Thursday, December 09, 2004


from children's illustrated books of the 50's & 60's

(via I likePosted by Hello

(Estes Kefauver)

56 Uncommon Baby Names for Boys, Culled From the Index of Volume 3 of Master of the Senate, Robert Caro's Biography of Lyndon Johnson. Posted by Hello

happy birthday John Milton  Posted by Hello

Jackson Mac Low 1922-2004

1ST LIGHT POEM: FOR IRIS -- 10 JUNE 1962


The light of a student-lamp
sapphire light
shimmer
the light of a smoking-lamp
Light from the Magellanic Clouds
the light of a Nernst lamp
the light of a naphtha-lamp
light from meteorites

Evanescent light
ether
the light of an electric lamp
extra light

Citrine light
kineographic light
the light of a Kitson lamp
kindly light

Ice light
irradiation
ignition
altar light

The light of a spotlight
a sunbeam
sunrise
solar light

Mustard-oil light
maroon light
the light of a magnesium flare
light from a meteor

Evanescent light
ether
light from an electric lamp
an extra light

Light from a student-lamp
sapphire light
a shimmer
smoking-lamp light

Ordinary light
orgone lumination
light from a lamp burning olive oil
opal light

Actinism
atom-bomb light
the light of an alcohol lamp
the light of a lamp burning anda-oil


(drawing byMimi GrossPosted by Hello

Wednesday, December 08, 2004


online book version of the Anthology of American Folk Music Posted by Hello

memories of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band!!!

"Picture this: Oslo, Norway. SAHB are playing an outdoor festival. The stage is at the top of an old ski-slope, and at the bottom, there's a lake. As The Faith Healer's pulsing riff kicks in, Alex is standing on the far shore of the lake. Save for a swimming cap fashioned from a polythene bag, he's butt-naked.

Alex dives in, swims across the lake, then begins making his way up the ski-slope and through the crowd. When he reaches the stage, he pulls on his pirate-stripe T-shirt and jeans, then climbs up to introduce "The Sensational. . . Alex. . . Harvey. . . Band". The next day he made the front page in all the Norwegian papers. Ted McKenna still has the clippings."  Posted by Hello
Lisa Robertson's "Soft Architecture" made The Village Voice's Books of the Year roundup

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

The Online Film Critics Society's "Top 100 Overlooked Films of the 1990s" this is pretty good

warm review of the Joe Brainard memoir and the James Schuyler letters--

"Dear Americans, love, The Perkins Rose People. Dear Prisoner in a Chinese Laundry, love, Josette Day. Dear Kewpie, Ever-thine, Hilton Kramer. Engel, love, Bettina. Dear Glen Tetley, love, Pachita Crespi. Dear Lad of Sunnybrook Farm, love, Fran Hagood, Ye Ed. Dear Purvis, Love, The Hookers of Kew. Dear Hosty with the Mosty, love (Mrs) Birdsey Youngs. Dear Tempest Storm, love, Norma Vincent Peel. Dear Rich Freeze-Dried Coffee Chunks, love, Stubborn Stains." Posted by Hello
Torture and Truth

"It’s become a kind of cliché that, if in the struggle against terror, we forget our values, the terrorists will have been victorious. My question is, what do we mean by this? What exactly would constitute our having lost this battle and making changes in the way we live and our attitudes towards human rights and civil liberties that would actually constitute a kind of defeat? It’s hard to think of something more obvious than American troops and American intelligence officers torturing prisoners. And doing it not only as an act of desperation in the field, but doing it as a matter of policy which has been developed at the highest level of the administration. My question is, when we say the terrorists cause us to dispense with our values -- our belief in human rights, our adherence to laws we have passed that commit the U.S. not to torture -- if we have abrogated those, doesn’t that constitute the victory of the other side that we talk about? And if it doesn’t, what is the line you have to cross so that it does? "

hearing Tami Lynn's "I'm Gonna Run Away From You" for the firtst time since then brought back the glories of the UK chart for July 1971 into sharp relief--I tend to forget how different the British charts still were in those days...John Kongos! Slade! Jim Reeves! Hurricane Smith! Herman covering Bowie!--

UK Top 40 Hits of July 1971
1 Middle Of The Road Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep
2 T Rex Get It On
3 Sweet Co-Co
4 Hurricane Smith Don't Let It Die
5 Lobo Me And You And A Dog Named Boo
6 Greyhound Black And White
7 Blue Mink Banner Man
8 Dave & Ansil Collins Monkey Spanner
9 New World Tom-Tom Turnaround
10 John Kongos He's Gonna Step On You Again
11 Temptations Just My Imagination
12 Tami Lynn I'm Gonna Run Away From You
13 Supremes & Four Tops River Deep, Mountain High
14 Bob & Marcia Pied Piper
15 Tony Christie I Did What I Did For Maria
16 White Plains When You Are A King
17 Move Tonight
18 New Seekers Never Ending Song Of Love
19 Smokey Robinson & The Miracles I Don't Blame You At All
20 St Cecilia Leap Up And Down (Wave Your Knickers In The Air)
21 Mungo Jerry Lady Rose
22 Atomic Rooster Devil's Answer
23 Dawn Knock Three Times
24 Rolling Stones Street Fighting Man
25 Medicine Head (And The) Pictures In The Sky
26 Delfonics La-La Means I Love You
27 Who Won't Get Fooled Again
28 Slade Get Down And Get With It
29 Elgins Heaven Must Have Sent You
30 Gordon Lightfoot If You Could Read My Mind
31 Family In My Own Time
32 Jim Reeves I Love You Because / He'll Have To Go / Moonlight And Roses
33 Bob Dylan Watching The River Flow
34 Neil Diamond I Am ... I Said
35 Fascinations Girls Are Out To Get You
36 Diana Ross I'm Still Waiting
37 Judy Collins Amazing Grace
38 Elvis Presley Rags To Riches
39 Elvis Presley Heartbreak Hotel / Hound Dog
40 Peter Noone Oh You Pretty Thing  Posted by Hello

Monday, December 06, 2004

interesting book round-up from Jed Perl features Rothko, Levertov & Duncan, Schuyler, Berkson...

visualisation of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" (thanks Metafilter) Posted by Hello
Smug Canada

"The rush to make comparisons sometimes prevents meaningful examination of the very real problems that Canada faces. As a Canadian social advocate once told me, when her compatriots look at their own societal problems, they are often satisfied once they can reassure themselves that they're better off than the United States. As long as there's still more homelessness, racism and income inequality to the south, Canadians can continue to rest easy in their moral superiority."

Sunday, December 05, 2004


listening to the ambient folk (?) of Argentina's Juana Molina Posted by Hello