I can't get this tune outta my mind... I guess I just miss my baby.

I also love this song by Prince Buster:

Smokey & his best friend Rat Boy

Ness' paper mache birds at the craft fair

Mykey & Margaritte, gettin' hitched in 2010! whoo-hoo!

LOCAL EYES PART I

Rachael Lang

Vanessa Wade Lang

Mykey Arthrell

Margaritte Knezek

Joel Augustus Brazzel

Sara Calland

Emily Beanblossom

I recently got into HOT DICE / FARKEL and found a travel set for $7 at Wind Up Here. Mykey introduced me to this game, yet Ilya is encouraging me to turn this into a gambling kind of game to make it a bit more interesting.

Here's Mr. Ilya M******'s thoughts on FARKEL:

"the cosmic significance though, i fully believe in that. there's a certain zen aspect to the rolling of the dice, as well as the cruicial strategy of deciding whether or not to keep pushing your luck with each subsequent roll or to just end your turn and potentially let the next roller capitalize on your score (or roll your "karmically tainted" dice and lose their turn!).

theres a strong 'trust your gut' factor at play as well. you learn your limits, as well as the limits of your good fortune, as well as whats ethical and whats unethical. you rarely roll a score you don't in some way deserve. do not toss the dice in the wrong frame of mind, or with the wrong intentions. respect the game and it will respect you. beware: dont let this knowledge lull you into a sense of 'zen complacency', as the lazy are always eventually punished.

in farkle, as in life, both the human propensity for greed and the capacity for infinite patience are tested with very real consequences. only the strong and benevolent of spirit and mind will succeed in the long run."

"if you really wanna make it 'interesting' start putting up money for each game. like everyone throws in a dollar and plays for the whole pot. then, smoke some pot to imbue each dice roll with cosmic significance. there are no coincidences in farkle. justice is not blind. she's just resting her eyes."

who wants to play for money money????

COLLIDER,
an art show curated by Vanessa Wade Lang, featuring: Ryan Hudgins, Shelbi Chew, Tyler Ball, Rachael Lang, Erin Tanner, David Weinburg, Jean Nagai, and another fella Ness can't remember the name of.

cold & delicious times 2009

how did I never see this before?

Nervous Norvus was the performing name of Jimmy Drake (1912 in the Oakwood district of Los Angeles, California – July 24, 1968). His novelty song "Transfusion" was a major hit in 1956, as was a second song, "Ape Call," released later that year.

The lyrics in his song called "Transfusion" concern careless drivers who (cheerfully) receive blood transfusions after each accident. Graphic sounds of a car crash are included after each verse. Each stanza concludes with the refrain "Never never never gonna speed again" followed by lines such as "Slip the blood to me, Bud" or "Pour the crimson in me, Jimson." The song was banned on many radio stations of the '50s. The song was later played on the radio by DJ Barry Hansen, which reportedly led to Hansen's eventual nickname of Dr. Demento.

Itsssaaahhh meeee-aaahhh

Smokio!

as usual, I had a fluffin' great time in Portland!

I had several Thanksgiving Dinners this past week, but after the first one last Tuesday at Mykey's we played a game called HOT DICE. Mykey was obsessed and had a new gleam in his eye. It's a gambling game & I've never considered myself a gamblin' man... so I stuck what felt right and for this Ness (Skeletor) accused me (Battle Cat) of being a boring player. But check it out! I WON!

this is what I did over Thanksgiving break:

A long time ago, Cole told me about yooouuutuuube.com and last night he finally showed it to me. Wow! Put in any video html into the intro page and set the speed and go crazy!

maybe this will work: http://www.yooouuutuuube.com/v/?rows=36&cols=36&id=io2W1bNtZYY&startZoom=1

In an article called THE DOCUMENTARY CRISIS, author Ian F. Svenonius talks about a Cuban director named Santiago Álvarez who made over 700 films w/ a complete disregard for licensing and property laws. Please take a moment to read this article and watch these 2 clips of his film, which is mentioned in this article, LBJ.

Sometimes my buddy Mykey can recommend really bad movies just because he's hilarious, but I was actually surprised to find that THE COLOR OF MONEY w/ Paul Newman & Tom Cruise was actually not that bad. The music is horrible but both actors play their parts pretty well... but it's a really funny sequel that picks up where 30 years previous THE HUSTLER had left off. It's not hardly as depressing as THE HUSLTER was though... damn that movie seemed like it was written by Tennessee Williams or something.

This documentary is a really great telling of the classic Union Workers VS the Corporate Ogre story in America. These strikers also have great style.

this is amazing, but try not to listen to the music that some jerk put to it

A couple of weeks ago, when I had burgers w/ I. Bickelhaupt .... he played for the me the Parsnip Snips LP by Michael Hurley. It's so good! Every song is so pretty & haunting. Although this song "Werewolf" is not on the album I have... it gives you a nice idea of his sound. I should get this record too!

DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
Directed by Billy Wilder

You Can't Kiss Away A Murder!
It's Love And Murder At First Sight !

Walter Neff: "That was all there was to it. Nothing had slipped, nothing had been overlooked. There was nothing to give us away. And yet, Keyes, as I was walking down the street to the drugstore, suddenly, it came over me that everything would go wrong. It sounds crazy Keyes, but it's true, so help me, I couldn't hear my own footsteps. It was the walk of a dead man."

Such a well an excellent movie w/ a really great screen play by Billy Wilder & Raymond Chandler. The two of these men hated each other however and after watching a documentary about this film, I found it hard to believe that they even pulled it off! Ness & I tried watching the 70's made for TV version that pretty much uses the exact same screenplay and scene for scene and it was horrible! Barbara Stanwyck was so good at being evil in this movie and her blonde wig is so funny.

A Yeti & Death came to visit Walter circa 2006

The DEVILS (1971)
Dir. Ken Russell

I only went to the Olympia Film Festival twice this year (bummer), but luckily I caught this rare screening of The DEVILS. All the film reels were broken up which left 20 second pauses in between and made it seem like I was missing out on ... something ... but it was so dark, funny, and intense. The cinematography & set design were really something and Oliver Reed & Vanessa Redgrave were brilliant.

This is a photo of Ness' family on her Mothers side, the Wade's. The color, lighting, and clothing of the whole gang is amazing. I just wanted to post this picture cause I liked it so much.

Smokey is getting his shots and losing his nuts today, & I'm sittin' at school writing about this guy.

In other news, Johnny Burnette is one of my new Rock n' Roll heroes!

Smokey has been living w/ us for a week now and for the most part he's been the best kitten I've ever met! And look at the progress the other cats have made by accepting him into their little bed of fluffy royalty!

In other news, I am off to Ian Bickelhaupt's for a FALL BURGER BALL! He got 2 lbs. of meat from Stewarts.... it's gonna be amazing. This morning I had my first training for packing cheese at the West Side Food Coop and it was really fun. The Gouda Bacon & the Wasabi Horseradish were by far the best! mmmm cheese.

My 2 homies w/ 4 names: Cole Jon Roy Doig & David James Sawtell Weinburg have this music class they teach in Portland, OR and they just started a blog! This video is cool!:

The Omega Man (1971)

Directed by Boris Sagal

This movie is hilarious, ridiculous, and really well filmed. But the end kind of sucks. It was based on that book I AM LEGEND. I never saw the re-make w/ Will Smith... but it probably sucks anyways. The best part of this movie is seeing him drive around LA when it's completely empty.... and Heston's bad acting in scenes by himself. The poster for this movie rules though.

This is Smokey. I adopted him from Sarah Cass, who basically rescued 3 kitties who were malnourished and eager for love from loving humans. Sarah & Joel A. D. could not keep all 3 kittens in their adorable little love shack and noted that our house would be purrrfect for a kitty in need. I was hesitant, but after one little cuddle encounter I decided to bring him over for a visit to see how he liked it, & he immediately ran around, fell asleep, and seemed right at home. How could I say no? Look at this little dude! Could you say no?

Benny P. came up for Halloween/Tyvek times (which was awesome) and he suggested that Smokey would be a good name for a little gray fluffy guy and after I saw the KOKO & SMOKEY poster at Christina's it just seemed like the right thing to do. Here's that Koko & Smokey poster...



we also really wanted to name him Alfred Pennyworth.

t h e B u r g e r P u m p k i n

Have you ever heard of the experimental movie BATMAN DRACULA by Andy Warhol? Here's a clip w/ a rare Velvet Underground song called "The Nothing Song".

The Blue Gardenia (1953)
Directed by Fritz Lang

Adam Hardaway at Rainy Day recommended this film and I knew I had to see it when I noticed Raymond Burr was in it! It's no METROPOLIS, but it is an entertaining murder mystery with Nat King Cole (he's only in the clip above)!

On Friday night Brent Meador & I got to see Crispin Glover at the Capitol Theater. I have to say I was really excited at first, then I got a little nervous cause I had heard a lot of bad things people were saying about the film he was showing (which is the 2nd installment of his trilogy) IT IS FINE! EVERYTHING IS FINE! Also it cost $18 which is quite a bit... but we got really good seats and I immedietly felt like I got my money's worth when stepped on stage and went straight into about 12 different slide shows, which are basically him narrating books he has written aloud. It was really great. I had never seen anything like it and I felt like I was lost in a time warp.

His film was actually not nearly as disturbing as I had imagined it might be and after hearing about the way the film was written (written by the Steven C. Stewart, the man who plays the villian in the story, who actually died before the film was finished) during the Q & A it became a lot more intesting in retr0spect. The film was really well made though. Excellent cinematography and set design. Also, both of Crispin's parents were in the movie and they looked so bizarre, especially his father. The Q & A was really interesting and it went on forever.

After the Q & A we stood in the longest line ever to get a chance to get his autograph and ask him some questions. I couldn't believe how slowly the line was moving! He literally talked to everyone for at least 10 - 15 minutes! .... and later Brent, Ness, & I watched that Simpsons episode DEEP SPACE HOMER to cleanse the palate of the mind.

THE WILD ONE (1953)
Directed by Stanley Kramer

I got a used copy of this from Rainy Day cause I had never seen it and I'd heard it referenced quite a bit. I was surprised how short this movie is... only 80 minutes or so. Not quite as good as the other Marlon Brando movies of the 50's, but it has a lot of really great scenes.

A M A Z I N G

This is my Grandfather & Father sitting in a 1946 Willys Jeep my Dad just bought for the ranch.

And Don't the Kids Just Love It
I love this record, with the exception of that last song on the A side & that dumb about knowing where Syd Barrett lives. The rest is amazing.

I got one of these at a garage sale yesterday for $3!!! Except mine is a 60 in 1, not 100. 60 being the number of experiments.

Yesterday Ness & I went to Goodwill and found THE WHOLE STORY, a Kate Bush VHS greatest hits of her music videos. They all got progressively weirder than the last and had excellent dance moves... and in all the videos (with lots of dancers) she was the only woman. This video for the song Breathing has a super bizarre apocalypse thing going on at the end.


Army Dreamers has always been a favorite though.

the new Mississippi International comp. entitled Mata La Pena is so good! little previews of the songs here. that guy Tim Stollenwerk, the dude who masters the vinyl for these songs does such an amazing job.

if anyone would like a cassette copy of this just let me know.

THE THING (1982)
Directed by John Carpenter

This is just one of those movies I don't know how I missed until now. I really want to see the original film made by Howard Hawks (I didn't even know he did sci-fi!) called THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD. Apparently, in Hawks' version, the Thing doesn't imitate other life forms, rather duplicates several clones of itself!

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951)
Dir. H. Hawks


This story comes from a novella from the 30's called Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell, which J. Carpenter made his film faithful to. THE THING didn't do well in theater's due to the fact that it came out the same time as Spielberg's E.T. the EXTRA TERRESTRIAL. Bummer. Also, THE THING is the first in Carpenter's Apocalypse Trilogy ... followed by PRINCE OF DARKNESS & MOUTH OF MADNESS. I must see them all.

FOREVER AMBER - The Love Cycle
This record is a must for anyone who is into 60's pop music. It continues to blow my mind w/ every listen. For more information and to download go here.... or buy a vinyl copy at Rainy Day!

Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family - My Ancestors
I first heard this record at Exiled in Portland, OR & CJRD bought it immedietely. I hesitated cause it was almost $30... but when CJRD insisted it ruled and made me a tape I was stoked. Then I heard the tape he had made and it was totally unlistenable for some reason... I just decided to buy it on LP. This song Troublemaker is the shit!

John Davison Rockefeller, the richest man in history. Founder of Standard Oil, revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy.

Ida Tarbell, exposed Rockefeller's ruthless tactics and their destructive effect on smaller oil businesses. Tarbell's exposé fueled negative public sentiment against Standard Oil and was a contributing factor in the U.S. government's anti-trust against the Standard Oil Trust which eventually led to its breakup in 1911. Rockefeller had also put her father and brother out of business w/ his ruthless business approach.

Last Wednesday I ventured out to Mt. Rainier w/ Ange & Ness for a hike up the Longmire trail. Once we got there we met up w/ our bikes that we had already locked up on top of the mountain... and then we cruised down the mountain in complete bliss...except for Ness, whose bikes was making all kinda of racket.

I DJ-ed w/ Edmund Lapine on Saturday night at the Christmas record release party. Edmund spun this record by EL GUINCHO... and I got it the next day. This artist is from Spain and released a record last year on a label called Young Turks. It really reminds of earlier Animal Collective and it got me pumped to clean the kitchen yesterday. This video is kinda nice.

the colors in this photo are a little weird cause it was originally very dark and I adjusted it in P-Shop. Anyways, you can see a delicious slice of Carrot Pancake (Finnish), w/ homemade applesauce (local Honey Crisp apples), deliciously baked tofu, Gingered Beets (Jewish & amazing!), and a steamed beat salad w/ toasted sesame seeds, butter, salt & pepper! This dinner made me so euphoric! whoa. I wanna make Carrot Pancakes for everybody! so fluffy!

...& speaking of FLUFFY! look at this guy! Apparently, Walter really likes horses now. We told him we'd get him a pony.

Ness is making a Jacob's Ladder face

Judy is on is tree, can you see her?

Wild Elk everywhere

Photographs taken in Del Norte & Humboldt Counties, California, U.S.A.