a posse of weird toy commercials from the...

Read More

30 SECONDS OF A GOAT STANDING ON A HIPPO

Oh, just BECAUSE. Goat Standing on Hippo ...

Read More

STRANGE VIDEO OF THE DAY: "SNIFFY ESCAPES POISONING" (1967)

I spent ALL and I mean ALL of this lovely rare sunny day combing video footage for a project, and when I came across this, MAN, I had to share it with you! "Sniffy Escapes Poisoning" is hands-down one of the weirdest child safety PSA films I have ever seen. It totally supports my theory that EVERYONE in the '60s was on DRUGS DRUGS DRUGS. Even the "straights" were high as a damn kite, I swear. This film leaves me with a mutsy, hallucinogenic feeling,...

Read More

AUSTIN PSYCH FEST 2013 DAY THREE & WRAP-UP: THE MOVING SIDEWALKS (W. BILLY GIBBONS), THE BLACK ANGELS, ROKY ERICKSON, THE KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW, WHITE FENCE, ELEPHANT STONE, AND THE LAURELS!

My final day of Austin Psych Fest 2013 coverage left off on Day Two, a pleasant Saturday that turned a rain deluge in the late evening, causing performance delays and turning the Carson Creek Ranch site into an incredible sea of grey clay muck that sucked the shoes right off my feet. I was envisioning the final day to the fest to be a sad comedy of thousands of people wiping out in the mud while dancing to one of the many great acts scheduled, or...

Read More

HERE IS A GIF OF PAUL MCCARTNEY BEING SILLY

Finishing up last two photo sets from Austin Psych Fest 2013 as it gets close to midnight here on the Westy Coasty, but I'll save them and the concluding write-up on the festival for tomorrow, when my brain and eyes are fully recharged. Until then, stare at this gif of Sir Paul McCartney being silly. Please to enjoy, yeah yeah yeah! ...

Read More

AUSTIN PSYCH FEST 2013, DAY TWO: DEERHUNTER, OS MUTANTES, BLACK MOUNTAIN, MAN OR ASTRO-MAN?, & QUINTRON AND MISS PUSSYCAT! 4/27/13

I have only two regrets about my second day at the very groovy Austin Psych Fest 2013: that because of substantial tech and logistical issues I wasn't able to get to the grounds until evening, and that I didn't bring a wetsuit. Despite these things, I saw some spectacular performances! Let's go!! I had seen Quintron and Miss Pussycat before on Bruise Cruise 2012 performing to a happy, wild crowd of Carnival Imagination ship-goers, so hustled over...

Read More

AUSTIN PSYCH FEST 2013, DAY ONE, PART TWO: BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, RAVEONETTES, WARPAINT, TAMARYN, & TINARIWEN!

The first full day of festival festivities continues at Austin Psych Fest 2013! In Part One of Day One, I  saw Gary War's one-man shredding machine, the ultra-fun, totally rocking, and adorable Bass Drum Of Death, the Canadian coolness of The Besnard Lakes, and the multi-faceted sound of VietNam, and the day had just started! ...

Read More

GO SEE MORE OF MY AUSTIN PSYCH FEST PHOTOS ON CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND & READ A RAD REVIEW!

Yee haw! I finished last FRIDAY'S Austin Psych Fest photos today, but will put them up in the (later) morning, since I am now LOOPY with eyestrain and happiness about how they turned out. While I enjoy a fermented beverage and sleep for a few hours, please to enjoy this mega-sweet review on Consequence of Sound from my Florida pal David von Bader while viewing some nice shots I contributed (and one from more Florida friends, Rock Cousteau)! Click...

Read More