July 29, 2004

Modest Mouse
Caught a very nice set by Modest Mouse last night at First Avenue. The joint was sold out and most likely oversold. The upstairs was a solid wall of humans, which made the bar almost completely inaccessible.

Almost.

I could tell that my newly developed anxiety panic problem that happens when I stand for too long in the middle of large sweaty crowds might get the best of me so took evasive action and preventative steps. I've found that all anxieties can be kept at bay if I continue to move around and give myself tasks. Simple tasks. Like, "you should go over to the other side of the stage and see what it looks like over there" or, "you should take a drink order and thusly move to the bar to fill it". All these little jobs help confuse and fluster the anxiety. I'm not sure where this little problem developed but if this is what it means to get old than I'm going to have a serious problem with that. Anyhoo. I hope to confront the thing dead on this weekend as I head out to New York City. If NYC doesn't kill me then I'll probably be cured for good. Maybe I'll see Sasquatch.

July 28, 2004

Sasquatch
With the Beasties new video for Triple Trouble, I can't exactly pinpoint my favorite part. Is it a) when sasquatch does a mapquest look-up for, 'starting address' = sasquatch, 'destination address' = Beastie Boys, b) when sasquatch wears chaps or, c) when sasquatch reads the Beastie Boys a bedtime story?

The Death of Spy Movies
I think one of the most important reasons for regime change in the White House that until now has been wholly overlooked at the 2004 Democratic National Convention is the complete credibility collapse of our intelligence agencies and its detrimental effect on the spy movie genre. Granted there's still two days left of the convention and both John Edwards and John Kerry have yet to speak but I fear this issue is going to be without a champion and without a voice as we come closer and closer to November. I encourage everyone to call their senators and express your anger that our intelligence community has become a laughing stock. The 9/11 commission report, Bob Woodward, Richard Clark and a string of other whistle blowers have exposed the intel community to be nothing more than an unorganized group of feebleminded bungle-brains who can't spell "Zawahiri" in a google search. The lamentable snafu this has brought to the Hollywood spy movie industry is regrettable, and if things don't change in Washington, probably fatal.

Take for example, The Bourne Supremacy. On first blush it looks like a thrilling action movie pitting a lone CIA castaway (Matt Damon) against the very agency that raised him and taught him to kill while remaining completely invisible. Bourne speaks like eight languages fluently, he's able to move in and out of situation and place with absolute stealth and effective camouflage. The CIA, the agency that's tracking Bourne, is totally mobile, high-teched out to the teeth, efficient, faultless, and frighteningly thorough in its ability to pinpoint and track individuals anywhere in the globe 24/7.

Just three years ago, or say back in the day when Robert Ludlum wrote the Bourne trilogy, this movie would have had me on the edge of my seat, blown away by the shock and awe of the CIA's perfect execution. But today, I can only snicker and giggle at the complete implausibility of the story, the technology, and the resolve of the agency personnel the movie portraits. The intelligence transparency is too thin and the whole genre is in jeopardy. People, we must act now! We must restore credibility to the White House. We must put in power someone who will turn back the clock to a time when the CIA, the FBI, the DEA were all mysterious organizations that brought fear and excitement whenever their futuristic initials would appear like a computer password - all small-like at the bottom of a movie screen. The next James Bond movie depends on us to Act now!

July 26, 2004

Fireworks at Aquatennial
I went down to the Minneapolis Aquatennial this weekend to see the firework display. I took some cool snaps including the one above and these two. It was impossibly packed with humans down by the river but we were able to find a nice spot on the lawn. Some marketing genius over at Target Corp had devised these 3D like glasses for viewing the fireworks. When you looked through them they didn't produce a 3D effect instead they turned any light source into a clever little target-like bulls-eye. When the fireworks really got going, it looked as if the sky was lit up with hundreds of differently colored Target logos. Easily the best marketing idea of the year. Not only did Target hand out these nifty glasses but they also passed out pin wheels with the Target logo all over them. These were a big hit. People of all ages were rocking pin wheels. Usually when free promo stuff is handed out at a public event like the Aquatennial, it doesn't take two seconds for the ground and the trash bins to be filled with the stuff. But when the fireworks were over and we were walking back to the car, I looked all over for a pin wheel but no one had dumped theirs. Of the thousands handed out it looked like 100% of the people brought their pin wheel home. The lesson here is, good ideas coupled with good design not only can create enjoyable public moments in collective entertainment but can do so without producing instant throw away items.

July 23, 2004

David Corio
Check out the excellent photographs of David Corio. Incredible images of reggae, jazz, hip hop and rock artists can be found in his portfolio alongside beautiful portraits and shots of New York City.

July 21, 2004

High End Conasseuir
If my pockets were laced with obscene amounts of cash, If my lotto ticket ever strikes or, if my gardening ho ever falls upon a large treasure chest of booty whilst digging through my garden, I'm gonna buy me one of these Teres Audio hardwood turntables. Then I'm going to build a sonically reinforced extension onto my house, where the only furniture will be this turntable and an Eames lounge chair built from the same piece of exotic hardwood that was used to fashion the turntable.

I'm having all these 'Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous' thoughts today. But there's an explanation. Last night I received a tip on a mysterious vinyl sales extravaganza being held at a Minneapolis store that deals in super high-end audio equipment. I decided to check it out. Turns out the event was a private, invite only kinda thing with booze and cold cuts being served. I didn't have an invitation, but no problem. I stood confidently, drank freely and looked at records like I knew what I was doing - like I belonged. Before long I had found an amazing double live LP of Mississippi John Hurt recordings. Not long after clutching the reocrd, I was approached by a decent guy who runs the record shows at the local VFW. He began telling me a long back story about the record I held in my hand. He was obviously tight with the people who ran the joint and suggested we get more beer and listen to the record in one of these million dollar sonic chambers. The record was expertly placed upon a unit similar to the one above. Some other guy who worked there told me every detail I would ever want to know about this incredible machine. The best part about it is that to turn it on or to get the disc spinning you simply cusp the cylinder with your hand and give it a spin. As he demonstrated this, all I could think about was Eddie Murphy in The Golden Child.

The sound of course was amazing. The difference between what these guys listen to music with and what you and I listen to music with is like the difference between swimming in a kiddy pool in your back yard and deep sea diving in the middle of the pacific ocean.

After the Mississippi John Hurt was played, they broke out a never before played orange vinyl edition of Brian Wilson's new record. That shit was banging! If you listened closely, you could actually pick up the different vocal harmonies coming from individual speakers.

Before leaving I was given a tour of all sorts of old tube amplifiers, high end speaker components, and all kinds of cool gadgets that I can't afford. One guy asked my what kind of unit I was rocking at home and I told him iPod. Big mistake. He looked at me like I had just shot his brother. "You mean you actually listen to mp3's?" To the fine audio connoisseur, the mp3 is by far the worst invention in the history of all things sonic. These audio junkies are on a crusade to get a constitutional amendment passed to outlaw them. They have a point. There is a vast chasm between mp3 chasers, who, must have hundreds of gigs of mp3s and are addicted to searching for an ever-increasing amount of files and the guy who owns four Rolling Stones records of impeccable quality and listens to them exclusively in his double-reinforced sonic cockpit. Quantity versus quality.

July 19, 2004

1970 Dodge Charger
I had a theme day of sorts yesterday. In celebration of the Minnesota Vietnam Vets coming to take away my '85 Grand Royal Oldsmobile, I decided I go check out the Car Craft Summer National Car Show at the Minnesota Sate Fair Grounds. The State Fair Grounds hosts non-fair events all summer until the Fair actually starts on August 26th. Each event is always some festival celebrating the various active sub-cultures that roam our country. The Car Craft show brings together over 3000 muscle cars for everyone to ogle. As is typical of an event like this one, the participants are almost as interesting as the vehicles. I go to these events for one purpose and one purpose only and that's to check out the sampling of 1970 Dodge Chargers. Unlike the 1969 Charger (aka The General Lee) The 1970 Charger is distinguishable by its ultra cool single continuous grill.

There were a few pristine specimens at the car show. The green paint job on the Charger R/T (pictured above) was off-the-hook. The photo doesn't do it justice. The orange Charger 500 however had a 426 dual-overhead cam Hemi engine inside that was previously owned and used by Richard Petty. The engine alone was valued by it's owner at around $30,000. Needless to say he wasn't going to give me a ride. Which was probably a good thing because it turns out that this particular Charger 500 had somewhat of a Stephen King Christine-like curse to it. Apparently the last two owners of the vehicle had died behind the wheel in non-accident related deaths.

I ended my Mopar appreciation day at Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge, where $1.25 cans of Schmidt were the Sunday special and the pizza was delicious.

July 16, 2004

Regan Youth
A friend of mine has taken the summer off, loaded his car up with boxes and boxes of Wheat Thins, CD racks full of gangster rap, and a full library of books on tape all read by Ali G. Respek. You haven't lived till you've heard Moby Dick read in a heavy Barkshire accent.

The Document that he's preparing to unleash at the end of this journey is called Battleground Minnesota. It's been described to me as a documentary on the Minnesota political landscape. But that's just too polite.

My man was popping fresh this week when he returned from Dfuluth, where the President had touched down briefly to flaunt his newest rollbacks on logging. Somehow this was supposed to impress the god-fearing folk in Duluth?!? He called me up and told me he was going out to Fridley Minnesota to cover a College Republicans BBQ and he didn't have a camera man. Could I stand in? It was a beautiful late afternoon and I was feeling hungry. A BBQ, especially if they had potato salad, sounded like a good time. I figured I could scam a lot of free beer too. If I remember back to my college days, those young Republicans get pretty loose with their booze.

As we drove up to Fridley stuffing our faces with Wheat Thins and jamming our ear-holes with old N.W.A. jams, I watched some of the Duluth footage that was captured of the leftist protesters. Immediately, I was struck by the utter stupidity of these folks. Completely inarticulate. Totally self-absorbed with their own radical journey. Not handling their drugs well. A disgrace to the cause. Listen up young people of Duluth...Pull your head out your bong for a second and deliver a clear and concise argument backed up by facts. Please.

Another thing that struck me about the leftist footage was just how damn ugly they all were. Not a healthy looking one in the bunch.

So, yeah right. We pull up on this BBQ. There's about 20 of 'em, frolicking about - playing frisbee and tossing pill in the park. We are in the throws of introductions and trust building, when, I'm completely overcome by the beauty of everyone there. It was like a BBQ for beautiful people. And yes everyone was painfully nice, polite, and genuine too. Food was offered. Turns out this was a no booze event. The reason being that Laura Bush was going to be on conference call later and they all wanted to remain sharp for that. I drank a Coke in the fading sun of the late afternoon.

As we got set up with our gear some high school kids introduced themselves as members of TARS (Teenage Republicans). They wanted to know the name of the movie, when it was going to be on TV, etc, etc. When we told them they got all kinds of excited and wanted to be the first to be interviewed. My man said that sounded good. I was skeptical because of their youth and their somewhat ditzy manner. They looked like they had just walked off the set of the movie "Clueless". I didn't think we'd get much out of them besides Britney Spears jokes and shopping tips.

So it's three high school girls and they are set up in front of these wonderful pink flowers that I have attached a BUSH/CHENEY '04 yard sign to. Here's where shit gets weird. They introduce themselves as "Christians and therefore Republicans" and then proceed to take us to school. They covered everything. They started with the bible and the decay of rules in society. They took us back and gave a history lesson on the Romans and our founding fathers. They deconstructed the stem cell research a the University of Minnesota, they dissected both the national and local tax plans. They were on top of their shit. They were polite and did not interrupt each other, only using what another one had said to build up an argument further. They were a well oiled machine. Intensely articulate. Even as I sat there in disagreement with almost every word that came out their mouths, I was beaming that there existed these humans that were bright and mercilessly devoted to their beliefs, however strange and wicked they were. The clincher came when they all started in about how much they luv watching CSPAN. I was like "uh huh, riiiiiiight." But it was no joke. They had all watched the gay marriage ban proceeding the day before, calling each other on the two-way to rip apart a Democrat when they spoke; lauding over Bill Frisk like he was some kind of rock star. It was seriously odd. At the end of the interview, more politeness and then massive giggling as they all contemplated the thought of being on TV. When they ran off to go play capture the flag, my man and I both looked at each other. Speechless. What alternate universe had we stepped into? Had we just been seduced by some kind of diablo de republico? This cocktail of equal parts naive hate and beautiful hope that I was presented with was completely undrinkable.

The rest of the interviews went by pretty much the same. The next one more articulate and versed on Minnesota politics then the next. There was a haze of lucid eloquence following everyone around. I could easily see the future senators and governors of our state coming from this crop of young talent. They even had the hand gestures down solid.

The other thing that really struck me about this group was how little 'shit' they talked about the Democrats and John Kerry. I'm so used to leftist events where people are cracking George Bush jokes every seven seconds and talking only about the sad direction of the Bush Administration's policies. But these Young Republicans, were happy enough to just talk about the wonders of their candidate and the virtues of the Republican platform. I didn't hear a John Kerry joke the entire evening. I'm kinda bummed about that actually.

I think it's doom for the Democrats this year if the national debate becomes "we love Bush" versus "we hate Bush". But I don't know. Even if the Democrats actually liked John Kerry enough to talk about his virtues, it still might be doom for the Democrats. After witnessing the Republican machine yesterday, it's going to be one hell of an uphill battle.

July 13, 2004

Battles of the Cereal Bowl
Working my way through my second bowl of Spiderman 2 cereal. I have to say that of the two summer blockbuster cereals that I have tried Spiderman 2 takes home the prize. I'm sure the folks at Kelloggs cereal were delighted when they realized that the shape of a honeycomb, given some slick spidey coloration, could easily pass for a spider-web. And now that you know that the very first thing I put into my mouth this morning was a spider-web, surely you understand why my mornings kick so much more ass then yours. I laugh at your granola and soy yogurt.

Saw an incredible band last night called Battles. They take the whole instrumental math rock thing into a whole 'nother hypnotic vector-based 4D digital-analog dance dimension. I have never ever seen so many amplifiers piled on the 7th Street Entry stage. Featured in Battles line-up are; the kid of Anthony Braxton, who plays instruments with all four appendages and his mouth, the drummer from Helmet and the guitarist from Don Cabellero. The whole rocks greater than all the parts. All standing members of the band kept time by doing this light bouncing jogging thing which made me think that if only I had adopted that cool jig in high school I would have been able to pass out of pre-calculus.

July 09, 2004

By Hanna
Swedish designer Hanna Werning makes beautiful contemporary wallpaper fashioned after the Swedish master Josef Frank.

Plus, Random Friday Photo.

July 08, 2004

This Post: Certified 100% - Scurvy Free
The latest chapter in my sea-born fascination, includes, but is not limited to: Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life among the Pirates, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, 2182 Kilohertz ,The Outlaw Sea: A World of Freedom, Chaos, and Crime, a re-read of Hem's The Old Man and the Sea along with the fine music of both Maritime and the Shipping News.

New to my literary mix are the stories of bad-ass pirates and gifted pirating. A fascinating genre onto itself. Many of the sharp stories pit nomadic buccaneers against their sea fairing rivals - the privateers, who were essentially state sponsored pirates. The parallels are striking in their relevance to this modern age of terrorism and terrorists - state sponsored or otherwise.

'Under a Black Flag' shatters many of the Disney created pirate myths and delivers a more unwholesome picture of the pirating life, a life spent bullying other ships and destroying enemies in a manner that would make Al- Zawahiri blush today. With all the make-up and perfume that the entertainment engine puts on old school pirate stories, one can't help but wonder what hyper-romantic imagery will be created in the future to depict the likes of an Osama Bin Laden or a George Bush. But don't get me wrong...I thought Pirates of The Caribbean was a dope movie. And I hope they make many more like it. There certainly are enough good stories from the golden age of pirates to deliver about 50 quality sequels.

Of course, all this reading at some point turns into scouring the internet for more reading and information, especially more olde tyme images. Here are some dorky links: Swashbuckler's Cove: good historical background on pirates. A design discussion on the significance of the death heads symbol. A breakdown of the different pirate flags flown by various pirates. An extensive image gallery of all things pirate. And for the fashion inclined, the special night-out-on-the-town...skulls and dreamers t-shirts and your everyday wear around the house pirate-mod t-shirts.

July 06, 2004

Hiawatha Line: Back to the Future
I took the new Hiawatha-Line Light Rail Transit to a Twins game the other day. The first train car I tried to board was so packed with humans that I couldn't even pound my way into a cabin. I did push my way onto the next train and was soon whisked away at a fine speed and deposited six minutes later right at the front steps of the Metrodome. It was fun being on the train which is still a novelty to everyone. There was almost a World's Fair type atmosphere as everyone lavished praise on the new transit technology. Lot's of folks expressed happiness in that Minneapolis now joins the ranks of major cities (Chicago, New York, Washington DC) with Light Rail Transit. What's interesting to me is that this great leap forward for our humble city is really a great leap backward to a time when mass rail transit was the norm. Although the technology is much improved the concept is still the same. It's like if I were to take my Macintosh computer running the current Panther OS and decide I would downgrade to good old System 7 just so I could create some retro graphics using the old 32-bit QuickDraw.

Hopefully the new Hiawatha-Line Light Rail won't become a retro novelty (like the above poster implies) and will actually serve as the cornerstone for a vastly superior and forward thinking state-wide transit system. And really, I hope this means that we aren't far off from getting our own MLX01 Maglev Line.

July 02, 2004

Newsflash: Sun Ra Predicts Saturn Radio Emissions
Astral Jazz Pioneer, Sun Ra, claims he was born on the planet Saturn, which is a dope little piece of science fiction that I've always found comforting when listening to anything from the Ra cannon. I have always believed it to be fiction however. Now I'm not so sure. Early this morning, while I was laying on the couch in a half comatose state waiting for the coffee to brew, I was listening to MPR's report on Cassini's first days in contact with the planet Saturn. Sure there were amazing photographs but what was really making the scientist shit flowers this morning was a strange joyful noise being broadcast from the large ringed planet. They played the audio. I was speechless. It sounded like they had just lifted a 12 second audio clip from any number of Sun Ra's compositions. Like this little snippet (mp3) from 'Journey Through the Outer Darkness".

I think this is more than just coincidence.

Sun Ra is the original Afronaut and I think we all should have paid a bit more attention when Sun Ra delivered his Concert for the Comet Kohoutek back in 1973. Scientist then were baffled by the comet's anomalous tail and continually changing form - far from the norm of usual comet behavior. Could it be that Sun Ra was in direct communication with the comet through his compositions? Perhaps, it's entirely possible that had Sun Ra not played the infamous concert for the comet - a sort of astral lullaby - that the comet would have smashed into the planet and caused all kinds of problems. There are many mysteries to be solved in deep space but there are even greater one's amongst the people who walk the earth.

July 01, 2004

The Stank of Dark Places
I've completely run out of my Shrek 2 cereal this morning. Now I'm jonesing for it. The donkey marshmallow were especially delicious.

Got to see John Vanderslice with Pedro the Lion at First Avenue last night. Vanderslice had a great set. I missed him last time through on his Spring Tour (photos), so I was glad to be around for this shot. Of the recent turmoil at First Avenue, you certainly can't tell that anything has changed yet. I sincerely hope that First Avenue will be around for a good long time and continue to book bands that could not otherwise play a large room in Minneapolis without getting into bed with Clear Channel.

Last night while standing in line at security check and waiting to get a ticket, I was overcome with nostalgia from breathing in that sweet metallic musk that is so distinctive to the entrance of First Avenue. It finally hit me that the smell is the same stink you will find in almost all Greyhound bus stations across America. Which makes sense on the surface, for First Avenue was a Greyhound bus station before being renovated into a night club. On the other hand, that was 25 years ago. One would think that the pure stench of rock and the road weary incense of a thousand band/fan combos would have at least scented the bouquet of the place with a bit more tang and spice then your average bus depot. Perhaps the stench of the Greyhound is just too powerful.