'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
Marscon Artists' Recommendations
By Baron Dave Romm
Hell
and High Water: Global Warming--the Solution and the Politics--and
What We Should Do by Joseph Romm.
A clear, concise and
convincing book on climate change and why we need to hurry to fix the
problem.
Shockwave Radio Theater
Podcasts
for iTunes and iPods, with pictures
Shockwave Radio
broadcasts on archive.org
Bookmark my bookmark page.
Nascent Wikipedia entry for Shockwave Radio Theater
A short column this week, as I'm off in the wilds of Bloomington Minnesota for Marscon 2007, the only convention with a Dementia track. As long as I'm surrounded by musicians who know other strange musicians, I might as well tap their fevered brains and besotted ears. Thanks all!
One of my favorite songwriters is a guy named Paul K. One of my favorites to the point that, when there was no website about him I made my own. The current version. His website.
I once described Paul as if Lou Reed had grown up reading Raymond Chandler rather than William Burroughs. His music runs the gamut from punky rock and roll to blues to folk to pretty much anything else he feels like tossing into the mix. His music is about redemption. He was a junkie back in the 80s and much of what he has written about the crawl back up to a real life. His most recent music is more political and his semi-regular update on the email list that I run is always worth a read. I don't get into goofy fanboy mode much, but I always do with Paul.
Quickshots
I buttonholed several people at Marscon. They (for the most part) named their favorite weird artist/group of those who weren't at the con.
ShoEboX of Worm Quartet: Possible Oscar.
Pheonix (DJ on Dementia Radio): David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.
Art Paul Schlosser: The Trenchcoat Club, Victoria Williams
Eric Heideman: The Decemberists, Barenaked Ladies, "mutant folk" eg The Roches, Lou & Peter Berryman.
Adam English (of Ookla the Mok, Musician Guest of Honor at Marscon 2007): Jonathan Coulton. "He's so good, I probably shouldn't have told you about him."
Ed Eastman: Alex Beaton, easpcially the CD Daft Ditties.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
--////
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Kim Ficera: Don't Quote Me: The Opinion Page (afterellen.com)
[Megan] Chase's sincere and delicate plea for acceptance of gay people is no more offensive or subversive than an essay on the golden rule, but little did she know her commentary would give her an opportunity to learn firsthand about the intricacies and side effects of free speech - and that writing about homosexuals can be as contentious as being a homosexual. And she'd learn these lessons from her principal, Edwin Yoder.
Mark Morford: Sweet DVD Players In Hell (sfgate.com)
This much I remember clearly: "Howl's Moving Castle" is one truly astonishing, beautiful piece of anime filmmaking, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. The rest of this tale is, shall we say, a bit of a frightening blur.
Tony Peregrin: Interview With Rupert Everett (afterelton.com)
"At several times in life one comes to a point of no return." So begins Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins, the new memoir by Rupert Everett, in which the stage and screen star charts the various "points of no return" that led him from the stifling confines of the British upper class to the glitter and - at times - debauchery of the West End and Hollywood.
Michael Jensen: Attack of the Gay Teen Zombies: An Interview with Geography Club's Brent Hartinger (afterelton.com)
Brent Hartinger made a splash with Geography Club, his 2003 gay teen novel about a group of kids who start a secret high school gay-straight alliance, then give it the most boring name they can think of, the Geography Club, to keep others from joining. A sequel, The Order of the Poison Oak, followed in 2005.
DaveyD: Is Hip-Hop Really Dead? (San Jose Mercury News. Posted on alternet.org)
Recording executives are more interested in turning a quick buck than nurturing rap culture -- and they are behind the apparent demise of hip-hop music.
David Downs: Everyone Gets a Deal! (music.eastbayexpress.com)
The son of Napster moves to sign every unsigned band on Earth.
Idiocracy
... if it come across vaguely misanthropic, Idiocracy just as often mounts social critiques that are well taken. For instance, against environmental indifference (placed into hibernation and then forgotten, Joe and Rita are inadvertently revived when their cryochambers are jostled by a cascading avalanche of garbage). Or cultural bankruptcy-so that the hit show of the 26th century is "Ow! My Balls!", which consists solely of an unfortunate gentleman getting racked painfully in the testicles in an endless variety of ways.
Interview by Dena Ross: That Jewish Porn Star (beliefnet.com)
Adult film legend Ron Jeremy on Jews in the porn industry, and what he likes--and doesn't like--about religion.
Reader Comment
Ann Coulter
Ann Coulter is really a man
By Anji Murphy
Has anyone else ever wondered if Ann Coulter is really a man? I think she may have had a sex change. That is why she says the things she says. It is like the homophobic jocks you went to high school with. They try to hide the fact that they really are gay. I knew all those jocks in high school were gay and just overcompensating trying to put people off the scent. Just like I know, Ann Coulter is really a man, therefore gay. So, let us go over some facts and speculation about my theory.
Ann Coulter registered to vote in New Canaan
Ann Coulter is a big supporter of racial profiling. She has said that she only wanted to fly on airlines that did racial profiling. So, if airlines did racial profiling, would she have no problem with them detaining her for being gay and posing as a woman? That huge
Ann Coulter uses the conservatives as a beard. I believe that she is a sexual deviant and poses as a political conservative to get off. She is really a liberal gay man that gets off on fooling everyone that she is a conservative woman. If you have ever listened to her "debate", then you may have noticed what a complete joke she is. She has never had any valid ideas on how to make her party better or stronger. It is all about her serpent tongue spewing insults and incoherent arguments. She responds with the most shocking rebuttal she can think of to get a rise. That is what gets her off. She wants to keep antagonizing her opponent for as long as she can. The longer and more heated the argument, the more it turns her on. Have you noticed the flush she gets and the way she runs her fingers through her hair so desperately?
The people who have bought her books should be ashamed! She is making a fool of you. She gets to be a deviant exhibitionist and you pay her. I guess she is smart that way. Too bad, she does not use the little brain she has for a good cause, because she obviously knows how to get people to listen to her. She must be coming out with a new book soon because she is trying to cause such a big controversy so you will not forget her and fork over your dough for her worthless drivel. How desperately pathetic she is. When she comes on the television, I suddenly have a case of tourettes. I start screaming the C word. I do not like that word much, being a woman and all, but it is fitting for her. I think she could very well be the Anti-Christ, now that we know she really is a man.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
SECRETs SPOKEn, Secrets Broken
Now thousands suffer and die at Walter Reed and elsewhere because of this
long ago permissive lie!
A Parable From Purple Gene
'God Is My Co-Pilot'
It was a beautiful Sunday morning driving back home from our Lake House retreat. We had finished our own style of religious services at the "Church of Mother Nature"!
Sharon, my lovely wife, and our hound dog Chester were driving a separate car behind me because I was bringing back a big desk……So I was the lead car.
I was rolling along in the fast lane just coming in to San Rafael on south highway 101. I noticed a silver Sable station wagon swerving and swaying to the left and right in front of me. The car would speed up and then slow down. There was a sign in the window that said "Petaluma Pentecostal - the true word of Jesus" I read the bumper sticker…."God is my Co-Pilot"……
I could also see that the bushy haired, bearded and be speckled driver was busy trying to dial and talk on his cell phone…..and he almost seemed drunk.
After honking several times and flashing my headlights, I pulled my car along side him and opened my window …..he was still driving erratically and after about 3 or 4 minutes, he finally saw me waving at him.
He rolled his window down with the automatic button….swerving towards me, he looked me in the eyes…he wasn't even watching the road…and we're both going 70 miles an hour……
I yelled at him…"Are you trying to call God on your cell phone" ?
He looked at me in dismay and said "What" ?..."No" !
I said…"then you better get of MY freeway before you kill somebody……because your Co-Pilot is asleep" !
After a few seconds, he realized what I was saying…..I let him pull off the freeway in front of me to the shoulder…where I saw him in my rear view mirror still dialing away on his cell phone…I'm sure he was a juiced on Jesus preacher. I called the Highway Patrol.
The Moral of the story…..never get behind a car with a bumper sticker that says:
"GOD IS MY CO-PILOT" !
P.S. I realized later that he was probably trying to "Text" message while driving…which is a "Mortal Sin"!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, hot & dry - humidity around 3%.
Sends Political Message
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis is sending a political message - apathy is the enemy, so jump in and participate.
"Find out where the tax money is going. Find out why something happened. Write to people. Just be a participant," Marsalis told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" broadcast on Sunday.
"We always want to blame a younger generation. What are we giving the younger generation?" Marsalis said.
Wynton Marsalis
Gone 25 Years
John Belushi
When a force of nature like John Belushi is lost, 25 years isn't time enough to ease the grief or erase the laughter.
By most measures, the round comic with the sharp edges left a small body of work when a drug overdose killed him at age 33 in March 1982. But his TV, movie and music performances proved influential, hitting the baby-boomer sweet spot and surviving despite pop culture's truncated attention span.
Belushi burst the seams of comedy alongside like-minded performers and writers energized by the social upheaval of the 1960s and '70s. He helped join humor and pop music in a lasting romance and brought renewed attention to Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and other R&B giants.
He etched out the start of a promising acting career, and his best movies reshaped industry expectations by catering to newly empowered young consumers and pushing comedy into the blockbuster realm.
John Belushi
The Life and Death of Captain Preemo or Bob Woodword vs. John Belushi and me
Joe Cocker and John Belushi
Festivities Greet Start
Iditarod
Sled-dog teams trotted through the chilly streets of Anchorage on Saturday in a festive atmosphere marking the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Relaxed mushers signed autographs, posed for pictures and socialized with one another and the fans who lined the streets. The timed competition in the 1,100-mile (1,770-km) race will start on Sunday 80 miles north in Willow.
The most solemn part of Saturday's ceremonies was a tribute to Susan Butcher, the four-time champion who died last year of leukemia.
Butcher's daughter launched a sled-dog trek through the city to lead the Iditarod racers, with 11-year-old Tekla driving and a weeping 6-year Chisana bundled up in the sled.
Iditarod
Apologizes For Fake Piano Recordings
William Barrington-Coupe
The husband of the late British pianist Joyce Hatto, who passed off recordings by other artists as those of his wife, says he would do the same thing again but would not release the recordings to the public, according to a newspaper interview.
William Barrington-Coupe told the Sunday Times newspaper that he regretted stealing other performers' work, but had done so because his wife found it difficult to play due to pain from the cancer that eventually killed her.
"Joyce's life was hell," he was quoted as saying. "She was in such pain, and it was so humiliating for her for such a long time."
"Yes, I would do it again," he said of the fraudulent recordings, which he said he produced without his wife's knowledge. "Because it made Joyce so happy. But this time I wouldn't publish the CDs."
William Barrington-Coupe
Recognizes Killer
Hugo Chavez
President Hugo Chavez on Sunday said he believes enemies including the CIA are out to kill him, and called U.S. diplomat John Negroponte a "professional killer."
Chavez said Venezuelan officials have intelligence that associates of jailed Cuban anti-communist militant Luis Posada Carriles also are involved in plotting to assassinate him.
He said the death plot idea has "gained weight" due to various factors, including the recent appointment of Negroponte, the former director of national intelligence, as deputy to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"Who did they swear in ... there at the White House as deputy secretary of state? A professional killer: John Negroponte," Chavez said.
Hugo Chavez
14 Minutes & Counting
coulter
Outspoken U.S.neo-conservative columnist republican spokesliar Ann Coulter is drawing fire from Republicans and Democrats alike after publicly using a derogatory gay slur in reference to Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards.
Coulter made the comments on Friday during a speech at the influential American Conservative Union's Political Action Conference, calling Edwards a "faggot."
Coulter said the comment was a joke and on her Web site she carried the speech with the comment, "I'm so ashamed, I can't stop laughing." She then said Edwards' campaign chairman's main job was "fronting for Arab terrorists."
coulter
Japanese Meet & Greet
Michael Jackson
A relaxed-looking Michael Jackson smiled and waved at screaming fans as he arrived in Japan on Sunday for his second visit in recent years to host an exclusive party and sponsor a fan art competition.
Jackson, in trademark sun glasses and black leather jacket, was ushered by guards past hundreds of screaming Japanese fans at Narita Airport on Sunday afternoon, some carrying signs that read "We love Michael" and "Welcome to Japan."
At the VIP party, guests paying $3,500 will get to mingle with Jackson and spend 30 seconds to one minute each of exclusive face time with the Gloved One, according to organizers. It was unclear whether the star will perform any songs.
Michael Jackson
Hosting Wealthy U.S. Art Patrons
Tony Blair
Prime Minister Tony Blair, who plans to retire from office this year, will have the chance to mingle with some of the United States' richest philanthropists at a fundraiser in June, an art publication reported Sunday.
The Art Newspaper said patrons who paid at least $25,000 to attend a New York benefit in May for Britain's Tate Gallery were being invited to meet Blair and his wife, Cherie, at the prime minister's Downing Street residence on June 16.
The benefit is being organized by American Patrons of Tate, the gallery's U.S. fundraising arm.
Tony Blair
Superstition Sparks Toilet Cleaning Craze
Japan
Cleanliness has long been next to godliness for the hygiene-conscious Japanese, but fortune-tellers are now advising those who want to succeed in life to start by scrubbing the smallest room.
"Cleaning the toilet to attract luck" published this month is the latest in a series of books advising readers on how to attract good fortune using a brush and an array of cleaning fluids.
"Don't just wipe the floor, polish it," the book instructs. "It's important to maintain a positive mood while cleaning."
The idea that Lady Luck may be hiding in the lavatory has been taken up by magazines and television programmes.
Japan
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