Non-Prophet

The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello

Deliciously steam punk, with imagination to spare. Anthony Lucas has created a real gem.

Elvira is a Our Modern Vampira

Call me ignorant, but I always thought that Elvira was, if nothing else, original in shtick. I'm sitting here watching the wonderfully wonderful Plan 9 From Outer Space and it features a very Elvira like character who is at least a few years her senior. It's none other than Maila Nurmi, A.K.A Vampira, a 1950's television horror host.

Pink Floyd's Rick Wright Dies at Age 65

His music was very important to me while I was growing up. He will be missed.

news.bbc.com:

Pink Floyd keyboard player and founder member Richard Wright has died aged 65 from cancer.
Wright appeared on the group's first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, in 1967 alongside lead guitarist Syd Barrett, Roger Waters and Nick Mason.
Dave Gilmour joined the band at the start of 1968 while Barrett left the group shortly afterwards.
Gilmour said: "He was such a lovely, gentle, genuine man and will be missed terribly by so many who loved him."

Daniel Johnston is Coming!

Yip jump, hip-hip hooray! I just received an email from my pal Don Goede which states that he's bringing Daniel into town to play at the Smokebrush Gallery on April 4th. This is monumental!

Daniel Johnston will sign copies of his latest book Hi, How Are You? The Life, Art & Music of Daniel Johnston published by Smokemuse (Colorado Springs) and Last Gasp (San Francisco) Daniel Johnston will also perform a small set of his music. This is a rare and special opportunity for Colorado Springs. Daniel has never performed here. He is stopping over between concerts in Salt Lake City and Denver.

For more information on Daniel Johnston watch the Sony Classics documentary The Devil And Daniel Johnston, visit www.hihowareyou.com, www.rejectedunknown.com or contact:
Don Goede at don@softskull.com or 719-321-5195

Don Goede who now resides in Colorado Springs is a bandmate of Johnston’s (The Electric Ghosts & Hyperjinx Tricycle as Jack Medicine) has published his latest book, and was once his caretaker/tour manager.

Worst TV Theme Song Ever

After recently completing all seven seasons of Star Trek:Voyager on Netflix DVD -- which took us a year and a half -- we've now been watching Star trek: Enterprise. It has been decent. It is a bit like "newbies in space," but that fits the setting pretty well I suppose, although one thing about this show is utterly horrible. The theme song is just wrong. When my wife and I (see how I slipped that in? :0) forget to hit the skip button in a timely fashion we're simply horrified. We've, on a few occasions, sat through the whole thing laughing our asses off... and I sometimes spontaneously break out with a verse or two in the kitchen now and again. Make no mistake though! Hear me now and believe me in 30 seconds. This bit is downright hideous. Worst TV theme song ever.

Michael Moore's Latest: Sicko

Preliminary indications are that the latest from Michael Moore -- a film about the health care industry titled, "Sicko" -- is a winner.

I wonder if the Moore haters are going to slag this one. It's about the health care system in our country. Who out there is against a thorough slam on those bastards?

From Rolling Stone via Rotten Tomoatoes:

In a summer of dumb, shameless drivel, Moore delivers a movie of robust mind and heart. You�ll laugh till it hurts.

Minutemen: Double Nickels on the Dime

I remember picking up this double LP when it came out. I was immediately addicted. Over the next few years this album was more than in heavy rotation, it was nearly a constant companion. It'd probably been 20 years since I listened to more than a side or two, but the other day I ran into it while perusing iTunes and downloaded a copy. It's nice to be jamming on this one again.

Double Nickels on the Dime is an album recorded by Minutemen on the SST label in 1984.

The album is a diverse combination of punk, funk, spoken word, 70's rock, acoustic guitar instrumentals, and even jazz. Standout tracks include "History Lesson Part II", "Corona", "Untitled Song for Latin America", "Toadies", "Jesus and Tequila", "Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing", "June 16th", and "This Ain't No Picnic".

Double Nickels is often seen not only as the Minutemen's crowning achievement, but, as critic Mark Deming notes, "one of the very best American rock albums of the 1980s."[1] In 2003, the album was ranked number 411 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was also #86 in Joe S. Harrington's Top 100 Albums.

They Might Be Giants:The Else

It wasn't pleasant, but the wait is finally over. As of today the iTunes music store has an exclusive early release of the new album titled "The Else" by They Might Be Giants. Run to your nearest computer and pick up a copy. I did. As with any band that I really love, I will need to spin this for a while and let it sink in before I can get a feel for it. I have no doubt that this album is going to dominate for the foreseeable future.

TMBG.com:

They Might Be Giants new album The Else
Idlewild CD in stores July 10, iTunes exclusive download arrives May 15,
13 new songs produced by the Dust Brothers, Pat Dillett and They Might Be Giants!
Deluxe package includes original photographs by Marcel Dzama!
First run of CDs includes a full length bonus disc.

Blinded By The Light

Hearing the song last night while watching the movie Running With Scissors made me curious as to if the lyric in question is actually "douche" or if I have just always thought that. I mean c'mon, did they really write, "wrapped up like a douche" as the hook for a pop song? I've tried to think about what exactly that phrase could mean. Is it me? I've always been proficient in learning song lyrics wrong. I'm still not sure which is the correct answer, but at least I'm not the only one who has thought about this. :0)

Wikipedia:

The chorus of the song features the commonly misunderstood lyric, "Blinded by the light, cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night." ("Deuce" refers to a '32 Ford Deuce Coupe.) Many listeners hear the word "douche" in place of "deuce." Manfred Mann's Earth Band changed this line slightly to "revved up like a deuce" (often misquoted as "wrapped up like a douche") and repeated it much more frequently in their version than Springsteen did in the original; they also omitted parts of the verses and rearranged the order of the remaining lyrics.

Springsteen's version has been described as folky and acoustic compared to the Earth Band's harder rock take on the song, which prominently features early electronic keyboards. The theme from the popular piano song 'Chopsticks' is played throughout the song.

However, Bruce Springsteen, in his 2005 VH1 Storytellers appearance, lightheartedly made the assertion that the sole reason that Manfred Mann's version of the song went to number one is that the altered lyric is actually "revved up like a douche". Bruce said, "The original lyric is 'cut loose like a deuce' referring to a two seat hot-rod, a little deuce coupe. Manfred Mann changed the lyric to 'revved up like a douche.' which is a feminine hygienic procedure." It should be noted, however, that Manfred Mann's website lists the lyric as "deuce" rather than "douche". It was once rumored that Chris Thompson's New Zealand accent may be responsible for swapping deuce for douche.

Meat Puppets: 1983 Home Rehersal

There are a few video's up on YouTube of the Meat Puppets practicing at home in 1983. If you are a fan you must check them out. This is classic Meat Puppets during the beginning of what IMHO was the bands golden age. It's weird, you can totally see where they are headed musically in these videos. It's all a bit idiotic -- which was the point to begin with -- but they rock so friggin' hard. They play stuff off of their first album, but also off of "Up on The Sun" and "Meat Puppets II." This is classic footage.

Sorry, no embed for these. You gotta go here, here and here.