Take a look at “Rombo,” the Rick Santorum campaign’s weak effort to counter the heavy, heavy deluge of negative advertising currently seen across the state of Michigan in anticipation of the GOP primaries there on the 28th.
What’s that shitty smelling frothy brown mixture this gun is loaded with, anyway?
Guys! That was just too easy!!!
UPDATE: Operation Hilarity At Daily Kos there’s an effort being organized to keep the Republican clown contest going as long as possible before Mitt Romney is decreed? crowned? this elections sacrificial lamb: If you live in the open primary and caucus states of Michigan, North Dakota, Vermont and Tennessee, all which have contests coming up in the next three weeks—then head out and cast a vote for Rick Santorum. So far the races have been tight, often with razor sharp margins. If Santorum gains “big mo” from wins in these states, it’ll be good for… “the country.” Yeah, that’s right, GOOD FOR AMERICA!
Sad to hear that Oscar-nominated singer/songwriter Dory Previn has died. I’ve actually been listening to her music in the car lately.
Previn’s lyrics brought a different, more wizened, mature sensibility to the confessional folk rock songwriting ethos of the 70s. Her concerns were those of a middle-aged woman who had seen it all. Previn braved a difficult abusive childhood, mental illness, divorce and betrayal in her life, and it was all grist for the mill of her uniquely feminine, yet soul-baring, muse.
In one of the more famous episodes from her life, after a spell of hospitalization for psychological difficulties, Dory’s husband, composer and orchestra conductor Andre Previn, left her for 24-year-old actress Mia Farrow, who the singer considered a close friend. She wrote about the situation on her 1970 album On My Way to Where which was described by one critic as “Freud with music.” From The Guardian:
In its most famous track, “Beware of Young Girls,” which Farrow at first thought tasteless but later appreciated, Dory wrote of a visitor who came bearing daisies: “She was my friend/ I thought her motives were sincere… / Ah but this lass / It came to pass / Had / A dark and different plan / She admired / My own sweet man.” She noted that this visitor “admired my unmade bed”, and even predicted that, having made off with the sweet man, “she will leave him one thoughtless day”. The album’s let-it-all-hang-out, confessional quality is encapsulated in Twenty-Mile Zone, about being detained by a policeman who accused her of “doing it alone / You were doing it alone / You were screaming in your car / In a twenty-mile zone”.
More LPs swiftly followed: Mythical Kings and Iguanas, Reflections in a Mud Puddle (both 1971) and Mary C Brown and the Hollywood Sign (1972), originally an unproduced stage-show. There were also shy stage appearances – she knew that her talent lay more in the words than the music – one of which was captured as Live at Carnegie Hall (1973). A new label brought Dory Previn (1974) and We’re Children of Coincidence and Harpo Marx (1976).
Before her solo career, Previn co-wrote the Oscar-nominated score for the film Valley of the Dolls with then husband Andre. Dory Previn penned two autobiographies, Midnight Baby, 1976 and Bog-trotter: An Autobiography with Lyrics in 1980. She has been cited as an influence by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and he has long been a champion of her work. Dory Previn was 86
“Beware of Young Girls”:
Below, Dory Previn appears on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1974:
Richard Metzger shared The Nomi Song with DM readers back in 2010 but the original source for the video is gone. Here’s a new link to the film.
Andrew Horn’s excellent 2004 documentary about New Wave opera diva from outer-space, Klaus Nomi, follows the rise of Nomi’s unlikely career until his death in 1983 from AIDS complications. With Kristian Hoffman, Kenny Scharf, Ann Magnuson, Tony Frere, Page Wood, David McDermott and in a great performance clip, David Bowie and Joey Arias.
Apparently so. The born again Christian heavy metal guitarist and vocalist who was kicked out of Metallica in 1983 for being too wasted all of the time gave Music Radar his informed burnt out rockstar guy assessment of the Republican Presidential field:
“I’m just hoping that whatever is in the White House next year is a Republican. I can’t bear to watch what’s happened to our great country. Everybody’s got their head in the sand. Everybody in the industry is like, ‘Oh, Obama’s doing such a great job…’ I don’t think so. Not from what I see.
“Looking at the Republican candidates, I’ve got to tell you, I was floored the other day to see that Mitt Romney’s five boys have a $100 million trust fund. Where does a guy make that much money? So there’s some questions there. And watching Newt Gingrich, I was pretty excited for a while, but now he’s just gone back to being that person that everybody said he was – that angry little man. I still like him, but I don’t think I’d vote for him.
“Ron Paul… you know, I heard somebody say he was like insecticide – 98 percent of it’s inert gases, but it’s the two percent that’s left that will kill you. What that means is that he’ll make total sense for a while, and then he’ll say something so way out that it negates everything else. I like the guy because he knows how to excite the youth of America and fill them in on some things. But when he says that we’re like the Taliban… I’m sorry, Congressman Paul, but I’m nothing like the Taliban.
“Earlier in the election, I was completely oblivious as to who Rick Santorum was, but when the dude went home to be with his daughter when she was sick, that was very commendable. Also, just watching how he hasn’t gotten into doing these horrible, horrible attack ads like Mitt Romney’s done against Newt Gingrich, and then the volume at which Newt has gone back at Romney… You know, I think Santorum has some presidential qualities, and I’m hoping that if it does come down to it, we’ll see a Republican in the White House… and that it’s Rick Santorum.”
No word yet on how the Santorum campaign has reacted to Mustaine’s endorsement…
Kraftwerk fans in the New York area have much to be happy about with the announcement about MOMA’s lavish celebration of the band’s unique art form. They also might want to jump on these tickets the minute they go on sale next Wednesday!
New York, NY, February 15, 2012—The Museum of Modern Art presents its first time-based artist retrospective with Kraftwerk–Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, performed live on eight consecutive evenings from April 10 through 17, by Kraftwerk, the avant-garde electronic music pioneers. Each evening will consist of a live performance, in the Museum’s Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium, of works from one of the group’s eight albums, created over four decades, followed by a selection of original compositions from their catalogue adapted specifically for this exhibition’s format, to showcase both Kraftwerk’s historical contributions and contemporary influences on sound and image culture. Kraftwerk–Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 is organized by Klaus Biesenbach, Chief Curator at Large at MoMA and Director of MoMA PS1, with the assistance of Eliza Ryan, Curatorial Assistant, MoMA PS1.
The elaborate staging of the performances will combine sound and 3D images to present more than 40 years of musical and technological innovation, with new improvisations and 3D projections. The albums will be performed in chronological order: Autobahn (1974), Radio-Activity (1975), Trans Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (1978), Computer World (1981), Techno Pop (1986), The Mix (1991), and Tour de France (2003).
Tickets are $25.00 and will go on sale to the public on Wednesday, February 22, at 12:00 p.m., only at MoMAKraftwerkTickets.showclix.com. Space is limited. There is a two-ticket limit per person for the series, with each individual order limited to one transaction. Tickets will be distributed exclusively via will call, with photo ID required.
“Kraftwerk is an influential force not only in music, but also in visual culture,” says Mr. Biesenbach. “Through their experimentation with how images and sound are shaped by the latest recording and visualization tools, they have continuously anticipated the impact of technology on everyday life, and have captured the human condition in an era of rapidly changing mobility and telecommunication. Today, they remain vital to contemporary practice through their intersection of popular culture, mass media, and artistic production. In Kraftwerk’s practice, all of the components—melodic music and ambient sound, elaborate stage sets, live performance and performance by robots, their trademark videos and logo-like still imagery, all conceived and realized by the artists themselves—coalesce as one work of art.”
Performance Schedule as follows:
Tuesday, April 10, 8:30 p.m. Autobahn (1974)
Wednesday, April 11, 8:30 p.m. Radio-Activity (1975)
Thursday, April 12, 8:30 p.m. Trans Europe Express (1977)
Friday, April 13, 10:00 p.m. The Man-Machine (1978)
Saturday April 14, 8:30 p.m. Computer World (1981)
Sunday, April 15, 8:30 p.m. Techno Pop (1986)
Monday, April 16, 8:30 p.m. The Mix (1991)
Tuesday, April 17, 10:00 p.m. Tour de France (2003)
As part of Kraftwerk–Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, a presentation of Kraftwerk’s historical audio and visual material will be on view in the new MoMA PS1 Performance Dome at MoMA PS1, from April 10-May 14, 2012.
Below, a performance of “Autobahn” on German television in 1974. Note that they were using Mini-moogs and drum pads then, not the “remixing” with laptops bullshit they do now…
“Jane Farrell stole 2 boots and was sentenced to do 10 hard days labour.”
Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums historic Flickr sets are amazing, eye-opening and some times a little heartbreaking. I chose to feature female prisoners from the Newcastle City Gaol and House of Correction dated 1871-1873.
I’ll be honest, some of these women I wouldn’t want to tango with in a dark alley, but most of these faces look so sad and utterly defeated by life. Their faces are aged prematurely by poverty, sickness and simply put, being dealt a shitty hand on the day they were born.
Agnes Stewart: 28-years-old
“Agnes Stewart was a married lady from Edinburgh and was convicted of the crime - theft of money.”
It’s fantastic to see how “the dog story” (or “Crate Gate” as it is becoming known) is beginning to crush Mitt Romney, as well it should. Anyone who would strap a dog to the top of the family car for a TWELVE HOUR road trip has something wrong with them, something wrong in their head, like, say a pathologically severe lack of empathy (apparently a notable psychological trait of the wealthy and privileged, that they just don’t “get it”).
After the dog shit all over the car, Romney pulled over someplace, hosed the car (and the dog) down and drove on with the obviously scared-shitless pooch still atop the car. Emotion-free crisis management or what? Something that is becoming increasingly obvious about Mitt Romney: He’s the calm, cruel father. The scarier question… is he a high-functioning psychopath?
On the Dogs Against Romney website they decided to embrace the Dan Savage approach:
And yesterday, at the Westminster Dog Show in New York, dog lovers really let Romney have it. From Boston.com:
A protest outside the Westminster dog show aimed at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney drew about a dozen demonstrators Tuesday, plus a few pooches.
The half-hour lunchtime demonstration in front of Madison Square Garden took issue with Romney’s oft-told story of traveling with his Irish setter, Seamus, on a family vacation in 1983. Romney has said he put the dog inside a crate and strapped it to the roof rack for a 12-hour drive from Boston to Canada.
Protest spokeswoman Kitty Hendrix said the Dogs Against Romney website that organized the demonstration has about 25,000 members. The protesters held signs that said “Mitt is Mean’’ and “Dogs Aren’t Luggage’’ and “I Ride Inside.’’
One of the protesters, Al Alvarez, who picketed with his pit bull, Petey, said “I think Romney’s attitude toward dogs was indicative of his attitude toward the most vulnerable in our society.”
I’m inclined to agree. As someone who owns and spoils two tiny mutts rotten, I would never vote for a weirdo who thought it was okay to strap a defenseless dog to the top of their car for TWELVE HOURS. He’s either an idiot, a sociopath or BOTH. Fuck Mitt Romney. This is the sole piece of information I would need to make up my mind about how unfit this asshole is to be POTUS. Lisa Peterson, the spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club got in a wonderful dig at Mittens yesterday:
“The AKC promotes responsible dog ownership. Putting a dog in a crate for car travel is the first step toward responsible dog ownership,’’ she said. “The second step would be to put that crate in a car.’’
The song is “Skeletons Having Sex on a Tin Roof” by Icelandic group Orphic Oxtra from their album Kebab Diskó. I’ve never heard of Orphic Oxtra until today, but from what I’ve listened to so far, I really, really like them.
Australian artist Ben Smith’s “The Influence. Leonard Cohen consoles Nick Cave” depicts, with both wit and affection, the two melancholic bards as guru and student, father and son, ventriloquist and dummy, sharing the blood of Jesus and the fruit of knowledge.
Visit Smith’s website for more tantalizingly cool paintings.
The phrase, “gangster film”, immediately brings to mind images of iconic, uber-male actors (James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, Brando, Pacino, DeNiro, every actor in The Sopranos, etc) immersed in a near-operatic morality tale. Everything is big. The crimes are big, the characters are big and yes, even the violence is big. But what about the crime film that breaks it down to the utmost human level? Not only that, but focuses on the other end? Life is not always a cops and robbers show and nowhere is that more purely evident than in John Cassavetes’ often unappreciated masterpiece, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie.
Gone is the romance of crime, only to be replaced by the story of our hero, Cosmo Vitelli (Ben Gazzara), a burlesque club owner/dreamer who becomes beaten but not broken. The plot by itself is basic. Cosmo, after paying off one gambling debt to the mob, ends up accruing a more massive one in one fateful evening. It is this particular debt that has the underworld figures, including such thespian heavyweights as Timothy “The Man” Carey and Seymour Cassel, all but forcing Cosmo to carry out a hit on our titular bookie. Everything that I just wrote is part of the danger of solely relying on plot descriptors, because this film is more than just a-b-c-d and crime, it’s about a regular guy, not perfect but good hearted, trying to live his dream out in a world full of sharks, vultures and parasites.
Cosmo is not just a man, however, but a breathing metaphor for any artist who was ever backed into the corner of moral compromise. In a lot of ways, you are seeing a thinly veiled story of what Cassavettes himself had been put through as a filmmaker. He’s lauded now but life was never easy for the man and the fact that Bookie was released to mixed reviews and bad box office back in 1976 is partial proof of that. The real testament of Cassavetes’ genius was not just in making great cinema but the fact that the 1978 version, which he re-edited for a second stab at success was actually superior to the original cut. A tactic like that never works creatively but with a guy like Cassavetes, all bets are off.
The centerpiece, the heart and soul of this film is shared with the rich performance by Ben Gazzara. We recently lost Gazzara on February 3rd, 2012, which is a heartbreak. (In a spooky bit of fate, Cassavetes died on the same day, 23 years earlier, which is fitting for the anima/animus factor.) His Cosmo is a charismatic who has elevated what is essentially a strip club into a spectacle that integrates the spirit of vaudeville with T&A. He loves, lives and treats all of the ladies in his life with respect. This is a good man whose one mistake ends up leading him down one hellish road with an uncertain outcome. Gazzara is so naturalistic and nuanced with his performance that this character stays with you long after you have finished watching the movie. Sure, he is tough and masculine but the vulnerability and weariness shows through in the smallest of gestures. Seeing him alongside another screen titan, Timothy Carey, is one of the best cinematic gifts one could ever ask for. Anything you have seen cannot touch the mastery these two actors provide.
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie is ripe for rediscovery. It is one of the smartest crime films ever made and features some insanely stellar acting work from both Gazzara and Carey. If you have an open mind and an understanding heart, then you too will see the perfection that is this film.
Both the 1976 and 1978 version of The Killing of a Chinese Bookie are currently available on the Criterion Collection’s lush box set, John Cassavetes: Five Films.
Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something about these knitted masks by Los Angeles-based artist Ben Cuevas that gives off a super sinister vibe. But in a good way.
Forget those cliched Guy Fawkes masks, these are much better. That last one is very Devo, isn’t it?
The famous “Detroit Tubeworks” bootleg is 25 minutes of seminal, early Alice Cooper footage shot at the WABX television studios in 1971. I can recall getting my eager mitts on a VHS tape of this in the late 80s and feeling like I possessed something more valuable than gold…
At 16:16 minutes in, they do an astonishing version of “Black Juju.” WHY were these degenerates ever allowed entry into cities across America? If Richard Nixon was so afraid of Timothy Leary, you’d think he’d have wanted to have Alice Cooper assassinated! Hard to believe that Alice is now a rightwing Christian after watching this clip!
