Good Deal - The Salvation Army

This month, entire regions of the Earth are cracking up in devastating ways. If you want to respond with a cash (or other) donation, my friend Tuckers recommends The Salvation Army as your recipient. They have a very good record of using monetary donations well, with low administrative overhead.

Donate to The Salvation Army.

Phil Keaggy - Salvation Army Band

"The (New) Call of the Freaks" - Luis Russell and His Orchestra

Roblimo has made a tribute to the garbage men and women who make life cleaner for the citizens of Bradenton, FL. Luis Russell and His Orchestra provide the best song about trash pick-up ever, The (New) Call of the Freaks (re-recorded at some later date as Garbage Man Blues). Luis Russell led one of the first swing bands in the U.S., and the orchestra became Louis Armstrong's band in the 30s.

- MP34U has the MP3 for you. And plenty more songs in the public domain as well.

- More songs about occupations.

- Jackson as rediscovered the bountiful array of garbage truck videos on YouTube. He recommends the company-produced "Heil Python ASL Garbage Truck (first of a series)."

- With the help of a gift card, I splurged on this Simplehuman trash can today.

- Ike Turner wants to be your Garbage Man.

Classical Music Sells It, Baby!

What is the future of classical music and will it ever regain its consistently shrinking audience? I don't know but my theory is that the more it's used in marketing, whether it be for aftershave, mass-produced beer, or flexible denim pants, the more young listeners will look up from their comfy chairs and say to each other, "What the hell is that?"

There's a heft to classical music; a, dare I write it: gravitas, to its message, even when the message is satirical, self-referential, or (as in the case with Levi's) really fucking ridiculous. Classical music says to its television audience: Hey, give a listen! It took quite a lot of genius to compose, perform, and record me! Why fly another airline when United is backed by my lilting, yet confident tones?

And you know what? Classical music is right. Sometimes you really can't emphasize the quality of a product enough with Lenny Kravitz. That's when you look toward Carl Orff--damn straight.

Old Spice - Carl Orff, O Fortuna from Carmina Burana


Carlton Draught - O Fortuna redux


Levi's - George Frideric Handel, Sarabande from the Suite in D minor


United Airlines - George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue

Barack The Vote - May 15th at Berbati's Pan

I really like this poster. Where can I get one? Here perhaps?

- Junkface
- Alan SIngley & Pants Machine
- Andy Combs and the Moth - The Bloodship


Berbati's Pan, Portland

YouTube Midweek Mashup

Junior Boys' In The Morning set to Jean-Luc Godard's "Bande à part" dance scene (fern37)


Barack Gets That Dirt Off His Shoulders (Bill3948)


The Charleston set to Daft Punk's Around The World (charlesfondue)


Boobah Remix (alienincent)


Thank you Tuckers for the Charleston inspiration.

Andreï Tarkovsky - "Stalker," 1979

Somehow I got through multiple years of film school without ever having seen a Tarkovsky film. It is my dark secret that I have unburdened upon you today. The good old Netflix database recommended I rent Stalker post-haste, based on my likes and dislikes. The Netflix database has been pretty spot on for the past few years, so I went ahead and obeyed its subtle command.

Stalker should be seen in a very dark theater, surrounded by slack-jawed, half-asleep film fanatics, to allow the meditative, textured decay to wash over you. Only in this atmosphere could we possibly hope to absorb such a dream-like, philosophical treatise on metaphysical faith and man-made disaster. Although predating Chernobyl by several years, Stalker is clearly about the aftermath of life in a frightening, poisoned environment. And tragically, it probably killed a lot of the crew, including Tarkovsky, who filmed much of the story's mythical "Zone" within a chemical spill, which is visible in some of the river scenes.

I saw Stalker in my bedroom on my tiny TV set. It was late and I was impatient. C'mon--hurry up!, I kept yelping in my head. I can't sit through these long takes of dialogue. I started fast-forwarding all the talking scenes to get to the visuals only. Super slow-paced; slow zooms; slow zoom-outs--a 70s staple of art film, and I tend to like slow-paced, 70s-era art films. Puddles, rain, drips, rot; Stalker is a feast of urban decay. Did he build these sets?, I wondered (no--they were existing abandoned buildings--among them a power plant and a chemical factory). They're fantastically lit, shot and scored. The Stalker leads a writer and a scientist to a forbidden "Zone" where there exists a room that grants wishes. But does it? I really couldn't get through it all but...

...the next day, I couldn't get Stalker out of my head. The incredibly dark, shadowy textures kept haunting my visions. Shopping for 15%-off lawn furniture at K-Mart (STALKER). Loading the car with groceries in the Winco parking lot (STALKER). Making Jackson his four-thousandth bowl of pasta with parmesan for dinner (STALKER). Obviously Andreï Tarkovsky has got my number. So I loaded the film into the computer and made a lot of gorgeous stills. I'll try to keep the number down here but now I love this film and I'm going to get more of his work and watch it on the bigger TV, if not in a theater, some day.

















My favorite scene from Stalker. It's sub-titled in Romanian, but you'll get the idea (or not--I still haven't quite, but I think that's the point).

The Netflix database continues to watch my back. Today the site announced: Because you enjoyed: Seven Samurai, The Third Man, and This Is Spinal Tap; we think you'll enjoy: Wallace & Gromit: Three Amazing Adventures. I'm sure they're right. Soon we won't need humans to recommend our film choices.

Saturday Morning

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!!! (taking a deep breath) Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!!!


Saturday Morning from wreckandsalvage on Vimeo.

Chester Brown's "Yummy Fur" Featuring Ed The Happy Clown

April was the official month of comics in Portland. Yes, Portland has an official comics month. Why didn't I move here decades ago? I just read about it myself last week. This sort of thing is casually mentioned in the press here, three weeks into the official month. There was the Stumptown Comics Convention, which I missed, and many other comics-related events.

I used to get my comics published in "Snipehunt" out of Portland. I loved "Snipehunt." It was big newsprint fanzine, completely about music and comics. The editors were very nice but due to my callowness, I never bothered to actually talk to any of them in person. I would just send bundles of my work like "Attack of the 50-Foot Kinder-Whore" where Courtney Love climbs the Space Needle with Trent Reznor clutched in her giant paw, threatening to trample all of the Northwest, and they would publish them--no questions asked. If anyone from "Snipehunt" sees this: you ruled. And also: what are you doing now?

I quietly honored the month by re-reading my Ed The Happy Clown book the other day. Ed was the first serialized strip of Chester Brown's "Yummy Fur" series and it's a humdinger. You know that Bosch triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights"? Ed is a lot like that, but instead of focusing on extreme hallucinations of heaven and hell, it features a gentle, victimized clown, a homicidal born-again sexually repressed janitor (who looks a lot like Chester Brown), a very cool vampire named Josie, sewer-pipe dwelling pygmies, brutally sadistic doctors and bureaucrats, endless shit emitting from another dimension, and the head of Ronald Reagan grafted onto a penis--Ed's penis. Probably the most darkly humorous grotesque work of art of 1989, if not the 20th century.

Brown went on to do graphic renditions of Bible stories, autobiographical comics of his adolescence and a historical biography of Louis Riel, mystic, rebel, and Métis leader of the Canadian prairies. But Ed still has the ability to astound me with its violent, hilarious, other-wordly weirdness.

The Yummy Fur (a 90s-era band from Glasgow, featuring a bunch of "Yummy Fur" [and a few other Drawn & Quarterly] comic book covers) - Colonel Blimp


More Comix Newz:

Ed The Happy Clown is supposedly being made into a live-action/animated/CGI film (entitled "Yummy Fur") this summer. Did I mention that Ronald Reagan's head is grafted onto Ed's penis? Chester Brown's profile and bibliography in RAW.

The fantabulous Lynda Barry has a new book out this month, What It Is. And it looks beautiful. Lynda Barry is a national treasure.

This week The New Yorker has a brief but amazing story about Ernie Colón and Sid Jacobson, former collaborators on "Richie Rich," "Casper the Friendly Ghost," and "Little Dot" (which I used to read). Both in their 70s, the writer/artist team decided to write a graphic novel of The 9/11 Reportthinking that people who would never read the report, would read a graphic adaptation of it. They were right. The children's comic book industry not being what it used to be, Colón was working as a security guard when he came up with the idea. Their sequel, After 9/11: America's War on Terror (2001- ) will come out in August. According to the New Yorker, the sequel will provide a timeline of events and policies that led to the Iraq War, covering tribal and religious factions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not just the Sunnis and Shiites, but the Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras as well. Sure to be as dark in the telling as any fictional graphic world.

May Day! May Day!

Happy May Day. Portlanders can celebrate at the Kennedy School where kids can dance around a May pole; Joe Mishkin (The Balloon Guy) will be creating insane balloon sculptures and hats; and the Freak Mountain Rambers will play in the early evening. It's all free--deal!

It's also my birthday but I'll probably be home, eating cake with my cake-obsessed six-year-old. He likes the ritual of birthday cake more than the actual eating of it and that's OK. I stopped celebrating my birthday pretty much around age 30, but that hasn't stopped other people from celebrating it for me. Thanks people.

There's so much going on here in the month of May, I just thought I'd make a tiny list here. The Cinco de Mayo Fiesta will start on May 2nd at Tom McCall Waterfront Park and go through to the 5th. That's quite a lot of celebrating. I don't recall the San Francisco Bay Area doing quite so much for Cinco de Mayo and let's just say the hispanic population in California is a little more pronounced than in Oregon. Be that as it may (heh--May), I think four days are more than enough time to celebrate Mexico's defeat of the French army in 1862. Disclosure: I am half Mexican and I celebrate that fact most days of the year.

Here are a few shows coming to Portland in May. Eclectic!

Northern State - Better Already: Wed., May 7 at Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside.
Who are these wacky gals? Their ad in The Mercury describes their music as smart-aleck hip hop from sassy Long Island emcees. Smart-alecks? Sign me up.


Quasi - Peace and Love, Fri., May 16th at the Hawthorne Theatre.
I met Sam and Janet briefly in San Francisco about ten minutes before they up and moved to Portland many, many years ago. And here they are--still playing. Janet is such an awesome drummer that every time I've seen her play, I hang my head in shame. I still enjoy it. I'm just very humbled. Hey Janet--if you ever read this--we were in the same Godard class at SFSU. What's your favorite Godard film? I can't decide between "Week End" and "Masculin féminin." I also like "Alphaville." Oh yes, here's Quasi.


Death Angel, Fri., May 30th at Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th Ave.
I'm not a big speed metal listener any more, but I'm excited to see that Death Angel have re-formed. In 1986 there weren't a lot of Filipino-American family speed metal bands. Come to think of it, there aren't a lot now either. Death Angel holds a special place in my heart because most of them are from my home town, Concord, CA--heavy metal capital of the world. In fact, singer Mark Osegueda went to my high school and was my little brother's class president. My brother says that he is the nicest, funniest guy--the class of 1986 LOVES Mark Osegueda. This is a video of young Death Angel, just starting out. Their new stuff is on their MySpace page. Viva Death Angel!


Caroliner Rainbow - Sat., May 31st at the Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave.
Sorry, this video is a little loud, incoherent and dissonant, but so is Caroliner Rainbow. They've been at it for around 20 years now, still based in San Francisco. If you have a chance and want to experience a western fable from the 1860s as filtered through the lens of ergot poisoning, drop in and say hello.

jwbkmn gives a brief Caroliner Rainbow review on YouTube:

Saw these guys a a little space in the East Village (NYC) mid-90s. The singer seemed to be quite literally insane, yet at one point he hit me with the mike stand (it was a VERY little space!) and for the briefest second he paused, whispered "sorry" to me, and just as quickly resumed twitching and screaming incoherently. F-ing amazing. A very clear memory from a very fuzzy time....

This is the perfect description of founding member, Grux, whose musical aesthetic is all-together nutty, but who is one of the friendliest, most social people I've ever met. And last I visited (long ago), his house looked a lot like this stage show. Every room an experience--more homes should strive for this. It's all happening in the month of May.

PDX Film Fest This Week Featuring "Wild Combination - A Portrait of Arthur Russell"

The Portland Documentary and eXperimental Film Festival starts tonight, April 30th, and runs through Sunday, May 3rd. The opening film grabbed my attention. Wild Combination is about the late cellist and composer, Arthur Russell--an eccentric who ran away from his Oskaloosa, Iowa home to join a Buddhist commune in San Francisco where he met up with his mentor, Allen Ginsberg. He ended up moving to New York and there he composed music in several genres, including avant garde with Phillip Glass and The Kitchen, disco for the Studio 54 crowd, and personal folk tunes. Apparently his career output remained obscure due to his perfectionism and somewhat hermit-like tendencies. He died of AIDS in 1992.

I never heard an Arthur Russell song until half-an-hour ago. I suppose we might be hearing more of him. His song "This Is How We Walk on the Moon" was recently featured in a British T-Mobil commercial. The documentary is getting a lot of positive press. Congratulations to director Matt Wolf; only 25 years old and already honoring hidden talent from the past.

Wild Combination - A Portrait of Arthur Russell documentary teaser.


From Wolf's director's statement:

Before I even heard Arthur’s music, I was intrigued. My friend described a long forgotten gay disco auteur in a farmer’s plaid shirt, obsessively listening to mixes of his own music on the Staten Island Ferry. That image alone was enough, but when I heard the emotional intensity and the complex beauty in Arthur’s music, I was obsessed.

- PDX Fest site with a schedule that includes parties, several evenings of short films, filmmaker karaoke, an invitational experimental film battle, and workshops like do-it-yourself green screen and a found-footage free-for-all with San Francisco filmmaker, Craig Baldwin.
- The Oregonian gives a nice overview of festival events.
- A whole bunch of Arthur Russell music on YouTube

Troggs Word Association Tuesday

In 1966 they gave the world Wild Thing, which inspired countless covers, some majestic, some satiric, and some very, very unfortunate. But did you know The Troggs recorded quite a few other very decent songs? The Troggs were a perfect combination of bright pop and heavy sludge. No wonder they're such an inspiration. I'm going to do a little word association as I listen to these fine Troggs tunes.

Hip, Hip, Hooray - The pinnacle of pip poppiness.


Night Of The Long Grass - Psyche A Delic!


Love Is All Around - Indeed! I love you Troggs! Mwa! Mwa!


I Can't Control Myself - Bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah! Your low-cut slacks and long black hair--it sounds like singer Reg Presley really can't control himself. Impressively lusty.


With A Girl Like You - This is a perfect song. Kind of ridiculous in its sincerity and heartfeltness, as when you like someone all out of proportion to any kind of reality, as yet. But it's so hopeful--you know it will work out for the best. And dancing will be involved.


- The Troggs Tapes - The infamous and profane dialogue of the band during a recording session that supposedly was the inspiration for "This Is Spinal Tap."
- Official Web site.
- C'mon--support The Troggs!

Vancouver, WA Coloring Pages

Craft Magazine, harborer of all that is hip and knitted, has an article in April's issue on how to make a coloring book, using photos and a few Photoshop filters. Here's my hastily thrown-together attempt at capturing Vancouver in coloring-book form. Seemingly simple instructions did not make for an easy craft project. Best to attempt this with very high-contrast photos that contain little or no foliage. Washington State: a place known for its high-volume of foliage. But if you like futzing with Photoshop over and over and over again--this is the project for you!

Now, get out your green crayons and let's color Vancouver, WA.

Mt. St. Helens as seen from downtown Vancouver with the Columbia River in the foreground.



Mt. Hood, anchored by the view of townhouses along the river. You'll need a lot of grayish white to color these since both mountains are still, well into April, completely covered with snow.



Birthplace of Burgerville, where I had a Tillamook cheeseburger and shake made from Oregon-grown strawberries tonight.



The bell tower at Esther Short Park, downtown Vancouver.


Historic Fort Vancouver, home of the trillion-ton Fourth of July fireworks show.


The now defunct Evergreen Airport. Torn down in a Crate & Barrel development deal. Its last paint scheme: aquamarine.


Make way for a new Fred Meyer. Shop for groceries, home furnishings, hardware, clothes, and/or electronics. A mind-boggling consumer experience under one roof.


Main Street, USA. I mean, Vancouver.


The Vancouver commemorative plate, coming to a Goodwill near you soon (unless I see it there first).


A raised ranch house.

Relax to Aram Khachaturian's Sabre Dance

Love Sculpture featuring Dave Edmunds - 1968



Dave Edmunds revisits his old hit in Sevilla, Spain, 1991.


L.A. Music with animation by a large corporate entity that shall remain nameless.



Jack Cathcart's Continentals - 1950




J-Marimba Ponies




Berliner Philharmoniker - Seiji Ozawa, conductor




More Sabre Dance:

- Aram Khachaturian on Wikipedia
- As performed by preschool-aged children in The Philippine Montessori Center Instrumental Ensemble.
- Liberace introduces The Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band on The David Frost Show, 1970.
- It was originally from a ballet.
- Learn to play The Sabre Dance with Olga from The Toy Dolls!

Akira Kurosawa - Ran, 1985

Intense guy on horseback, wearing 16th century samurai garb, riding incredibly fast with a blurred, foreshortened background, moving in one long take, or perhaps cut into two slightly jarring shots by one off-angle edit. Must be an Akira Kurosawa film.

There are so many films to choose from when it's time to watch this cinematic genius. I decided to see Ran again after 20 years because it really speaks to our current war situation, and to all our war situations. A retelling of King Lear, Ran pits brother against brother against father in a big land grab gone awry. There's a wise fool, and one amazing female role, Lady Kaede. She is a very unusual woman in Kursosawa's large cast of characters, partially because she's featured at all in his usually male-dominated stories, but also he gives her vengence a back-story. Do not mess with Lady Kaede. Her attack/seduction scene with her brother-in-law puts me in mind of a war conference between Chenney and Bush. I know it goes down in the White House just like Kurosawa foresaw.

I originally saw Ran in the theater when it first came out in the U.S. This time I had to rent it on DVD but it's still very powerful--a poem and a lament about our inability to live peacefully with one another. Film historian and Kurosawa scholar, Stephen Prince provides commentary. If you can't afford film school, rent every Kurosawa DVD that has Stephen Prince commentary, and listen. You will learn a lot about filmmaking and it's cheap.

I didn't include any gore here, although there's plenty and none of it gratuitous. Blood would look exploitive and out of context in a still photo, plus it makes me queesy. In the film, the battle scenes are simply astounding and as Prince points out, all are shot with three cameras and with over a thousand extras--no visual effects. This is the last of its kind. You won't see an epic shot in this realistic mass scale without CGI--sorry fans of realism in film.

Prince calls Kurosawa a true epic filmmaker who excelled not just on the scale of his work, but for the movement within his shots. Kurosawa choreographs swirling masses of humanity, clashing and falling all over each other. In Ran this talent coexists with plenty of slow-paced Noh story-telling techniques to formally present this legend. It's a real masterpiece, made by a man in his 70s who knew he wouldn't get any more chances to film like this in his lifetime.

And if samurai epics that mirror out own world are not to your liking, see Ikiru (To Live); as life-affirming as any war lament, played out within the quiet existance of a Tokyo bureaucrat. Very epic on an emotional and philosophical level.

And now: