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It's great to be back HOME...



Traveling, Teaching....it was wonderful!

We are back HOME.....and it feels great!

Thought I would share images of HOME...

Enjoy the Slide Show:


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CLICK HERE to view the Roslyn, WA Jello Class

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CLICK HERE to view The Cattle

CLICK HERE to view the Chicken Slideshow


May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn

WYST is on holiday



...while I'm away I leave you with the genius of peanuts

Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 23


No-one did more to keep the rockabilly flame alive than The Cramps. From their wonderful 1990 Stay Sick album, turn it up, turn it loose, and everything goes.

Everything Goes.mp3

PUB (literally) QUIZ










WYST is going on holiday for a month so I shall leave you, dear reader, with a PUB QUIZ
Many a film and TV show has had a pub in it, but here’s a list from good stuff. So name that Pub; The winner gets a prize to be determined.
Mother black cap -
Vick and comet-
Lion and unicorn-
Nailgun Arms-
Kebab and calculator -
Duke of new York-
Kavanaghs-
The Pavilion -
Nell of Old Drury –
The Winchester (2004)-
The Winchester (1979 )-
The Hand and Racquet -
The Duke Of Burgundy -
The Wakeley Arms –
The Railway Arms-
The Slaughtered Lamb-
The Queen's Haemorrhoids –
The Four Feathers -
The Salisbury Hotel-
The Crow and Crown-
Answers in a month. Good Luck

WYST is packing it's bags


It's sometimes easy to forget how good some things are, you get used to and accustomed to good things. one such good thing is the work of Charles Schulz; Peanuts.
It ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000 (the day after Schulz's death) and is one of the most easily identifiable examples of cultural art.
I grew up with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Snoopy. Their world was a child's world but infused with all the anxieties, struggles and philosophical dilemmas of the adult world.

To say these comic strips were a work of decades long genius is an understatement. There is something nostalgic yet current about these simple line drawings. Cool and intelligent deep and funny. Marvellous stuff!

Charles Monroe Schulz (November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h38srxvt6qE

Surface Design Workshop.........Idaho



I am in Idaho.....600 miles from home!

Check out the slideshow below to see the fun we had in Idaho:

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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn

My Double Bills #21 Ben Stiller x 2





Ben Stiller has become Hollywood's go to guy for certain types of movies. He has been in the good, There's something about Marry, Meet The Parents, The OK, Zoolander, Dodgeball and the poor The Heartbreak kid, Along came Polly. He remains popular and a name above the credits that gets people through Cinema doors. Flirting with Disaster and Keeping the faith are two movies that feature Stiller at his best with excellent co stars. Both have a warmth and lack of smugness that aren't always absent from Stiller's films.

Jello Class.......Yakima, WA


I was invited by the Yakima Quilters Guild to teach a jello printing class at the Harmon Senior Center in Yakima, WA

It is a lovely facility, our room was big and roomy and had a sink for rinsing the paint off of our printing supplies.

Enjoy the Slideshow...


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CLICK HERE to view the Roslyn, WA Jello Printing Class

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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn

The Gaslight Anthem: "People Wanted Something Honest"

I recently chatted with Ben Horowitz, drummer for Teenage Kicks faves The Gaslight Anthem. The fruits of that conversation are in the new issue of The Providence Phoenix.

When is a bad film a good film

Take any summer Hollywood blockbuster, low on quality high on quantity add a global star who’s all teeth and ego and you have a recipe for an inexorable two hours with the popcorn munchers.

Yeah fine cuisine is tres bien; however, sometimes a burger does the trick.

Case in Point Mi III

Synopsis: Recently retired, Agent Ethan Hunt lives a slower-paced life training new IMF agents. With this change, new opportunities enter his life, including a possible marriage to his girlfriend Julia. However, when a new conflict arises, Ethan is called back to duty to confront the toughest villain he's ever faced -- Owen Davian, an international weapons and information provider with no remorse and no conscience.

So far so bad. Thing is Mission Impossible III is impossibly enjoyable.

In particular the rescue scene; explosions, gunfire, quips, helicopters, missiles, bombs, grenades, wind turbines, remote controlled artillery, sheep, explosive cranial implants it’s got the lot and is filmed and edited in a spectacularly thrilling manner. Then we have another rescue on a bridge with hi tech gadgets, body armor, running, jumping, extreme weapons and juddering thuds. Not to mention intense hero villain standoffs and civilians suddenly becoming adept action heroes. Yes everything I've written would be putting me off, but, and here’s the thing; Cruise and Director JJ Abrams perfectly understand the genre and they manage to tick boxes in a more than perfunctory way.  It's exciting and action packed and of course it isn't 'serious' cinema but what it does it does well. I can't help myself i like it!

If Die Hard was the blueprint for the modern day action movie then Mi III is much more than a tribute act.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcGUzNVgEo8

Manic Street Preachers 'Motorcycle Emptiness'


We're off to Wales for a few days, to live in a cabin. I've set up a couple of posts for while I'm away, including Friday's rockabilly action but there won't be daily ones. See you on Monday.

I was never an all out, all the records, gigs and t-shirts Manic's fan but this is one of the most sublime pieces of guitar rock from the 90s.

Motorcycle_Emptiness.mp3

To be someone (didn't we have a nice time)

Some songs gain more meaning over the years. In 1978 Paul weller wrote this, it could be about 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnUH94BftYo


To be someone must be a wonderful thing
A famous footballer a rock singer
Or a big film star, yes I think I would like that
To be rich and have lots of fans
Have lots of girls to prove that I’m a man
And be no. 1 - and liked by everyone

Getting drugged up with my trendy friends
They really dig me and I dig them
And the bread I spend - is like my fame - it's quickly diminished

And there's no more swimming in a guitar shaped pool
No more reporters at my beck and call
No more cocaine it's only ground chalk
No more taxis now well have to walk

But didn't we have a nice time -
Didn't we have a nice time
Oh wasn't it such a fine time

I realize I should have stuck to my guns
Instead shit out to be one of the bastard sons
And lose myself - I know it was wrong - but it's cost me a lot

And there's no more drinking after the club shuts down,
Im out on me arse with the rest of the clowns
Its really frightening without a bodyguard
So I stay confined to my lonely room

But didn't we have a nice time -

Didn't we have a nice time
Oh wasn't it such a fine time

To be someone must be a wonderful thing

-P.Weller 1978

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

Permission 2 Play......Fabric Collage Class

The Permission 2 Play
FABRIC COLLAGE Class
Slideshow

"Circle of Influence"
Song By: Michael Allen Harrison



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Photos Courtesy of: Kathi Borrego

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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn

Here Today

One of the most remarkable things about Paul McCartney’s astonishing show on Saturday is that it told just half a story.

All of the songs that McCartney and/or John Lennon wrote for the Beatles are credited to both of them, but most are regarded as either Paul Songs or John Songs, and with a couple of exceptions (including “A Day in the Life,” which is a Paul Song and a John Song welded together), Saturday’s set consisted entirely of Paul Songs:

Venus and Mars/Rock Show; Jet; All My Loving; Letting Go; Drive My Car; Highway; Let Me Roll It/Foxy Lady; The Long and Winding Road; Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five; Let 'Em In; My Love; I've Just Seen A Face; And I Love Her; Blackbird; Here Today; Dance Tonight; Mrs. Vanderbilt; Eleanor Rigby; Something; Sing the Changes; Band on the Run; Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da; Back in the USSR; I’ve Got A Feeling; Paperback Writer; A Day In The Life/Give Peace A Chance; Let It Be; Live and Let Die; Hey Jude. First encore: Day Tripper; Lady Madonna; Get Back. Second encore: Yesterday, Helter Skelter, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)/The End.

In the early days of this blog, in a brief rumination about John Lennon, I wrote “Every once in a while, don’t you stop to wonder what he might have done these past twenty-six years? And doesn’t it break your heart a little every time?” Watching Paul play, I had those thoughts again, and I wondered what a comparable Lennon show in 2010 might be like.

Your first reaction might be that Lennon wouldn’t do a comparable show, that he had little interest in visiting his past. But there’s no telling how his thinking might have changed over the past three decades. He clearly was more at peace with himself and his past just before his death at age 40 than he had been ten years earlier. So, if you have disbelief, suspend it for a moment.

In my imagination, this is the set of John Songs that he would have played, and it is as titanic as the show Paul performed. How is it possible that these two men were in the same band?

Power to the People; Whatever Gets You Thru the Night; The Ballad of John and Yoko: Eight Days a Week; A Hard’s Day’s Night; If I Fell; Help!; And Your Bird Can Sing; Come Together; Jealous Guy; Working Class Hero; Norwegian Wood; Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds; Dear Prudence; #9 Dream; You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away; Mind Games; Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey; (Just Like) Starting Over; Nobody Told Me; I’m a Loser; Ticket to Ride; Happiness is a Warm Gun; Across the Universe; A Day in the Life; Watching the Wheels; Strawberry Fields Forever; Revolution; I am the Walrus; Instant Karma! First encore: Imagine; Nowhere Man; Tomorrow Never Knows. Second encore: In My Life; All You Need Is Love; Twist and Shout.

In this fantasy, John is alive, but George is not, so just as Paul played “Something” as a tribute to the Quiet Beatle, John might slip in “Here Comes the Sun.” And at some show, somewhere, John’s friend Paul emerges unannounced during the first encore for a duet on “Two of Us.”

If I’m going to dream, let me have big dreams.

TOXIC BOSS


This post is about something I read and is particularly pertinent after the day I've just had...

How do you 'handle' a power hungry boss?



My boss is on a serious 'power trip', and treats us minions like little children; talking down to us, blatantly lying to us and generally making us feel like we are his little slaves.


He is currently putting me under a lot of pressure, and I'm getting more and more wound up and angry about the situation. Being a relatively placid, non-confrontational person I find it really difficult to challenge him and tell him some home truths about the way he treats me and my colleagues, and basically say that he's asking too much of me. Some of my colleagues have challenged him for the exact same reasons, but seem to get nowhere. He has a way of getting what he wants and giving nothing back, and you only realise when you've walked away that you've 'been had' again! He really isn't a very nice person, (in the office, at least!).


Can anyone suggest how I could, either pluck up the courage to confront him or, subtly make him realise I can't cope with the pressure anymore. Long question, sorry!


ANSWER


Robert Mueller, the author of Bullying Bosses: A Survivor’s Guide, is an experienced lawyer who apparently survived frequent bullying behavior under a variety of trying circumstances. Today, he counsels clients who have been targeted for abusive treatment by predator bosses lurking unchecked in our workplaces. The book breaks down many of the “faces” of bullying (e.g., demeaning, ranting, lying, hypercritical, controlling, self-righteous, gloating, sexist, homophobic, moralistic, self-serving) and attributes ascribed to bullying bosses (e.g., narcissistic, cold, uncaring, anti-social, sadistic, power hungry, status-conscious).


The book repeats a cautionary theme that bullying bosses calculate, select, and plan attacks on vulnerable employee targets. When outrageous attacks occur, targeted employees are so shocked, confused, humiliated, and threatened, they process the attacks internally. They respond as if they had really done something wrong outside the bullying supervisor’s expectations and trumped up concerns about lost time, work goals, company productivity, and comprised bottom-lines. Bullying bosses have vulnerabilities which a prospective “victim” needs to understand and, over time, be able to shape their work behavior more confidently and judiciously.


According to Mueller, bullies attack with preconceived, deliberate intent and planning, The bully’s goal is to demonstrate power and control over the employee, usually with little or no factual basis for “dumping on” the target. A targeted employee’s immediate response is to take it, recoil, and flee this perceived “Ring of Fire.” Later, a victimized employee may seek solace and support from coworkers, friends, and family by retelling painful abusive experiences. Mueller claims victimized employee’s storytelling often appears to others confused, dramatic, and too extreme to be believed. Coworkers minimize and discount it in different ways. They may deny the core premise and withdraw contact, possibly for fear of association with a target and fear of a similar fate. Others may brush it off as an isolated event or allege a personality conflict between the supervisor and employee. Many will implicitly blame the victim for the incident and become critical of the employee’s naivete about the job and workplace realities.

OR ALTERNATIVELY

 
 

The Creation 'How Does It Feel To Feel?'


The Creation famously described their music as 'red- with purple flashes'. Like a lot of the mod-psyche groups from the mid-to-late 60s they have a few belters, a pile of covers and some duff moments too. How Does It Feel To Feel? is one of the belters, and they obviously had an influence on Alan McGee who named his record label (Creation) and first band after them (Biff! Bang! Pow!). Think Ride may have either covered this song or nicked the title as well. The Creation pioneered using the violin bow on the guitar, did some souped up r'n'b/garage stuff, and as you can see from the photo were sharply dressed men with good haircuts.

How Does It Feel To Feel.mp3

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Jello Printing Class......Roslyn, WA



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I enjoyed my visit to the Crazy Quilt Shop in Ronald, Washington.
It is a 7 hour drive from my home state of Oregon.
I brought along Oregon ferns for the students to use in their jello printing.

This is the first of five classes I taught on this trip.....more to come.


CLICK HERE to view the Yakima, WA Jello Printing Class

CLICK HERE to view my Tutorials

CLICK HERE to view my Art Quilts


May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn

My double bills#22 Murder by Death & Dead men don't wear plaid


Murder by Death was written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.


The plot is a comedic take on the ‘cluedo’ style country-house whodunit, familiar to mystery fiction fans from classics by the likes of Agatha Christie. The cast is an ensemble of well known actors; Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, James Coco,Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Nancy Walker and Estelle Winwood.

The characters of Jessica Marbles, Sidney Wang, Dick and Dora Charleston, Milo Perrier and Sam Diamond are all ciphers of well known detectives Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Charlie Chan, Nick and Nora Charles, and Sam Spade.

It’s murder and mystery with mayhem site gags set pieces snappy dialogue and just the right amount of tongue in cheek from the formidable cast.Pun and purility mix with silly accents and obvious innuendo. It's fun at the old house


In Carl Reiner's Dead men don’t wear plaid Steve Martin plays a private detective who encounters a bizarre assortment of suspects while trying to find out the truth about a scientist's death. It uses classic noir scenes from old Warner Bros inter spliced into scenes with Martin. films. Martins co stars are the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Alan Ladd, Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Barbara Stanwyck, Ray Milland, among others.


It pays homage to film noir while parodying it. Martin under plays his wild and crazy guy routine to great effect and at times the interspersed scenes are pretty convincing. It is a funny and clever film. A reminder of the sort of risk taking movies Steve Martin used to make.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb18FCjHSDY

The Universal

About an hour into his show Saturday night in Kansas City, Paul McCartney’s band retreated from the stage, leaving the man alone with an acoustic guitar to play the Beatles’ classic “Blackbird” and “Here Today,” the open letter he wrote to John Lennon’s memory. Without tricks or adornment, McCartney strummed and sang simple melodies and words, and it was spellbinding, the mystery of music encapsulated in six minutes. How can something so stark be so stirring?

The whole night was like that, though most of it was appreciably louder. Three hours of some of the best and most famous songs ever written, each mangifiying the power of the one that preceded it.

I was born in 1968, just old enough to remember “Silly Love Songs” and “Let ‘Em In” as hit singles on the radio. But I don’t recall a time without most of the songs that Paul played. For me, the Beatles catalog is like the oceans and mountains, things that help define the earth. There is no hyperbole when it comes to this stuff. A recital of Beatles songs in 2010 is nothing more or less than a performance of the great cultural artifacts of the past half-century. Some of it, like “All My Loving” and “Drive My Car,” brought a smile, and much of it was pure majesty – “Eleanor Rigby,” “Let It Be,” the monstrous sing along to “Hey Jude.” And I’ve never felt my heart swell at a rock show the way it did during the opening chords to “A Day in the Life.”

Three songs from the set – “Dance Tonight,” from Memory Almost Full, and “Highway” and “Sing the Changes” by Macca’s alter ego The Fireman – earned their first release within the past three years, but most were three or four decades old. Still, the show was no more an act of nostalgia than a performance of Hamlet is. These are important songs, living things, and they stand on their own without need for any personal context.

The fact that there’s no one else left to play them made the evening feel even more poignant, as did the easy intimacy McCartney shared with the audience. He mentioned three people by their first names only – Linda, George and John – and 15,000 strangers knew who he meant and that they are all gone, lending him a humanity that’s sometimes hard to appreciate. Yes, he’s a titan, but he’s also a man who has known more than his share of loss. Beatles songs have long represented myriad things, and now they also represent the finite nature of life.

The depth of that cache of songs was further revealed when Paul came out for his first encore, after a murder’s row of classic to close the set. I thought “what else can he play?” and he pulled out “Yesterday.” Oh yes, that one.

Very few can make any claim to being McCartney’s peers, and all of them come with obstacles to appreciation. The Rolling Stones carry a hint of menace, with a junkie vampire guitarist and songs that have not always reflected the most enlightened attitude toward women. Bob Dylan is the definition of inscrutable, with his blown-speaker voice and labyrinthine lyrics making for disciples more than fans. And a Bruce Springsteeen show, joyous as it is, can have a clubby feel, as die-hards work to one-up one another by getting the Boss to play the most obscure requests. But there is no obstacle to McCartney. He is the last universal in music, with the best songs and the broadest appeal. Saturday may mark the only time I ever see him, and it was a privilege to be there.

Sandals 'Feet' (Dust Brothers Beatapella)


Enough is enough. I have too many shoes. They are spilling out of every available bedroom space. I am culling my shoes. So far the Going Pile contains five pairs of Clarks (different styles, some in poor condition, but including two pairs of desert boots), a pair of Adidas Stan Smiths, a beaten up pair of Adidas Gazelle, some DM shoes and a pair of black DM boots from years ago (always a little too small if truth be told), a pair of black boots that look like orthapedic boots (TK Maxx mistake), a pair of white (!) basketweave (!!) shoes, three pairs of shoes worn for work but now beyond hope, a pair of red Nike Air (no idea why I bought them), some Dunlop Green Flash (in blue, not very comfortable), a pair of hiking boot things, two pairs of Converse, one pair of black Nike Cortez (older than both of my children), a pair of dark brown wing tip Dr Marten's brogues (much loved but past their best) and a pair of Caterpillar boots (hardly worn). All this is causing me some distress.

I won't describe the Staying Pile (it's bigger).

The Sandals were a post-house acid jazz/beat poetry combo. Very good in parts.

Feet (Dust Brothers Beatapella).mp3 - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download

Sub Sub 'Space Face'


Before they were Doves they were Sub Sub, and released this superb piece of dance music- Space Face.

In other bird related news, the kids found an injured young bird outside our house yesterday, several cats were prowling around, and an older bird was squawking from the rooftop. The kids wanted to try to save it. A neighbour said the RSPCA etc wouldn't be interested and that saving it from being mauled by cats might be the best we could do. Mrs Swiss asked me 'How do you pick up a bird?'. 'Buy it a couple of drinks and try to make it laugh?' I suggested.

We got it in a cardboard box and put it in our shed, with some water and bread. Then we noticed the mother bird with worms and grubs in it's beak, trying to get in the shed. All very upsetting. We opened the shed door, to let the mother bird feed it's baby with it's broken wing. ET, 7 years old, was by now very concerned. I checked on it later last night and things didn't look good- Giggsy (as it was now known) couldn't feed itself and mother had vanished. We got up this morning and went to the shed, and alas Giggsy had died. We've also found Giggsy's brother or sister, dead, in the alleyway behind the house. I guess leaving the nest is a bit do or die. Everyone's bearing up pretty well though.

SubSub-SpaceFace.mp3

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Sub Sub Ft. Bernard Sumner 'This Time I'm Not Wrong'


A Joy Division/New Order rarity/oddity for you, following the earlier Jah Division piece. In 1997 Bernard co-wrote and sang (and presumably played guitar) with Sub Sub, who would shortly afterwards go on to become Doves. Sub Sub hit the charts with the rather ace Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) and also had the ravey Space Face, which as Doves they still encore with from time to time. This song is more Doves than Sub Sub, being full of guitars and drums, and featuring a typical Bernard vocal and lyric. The end came for Sub Sub when their Cheetham Hill studio burnt down on the Williams twins' birthday, but judging by this 12" they were heading in a different direction anyway. The B-side features an early version of Fire Suite which also cropped up on the first Doves lp. Bernard Sumner in 1997 was on extended leave from New Order and in between Electronic activities. I got this in Oxfam in Altrincham for a fiver some time ago, a bargain judging by some online prices I've seen. This was the last single to come out on Rob Gretton's Rob's records label, also home to Manchester legends A Certain Ratio and Mr. Scruff amongst others.

01 This Time I'm Not Wrong.mp3

Jah Division 'Dub Will Tear Us Apart'


Several months ago A North Country Bhoy posted an e.p. by New York based reggae band Jah Division. The band do exactly what it says on the tin- play dub versions of Joy Division songs. The e.p. had four tracks, and this is the best- Dub Will Tear Us Apart, much better than you might think it could be. Thanks to ANCB for this lovely piece of laid back post-punk dubbery.

Dub Will Tear Us Apart.mp3

Be Cool as Ice

Apple’s iPhone has been voted the coolest thing on the planet. That's by the arbiters of taste who imbibe at Costa Coffee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UlYCciLZp0
cool as ice intro
A poll of 3,000 British coffeeists saw the iPhone just ahead of its manufacturer Apple,in second place.The Internet was the third coolest thing according to the  study. At fourth place was the iPod, while Aston Martin’s DB9 rounded up the top 5. Cadbury’s chocolate and auction site eBay also made it to the top 10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex_gBUtEuMw
cool as ice

Actor- Johnny Depp was the coolest ‘celebrity’ at 21 while ‘not sure what’- Cheryl Tweedy 48 and Ant and Dec 52 were above John Lennon, James Dean, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Michael Caine, Jack Nicholson,Frank Sinatra, Sean Connery, Johnny Cash, Clint Eastwood, Muhammad Ali, Barrack Obama and The Fonz (heeeeeeeeey!) 

“It was interesting seeing what the nation deems to be cool,” said Costa’s Kevin Hydes.

Yeah, very interesting! Not to mention utterly baffling!

Top 10 of the 100 coolest things on the planet are:

• iPhone-fair enough, it is good

• Apple-yeah their design ethic is excellent

• the Internet-sort of

• iPod-see number 1

• Aston Martin DB9-yeah, even if you don’t like cars this is pretty cool

• Cadbury’s chocolate-awful, it’s nowhere near being decent chocolate

• Sky+-Don’t leave home without it

• eBay-good for a bargain

• Mobile Phones-bit cool, bit annoying

• Facebook –AWFUL! just go out there and make some proper friends

Now everyone is entitled to an opinion about what quantifies coolness. It’s not actually a scientifically provable thing but most know what the general elements of being cool are. Therefore I was flabbergasted by a great deal of this list. In particular these utterly uncool selections;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FezUFB1rXWg
cool as ice rewind
• GHD hair straighteners at 14-they straighten hair. You can do that with an iron.

• Sex & The City at 43-excruciating pap

• Primark at 50-cheap tat

• Ant & Dec at 52-Dull and Duller

• Avatar at 55-Dull smurfs

• The A-Team at 60-crap TV. crap movie. crap.

• Eastenders at 62-I prefer something a bit lighter; like The World at War

• The X Factor at 74-Can’t sing, won’t work

• The Twilight saga at 82-oh, just grow up!

• Jeremy Clarkson at 89-Cool? Bollocks,the dirty great lumbering oaf

• Big Brother at 90-Dragging it’s tired carcass in it’s final year, should have been put out of it’s misery eight years ago…with a sledgehammer

• Simon Cowell at 94 ( a place above Stevie Wonder! )-words fail me


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Tribute to Ray Gardner
"You're an exchange student aren't you Sebastian? All hair gel and fancy loafers"

Caspar


I have a hangover.

Another American band making skew-wiff, bouncy guitar music, following recent bagging Area postees Wounded Lion, Woods and Warpaint. It's hard to resist a song that starts with frantic drumming, fast acoustic guitars and the line 'I live in the graveyard, I want to go out but it's too hot'.
Not sure it'll help my head though.

Edit Post removed by Blogger, reposted without track.

ain’t it funky

Clyde Stubblefield

Released in 1969 James Brown's "Funky Drummer" is the world's most sampled record, in particular its drum break. The man responsible for the eight-bar "solo" is Clyde Stubblefield.
With the birth of Hip Hop we saw the use of vinyl go from backing music for rappers to being used as an instrument and in particular electronic music. However the use of James Brown recordings and in particular the Funky Drummer gave Hip Hop some real roots a cultural touchstone and a funkier sound. The Funky Drummer break is simple yet hypnotic and has been used on so many recordings that it’s impossible to count.

Whatever ones views on the idea of sampling music, in execution it was and is integral to the birth and growth of a genre. Hip Hop has as much quality and dross as any other musical form and it's overwhelming popularity is significant.

In a close second place in the sampled hall of fame is Think (About It) a song recorded by Lyn Collins and released as a single on James Brown's People Records in 1972. This also features Stubblefield. The break is shorter but sampled frequently.
While recording and performing with James Brown, Clyde joined John "Jab'o" Starks and they became known as the funkiest men alive He and Jab'o are the most sampled musicians in the world

As James Brown declaims; “give the drummer some."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G9UV3kNoIQ
Funky Drummer –bonus beats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jiqxkdhzi_M
Think-at 1:25 & 2.25

Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 22


Bagging Area is featuring updated rockabilly sounds now at the Friday night rave-up, and we can't get more updated than this. This song is from this year's Fall album, Your Future Our Clutter. One online review I read recently praised MES for writing a song with verses and a chorus, that could be played on the radio. Not quite- it's a Wanda Jackson cover from 1961, one of the rockabilly greats, Funnel Of Love. The Fall's rockabilly covers are always fun (see also White Lightning amongst others). This is great Mancabilly action. Thumbs in belt loops, quiffs drenched by the rain.

08 Funnel Of Love.mp3

Primal Scream 'Swastika Eyes Remix'


I'm dj-ing tonight at a 40th birthday. I say dj-ing; playing records is a more accurate description. It'd be great to play records like this one all night. This is the remix of Swastika Eyes, Mani's bass well to the fore, by a Belfast based dj, producer and musician. DH are his initials but we dare not type his name due to our DMCA friends. I shall be probably be besieged by requests for Michael Jackson, Girls Aloud, Amy Winehouse and Wham! We'll settle our differences somewhere in the middle.

SwastikaEyesRemix.mp3

well they said that-Blake (Glengarry Glen Ross)

Put. That coffee. Down. Coffee's for closers only.

You're talking about what.You're talking about... Bitching about that sale you shot, some sonofabitch who don't wanna buy land, some broad you're trying to screw, so forth. Let's talk about something important. They all here?


Williamson: All but one.

I'm going anyway. Let's talk about something important. Put. That coffee. Down. Coffee's for closers only. You think I'm fucking with you? I am not fucking with you. I'm here from downtown. I'm here from Mitch and Murray. And I'm here on a mission of mercy. Your name's Levine? You call yourself a salesman you son of a bitch?

Moss: I don't gotta sit here and listen to this shit.

You certainly don't pal, 'cause the good news is - you're fired. The bad news is - you've got, all of you've got just one week to regain your jobs starting with tonight. Starting with tonight's sit. Oh? Have I got your attention now? Good. "Cause we're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anyone wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired. Get the picture? You laughing now? You got leads. Mitch and Murray paid good money, get their names to sell them. you can't close the leads youre given you can't close shit. You ARE shit. Hit the bricks pal, and beat it 'cause you are going OUT.

Levene: The leads are weak.

The leads are weak? Fucking leads are weak. You're weak. I've been in this business 15 years...

Moss: What's your name?

Fuck you. That's my name. You know why, mister? You drove a Hyundai to get here. I drove an eighty-thousand dollar BMW. THAT'S my name. And your name is you're wanting. You can't play in the man's game, you can't close them - go home and tell your wife your troubles. Because only one thing counts in this life: Get them to sign on the line which is dotted. You hear me you fucking faggots? A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing. ALWAYS BE CLOSING. A-I-D-A. Attention, Interest, Decision, Action. Attention - Do I have you attention? Interest - Are you interested? I know you are, because it's fuck or walk. You close or you hit the bricks. Decision - Have you made your decision, for Christ? And Action. A-I-D-A. Get out there - you got the prospects coming in. You think they came in to get out of the rain? A guy don't walk on the lot lest he wants to buy. They're sitting out there waiting to give you their money. Are you gonna take it? Are you man enough to take it? What's the problem, pal?

Moss: You, You're such a hero, you're so rich, how come you're coming down here wasting your time with such a bunch of bums?

You see this watch? You see this watch?

Moss: Yeah.

That watch costs more than you car. I made $970,000 last year. How much'd you make? You see pal, that's who I am, and you're nothing. Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father? Fuck you! Go home and play with your kids. You wanna work here - close! You think this is abuse? You think this is abuse, you cocksucker? You can't take this, how can you take the abuse you get on a sit? You don't like it, leave. _I_ can go out there tonight with the materials you've got and make myself $15,000. Tonight! In two hours! Can you? Can YOU? Go and do likewise. A-I-D-A. Get mad you son of a bitches. get mad. You want to know what it takes to sell real estate? It takes BRASS BALLS to sell real estate. Go and do likewise gents. Money's out there. You pick it up, it's yours. You don't, I got no sympathy for you. You wanna go out on those sits tonight and close, CLOSE. It's yours. If not you're gonna be shining my shoes. And you know what you'll be saying - a bunch of losers sittin' around in a bar. 'Oh yeah. I used to be a salesman. It's a tough racket.' These are the new leads. These are the Glengarry leads. And to you they're gold, and you don't get them. Why? Because to give them to you is just throwing them away. They're for closers. I'd wish you good luck but you wouldn't know what to do with it if you got it. And to answer you question, pal, why am I here? I came here because Mitch and Murray asked me to. They asked me for a favor. I said the real favor, follow my advice and fire your fucking ass because a loser is a loser
-Blake

Day 69 - Gimme, Gimme, Gimme Pop Music

I haven't seen this commercial on TV (I'm pretty sure I haven't seen a commercial since April when I got a DVR, except maybe during ballgames) but this song is yet another example of why the three minute pop song is king. Sounds like the Juno theme song crossed with my boy Jeremy Fisher. I love it, but those who have a low tolerance for sunshine pop should sit this one out.

And check out the remix, which actually doesn't ruin the song.

Kyle Andrews - "You Always Make Me Smile" (from the Kangaroo EP)

Kyle Andrews - "You Always Make Me Smile" (remix)

Jeremy Fisher - "Scar That Never Heals" (from Goodbye Blue Monday)

The Moldy Peaches - "Anyone Else But You" (from the Juno soundtrack)

The Psychedelic Furs 'Pretty In Pink'


We've been on a post-punk/indie guitar trip this week at Bagging Area, so let's have this marvelous early 80s moment, a song that even that Molly Ringwold (sigh) film can't completely destroy. Hairspray, back-combing and fingerless gloves at the ready. This is the original version from 1981, with our friend Martin Hannett at the controls, rather than the re-recorded version for the film of the same name, which had some unpleasantly 1986ish keyboards and drums. That second version and the film Pretty In Pink made them big in the USA, big on college radio, top 40 in the UK, and sent them on a commercial hit chasing journey. This one is much, much better.

15 Pretty in Pink.wma