Pulse!

I am listening to Pink Floyd's "Pulse" this morning. Don't bother knocking on my door.

I never got to see Pink Floyd, which seems weird to me now. Then again, they had their own self-contained everything and didn't play small halls, even back then. I didn't pay to see shows back then and still, rarely do. It's a "dues paid" thing.

I have never been a big fan of the whole laser light show thing. I'm Old School, you might say. When I was at the J. Puddleduck show this past weekend, there was a guy there that had a setup with one digital projector and a bunch of programmed effects. I found it "interesting" from a certain perspective but overall, I wasn't that into it. We talked about some of the famous San Francisco light artists from the 60's and 70's that had GIANT Old School shows. Joshua, Electric Sam, Headlights, etc., etc.. Now, those were The Guys. I gave him some simple "tricks" to fatten up his paw print and suggested that he might want to spend a couple hundred bones on some Old School stuff. It's amazing what a rack of Kodak Carousel projectors can do to a stage. I suggested that he needed a bigger screen to throw on and we tossed around ideas of how to build his own using muslin and zinc-aluminum paint. Personally, I like rigid stage panels (as opposed to roll-up) but, each to their own. Rigid panels are modular, adapting to various stage "back line" areas and your viewing surface doesn't crack and stress when you move it from venue to venue.

Richard Taylor, a true master of the art and owner of (then) Rainbow Jam, which worked at Chet Helms' Family Dog, was probably the progenitor of most of the "move to digital" stuff early on. They were doing some really innovative things like cut-out back lighting and computerized sequential effects that were interactive with certain aspects of the music being played. Then Richard got into special effects for the film industry when he did the special effects for the movie "Tron". The rest is, as they say, history. Now Richard designs artificial environments and effects for Electronic Arts in L.A., a major player in the computer "gaming" biz. He still does effects for film too. He worked on The Two Towers part of Peter Jackson Hobbit Trilogy. He also printed a (now) very obscure Grateful Dead concert poster from the University of Utah, April 12, 1969, that I own an original and some reprints of, all signed by the artist. The original is one of my prized possessions. There were only 300 prints made. The reprints list @ $725.00 on Wolfgang's Vault. The original, quite a bit higher. I had to "track him down" to get the posters signed. Lots of internet legwork there. Richard turned out to be a really nice, down to Earth kind of guy.

I've seen a couple of bigger digital "shows" and they were "OK" too. I'm just a fool for the Old School stuff. Hey. I'm Old.

Nothing beats a good natural rainbow though...Except a really violent thunder and lightning storm. I have seen plenty of both. Went out lookin' for 'em.

David Gilmour's slide guitar work. He uses a lap steel on a tripod stand onstage. I play lap steel. Yay, David Gilmour! Yay, lap steel!

-Doc

ICEBERGS!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1230463/Shipping-warning-groups-icebergs-spotted-floating-New-Zealand-Australia.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8359629.stm

53% of Americans "do not believe in global warming". Unfortunately, 100% of icebergs floating toward New Zealand do. The "Conservatives" have wrangled yet another "victory" out of a gullible public, friends. Fox Noise and the Klean Koal Klub have once again, shown us that if you throw enough money at the print media/TV and repeat an ideology incessantly, Amerikaan idiots will buy it. Global Warming? Nope, never heard of it. Sounds like some kind of Socialist thing...

Fuck it, then. Let's all drive 1967 Caddies with whale skin hubcaps, piss on the seats of public toilets and club the shit out of a baby seal or ten. Why? That's right, you guessed it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN3hVL6vzxM&feature (the Denis Leary bit)

Well folks, the Future is HERE and we still haven't done shit to make sure it'll be around for your kids and their kids and theirs and...

I don't have any children. Who'd want to bring a wide-eyed bundle of juvenile delinquency into this mess? Not me. Actually, the only time I ever considered having a Doc Jr., I was with a woman whom had had a childhood illness that had rendered her infertile. It's probably a good thing. That I didn't have any kids, I mean.

So. Icebergs floating past New Zealand and maybe even Australia soon? 1/2 of Americans don't believe in planetary warming? Or, whatever the fuck you want to call it. We're doomed. A chunk of Antarctica the size of Rhode Island just left home and went floatabout and you still don't "believe" this place is getting hot? Poor you.

It's just too easy for people to enjoy their goddam convenient lives and fuck the other guy in a country where nobody looks like "us". I'm a white guy with German roots. 13% of Americans can trace their roots to Germany. Not exactly a majority there. My Mom still thinks white people are all Anglo-Saxon, even though I've recently discovered that her Grandfather's name is Askenazic, which makes us at least a little bit Middle Eastern. The rest of my brothers and sisters are more Heinz 57 than my pedigree. They have other fathers. I'm the only Herr Anchovy. The last one on this little twig of the Anchovy Family Tree even. The world will just have to get along without us. "Pizza to go with no anchovies" will get allot easier to order.

Three years ago, I owned a 1948 Dodge Custom Touring Sedan and a '75 Mercedes 240D. I didn't drive either one much. I sold 'em both and moved up the coast to a town with with good public transportation. I'm not "done" yet. I might just move to Alaska again and get a couple of dogs and a sled. One with wheels for Summer and one with skids for the "other" season up there. Maybe a good mule to ride too.

I don't know what's going to "wake people up" other than an iceberg or ten floating past Malibu or something. Maybe fires in the U.S. like they've been having in Australia. The ones in Southern California a couple years ago weren't enough. We had some nice ones east of here last year. All forgotten. We'll never change our 7-11, McDonald's, Starbucks, In-N-Out lives. Not that I patronize those establishments or anything. I make better food and coffee right here at Chez Anchovy.

When this thing wears out we'll just colonize somewhere else. Maybe we could invade the Canadian muskeg or something when our self destructive tendencies finally overtake our technology. We'll turn that into a big parking lot with Wal-Marts and Starbucks too. Hell, we'd put McDonald's on an iceberg if it would just hold still and quit melting.

Shit, nothin' makes sense to me anymore.



"Doomed" I say.

-Doc

Private Show

Sometimes, when "nobody shows up" a for band's gig, good things happen. First off, the people that do show up get a nice intimate setting for a show. Secondly, the band gets to to say "Guess what? A bunch of people missed a good show" and play their hearts out and stretch a bit. It's the mark of a pro. "Oh. Nobody showed up? Well, dig THIS SHIT for two hours!"

I had a great time at the Jemimah Puddleduck show at Humboldt Brews in Arcata. It was nice to see Wally Ingram again. Nice to see Mark and Maile too. Robin Sylvester doesn't talk much. J.T. Thomas is a pretty funny guy. They played their asses off.

Humbrews is a great room. A great BRAND NEW room even. Nice house system, good people all around, house "guys" that know what they're doing, all that. Semi-real lighting with actual trusses (they could use a bit more). They're building it "slow" and doing things right. I may just have to go see the New Riders Of The Purple Sage there in December. NRPS to you old timers like me.

I think the problem was one of scheduling. Keller Williams had packed the room the night before. It's a college town. Kids ain't got the money to go out two nights a week these days. Keller was a $25.00 ticket. Mark was asking $15.00. Toss in six beers each night and you're lookin' at a C note. Kids just don't spend like that. The night before, at Harbor Lights in Sausalito, Puddleduck over-sold the room. They probably did again in Sebastopol on Sunday night. People down by The City know who these cats are. $15 is cheap to go see and listen to four guys that work as hard as these do. It was Arcata's loss and, for the people that did come out, a treat.

Some photo's and video clips from the night before: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonomapicman/sets/72157622848482060/

Thanks, guys! I haven't stayed up until 4am in years.


Doc

Good Rockin' Tonite!

Jemimah Puddleduck:





Back story a la Ratdog:



Mark with Bill Cutler:



Interview:



He's just an all around swell guy, huh? All the performers that will be there tonight are.


Be there tonight or have a written excuse from y'er Mom. Check out yesterday's entry for another bunch of Mark Karan songs.


-Doc

10 Bands I Hated As A Kid (and "why")

1. Led Zeppelin. Because they were the worst kind of English white guys that were just ripping off Delta Blues riffs and setting them to faster four piece rock combo beats. They got sued, finally, and had to pay off Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf. Or their estates or something like that. I still only like listening to Jimmy Page's lead solos.

2. Black Sabbath. Overly simplistic Devil Boy/Bat Eater imagery and also that all the guys at my high school that really wished that they actually did own a motorcycle loved them. You know the guys. They all had smelly Levi's, a bunch of keys hanging off of their belts that didn't go to anything and said the word "fuck" in various conjugations every third word. The BIG DUMB GUYS that weren't into sports.

3. Deep Purple. Four words: Smoke On The Water.

4. The Bay City Rollers. Well...Didn't everybody, except thirteen year old girls with braces and pink plastic headbands, hate them?

5. The Osmonds. One word: Utah.

6. Joe Cocker. After the Spaz Attack of Woodstock, there wasn't anything left.

7. Bad Company. See #'s 1 and 2. Also, they had the biggest asshole of a road manager I ever had to deal with. He threatened to climb the ladder I was setting lights on and kick my ass because "I wasn't listening to him." I said: "Fuck you, fat boy. Climb on up here." He stomped off and did some more cocaine.

8. The Jackson Five. See #'s 4 and 5.

9. Abba. They were too fucking clean. And they were from, like, Sweden or something.

10. Blue Swede. Four syllables: Hooga-Jaka. I used to feel ill every time I heard that song playing on some radio.

10.1 Honorable mentions go out to: David Cassidy, Cher, The Carpenters, Coven, Tony Orlando and Dawn, Peter Frampton (even if he WAS in Humble Pie), Grand Funk Railroad, Olivia Newton-John and about fifty others.

Now, there are plenty more bands that truly sucked ass in the late 60's and early 70's but, luckily, I've forgotten about most of them. I can actually listen to a couple of the bands above but not for more than about an album at a time and not more than once every couple of years.

Right now, I'm actually listening to Deep Purple's "Machine Head". It's the only album of theirs that I actually like. About every-once-a-year. I've actually always really liked the song "Lazy". It's got a groovy Richie Blackmore guitar solo I always dug. In fact, I just added a bunch of Rainbow stuff to my Rhapsody Playlists. Some of that gets a bit tedious too. I like Ronnie James Dio better there. Of course, Dio went on to fill Ozzy's spot in Black Sabbath. Bob's y'er Uncle...

So. Tonight I'm listening to a bunch of bands I used to hate and staying up late. Gotta' re-set my circadian clock. Don't want to get up too early tomorrow because...

Tomorrow night it's Mark Karan and Jemimah Puddleduck @ Humbrews in Arcata. My pal and I "papered" downtown with 200 fliers for the show yesterday. That brings back memories...

Mark, on guitar and vocal (Ratdog, etc., etc.) is bringing J.T. Thomas on keyboards (Bruce Hornsby), Robin Sylvester on bass (Ratdog) and Wally Ingram on drums (David Lindley, Alektrophobia, Sheryl Crow, Stockholm Syndrome) with him for this show. Wally's a drummer's drummer. It will be a fine show. I don't go out to see/hear bands that often anymore. I don't generally like bars at night and big halls have become ridiculously expensive around here, plus the $30.00 cab ride each way, from Chez Anchovy to HSU. Dweezil Zappa is bringing his big stage band to HSU in December with "Zappa Plays Zappa" though...

Here's a song from J.P. while they were out on tour with Little Feat back in '03. That's John Molo on drums and Bob Gross on bass.



The umbrella "guy". Heh heh. uTube links to a bunch of other performances at the clip's end too. Oh boy, oh boy.

Check out: www.markkaran.com

-Doc

Morning Music

Today it's Ryuichi Sakamoto. Enjoy. Go find more of his stuff to listen to. Check out some of the other artists in this gallery of "Visual Furniture". It's interesting stuff, I think. But, I'm a professional weirdo.

Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto - Trioon I from Karl Kliem on Vimeo.

-Doc

Bad Horsie

A.K.A.: Steve Vai's guitar. Shown @ Masthead is the prototype, "Bad Horsie #1". It's a highly customized Ibanez 555 (or "Jem") with allot of trickster-isms. You can go to Stevie's website if you're as curious about this stuff as I am. I LOVE guitars. I only have four right now, which is enough for me. I'm just a recreational player with no commercial potential. I like to think of it as being therapeutic.

Dig this morsel...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_7iRZzlSzI

Or it's a song:


Bad Horsie Live

BurakkiRBY | MySpace Video

Or, maybe Bad Horsie is just Stevie himself...Who really knows the story? I've been a big fan of Steve Vai since I can't remember back that far. It probably happened during the days he was playing with Zappa.

No words necessary. Just listen to the guitar player. 99% of Steve's music is instrumental.

I'm listening to a bunch of his stuff on Rhapsody today. Right now it's the album: The Ultra Zone. It even has lyrics! I was just telling my buddy, Stephen, that I no longer see the point in "buying" music in hard copy. When I can que tracks and whole albums from playlists on Rhapsody for $12.99 a month, what's the point? Millions and millions of songs there. Cheap. I already have 1,000's of tapes, records and CD's anyway.

The only "gripe" I have about Rhapsody is that they outsourced their support to India and I don't think in right to left. It's always a pain in the ass to get my point across, unless I get a guy that has spent some time in the U.S. on the line.

I'm still having a problem with the active links thing here. I'll have to diagnose and get back in the click and go of it all here. It may be because I've switched to using a random proxy server.

On a much more serious note, here's some background about how the chain of command and irresponsibility with private contractors and their sub-contractors works in the Middle East. The story goes all the way back to 2005 and Kellogg, Brown, Root and Halliburton. Actually, it goes all the way back to some of the those same contractors/subs and Bosnia:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0512270176dec27,0,1632557.story

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/expose/expose_2007/episode214/watch.html

-Doc