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Cold War NostalgiaNovember 26, 2006... I'd been feeling nostalgic for the Cold War even before the stories surfaced this week of the poisoning of former Soviet spy, Alexander Litvinenko, and the recent murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, an opponent of another former Soviet spy, the current President of Russia, Vladimir Poutine.
Many good things came out of the Cold War: US military bases in West Germany, for example. 2Bad - Idiot TreeLee Hollis was an American GI stationed in West Germany during the early 1980s. Following the trail blazed by the Monks two decades before, Hollis quit the USAF to join a rock group instead. In fact, Hollis quit the army to join a lot of rock groups--among them, the Spermbirds, the Ankry Simons, and 2Bad. Of them all, 2Bad is my favourite. 2Bad - Cry2Bad's lyrics were fairly standard punk rock fare lampooning social climbers and political posturers, albeit with a particularly unsympathetic twist. But 2Bad's sound was anything but standard: dissonant, metallic guitar; squealing, atonal saxophone; a rock solid rhythm section; and snotty punk vocals. 2Bad - DeclarationOne of the other good things to come out of the Cold War was a bloc of countries that did not look, sound or smell like the west. There aren't many of those left today, but North Korea is certainly one. For an excellent description of what it's like to live in a present-day totalitarian state, where assembly and expression are not free, where images of the "Great Leader" adorn every wall, and there are no Big Macs to be found, check out Guy Delisle's graphic novel, Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea. To purchase a copy of 2Bad's Idiot Tree, or any of their other releases--all of which are available on CD at low low prices--check out X-Mist, the German record label what released 'em. Permadink | |Happy World Toilet Day!November 19, 2006... As you may already be aware, today is World Toilet Day. World Toilet Day is an initiative of the World Toilet Organization (WTO), a non-profit organization that "communicates the need for better toilet standards in both the developed and developing economies ... [and] facilitate[s] an exchange of ideas relating to health and cultural issues." Not surprisingly, the WTO was founded in Singapore, a country where failing to flush can result in a heavy fine. In the words of the WTO, the purpose of declaring each November 19th World Toilet Day is to: Have people in all countries take action, increase awareness of toilet user’s right to a better toilet environment, and to demand for it from toilet owners. As such, it is also the toilet user’s duty to contribute towards its also the toilet user’s duty to contribute towards its maintenance, cleanliness and hygiene. When I first learned of World Toilet Day, late this summer, some time before International Talk Like a Pirate Day, I thought it was a outrageously silly idea. Celebrating toilets? Ha! Jokes were duly made about marking the occasion, briefly, in the company of one's favourite commode... Having digested these videos, however, I see the point. Who among us has never encountered a toilet that isn't even clean enough to shit in? Who among us has never had to "hold it in" while we're out and about because of the lack of inviting places for a nice sit down? What a bummer! ***** The number of toilet photos in my photo album is asstounding. In my travels, I have come to know many a remarkable john. I've seen a fully functional--and filthy--toilet on a dirt floor in a Texas barn. I've felt the wayward spray of a Turkish toilet's flush in West Germany. I've smelled a toilet that has gone uncleaned since a brush with greatness--i.e. the "visit" of a celebrity--twenty years before. This toilet, though, really sticks out in my memory.
It may shock you to learn that the photo above was not taken in remote, backward Kazakhstan, but in the US and A, where it appears a fair number of the citizens are still confused about the proper role of the toilet. ***** Stress and strain as I might, I could think of no songs about toilets. These are as close as I got... Buffalo Tom - BirdbrainDeep Purple - FireballI love to sing along to "Birdbrain," which made the cut today because of the line "Twenty-five years are just washed down the drain." "Fireball" is, I believe, the third Deep Purple song to find its way onto the pages of Afterbirth of the Cool. I guess I kinda like the band, eh? "Fireball" appears here today because of the sound effect at the outset, which has always sounded a bit like a flusing toilet to me. It is also worth noting that the band uses the word khazi, a rarely heard euphemism for toilet, in one their other songs. If you can think of any songs about toilets, let me know. It's the kind of information a fellow should always have close at hand. ***** P.S. The related issue of the simple lack of public washrooms in Toronto, clean or dirty, is addressed in eye magazine this week. Permadink | |Disconnected ThotsNovember 11, 2006... I went to high school with a massive, afroed dude named Mack Coltello. Mack wasn't no A student or nothin', but he did have a muscle car. And whenever he spoke, you couldn't help but be reminded of Marlon Brando in The Godfather... Mack's thing was to imply outrageous things, then to attempt to exculpate himself by saying, "I'm not sayin' anything. I'm just sayin'."
I can't help but notice how central a role Diana Krall's looks play in the marketing of her music. There's no two ways about it, Mrs. Elvis Costello is a fine-looking dame, but with her glorious stems always so prominently displayed on her album jackets, I can't help but wonder what exactly is being sold.
I can't help but notice that Emily Haines, singer for Metric, seems to be on the front cover of every Metric album. There's no two ways about it, she is a talented lady, but it's not the Emily Haines Group, is it? It's Metric, a quartet that includes, among other things, three guys. But with only Emily Haines' face on the front covers of their albums, I can't help but wonder what exactly is being sold. But I'm not sayin' anything. I'm just sayin'. ***** Naked Eyes - Promises Promises (by request)Permadink | |Unlearn to TalkNovember 4, 2006... Sometimes words--definitions, justifications--get in the way of a good time. Skeleton Crew - Learn To TalkSkeleton Crew - It's FineSkeleton Crew - Zach's Flag"The Hand That Bites" is dedicated to my friend B.S., Talking Heads' #1 fan. Skeleton Crew - The Hand That BitesSkeleton Crew - You May Find A BedSkeleton Crew was Fred Frith (mostly guitar), Tom Cora (mostly cello) and, eventually, Zeena Parkins (mostly organ). Skeleton Crew released two records: Learn to Talk (1984) and The Country of Blinds (1986). Excerpts from both were re-issued as a single CD in the 1990s. More recently, the complete albums, plus all of the other material the band recorded at the time, but never released, have been packaged together as a 2 CD set.
The members of Skeleton Crew were associated with the downtown New York improv scene. Unlike many recordings to emerge from that scene, including many recordings Frith himself played on, Learn to Talk and The Country of Blinds are actually fun to listen to. (Anyone interested in buying my Art Bears and Henry Cow/Slapp Happy records, please contact me.) Tom Cora died in 1998. Permadink | | |
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