Blame It On Steinski

Killing time at Heathrow

Leaving Womad (see above), I arrived at Heathrow with several hours to spare before boarding my flight back to the States. Alays the nervous traveller, I augmented the book I was reading with the purchase of a recent book of interviews with Noam Chomsky, Imperial Ambitions; Conversations With Noam Chomsky On The Post 9/11 World.

Now, I’m a big Chomsky fan, and I’ve read a few of his books,…

Read More

I been away

Here’s a short rundown on the 3 gigs I did between Friday, July 27, and Thursday, August 2. If you could care less about this self-absorbed reporting, stick around anyway; topics of more general interest are in the pipeline.

1) Friday, July 27, 6 PM. Whitney Museum’s Whitney Live series.

As support for several acts based closely or loosely on Sun Ra, I provided ambient psychedelia, brewed…

Read More

No Cooler For The Scooter

A quiet number from the Club Secure Undisclosed.

VERY well done. A buck in the request glass for Rebecca at WFMU, who generously…

Read More

Well, I apologize, but I think this guy’s a genius

I’m so taken with Paul Rhymer’s radio serial Vic & Sade (see the earlier post ) that I’ve located (in the local library system, yet) 2 books of the serial’s scripts. This link isn’t to the books, but to some online scripts.

I realize that these serials are an acquired taste, but once acquired, the listener is blessed with some outstanding audio. Not only are the scripts exquisite, but the…

Read More

Jerry Clower on biscuits

Vegetarian alert: contains “a big gob a that hog…

Read More

“I never was so happy in my life”

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about old radio comedy programs, brought on by a spell of listening to Jack Benny tapes whilst shaving (me, not Jack Benny).

There’s another favorite series I collected for a while, Vic and Sade. This show ran every weekday for 12 years in the 30′s and 40′s, created and written by one guy: Paul Rhymer.

The show was aired daytimes, during the soap opera…

Read More

Elderly Man River by Stan Freberg (and Daws Butler)

Who on earth is Stan Freberg ?

Begin with voiceover talent for Warner’s and Disney; add comedian, writer, songwriter, radio star, TV pioneer and character actor, and, arguably, the first person to use actual humor – you know, genuinely funny stuff – in many wildly successful and memorable advertising campaigns ( twenty-one Clio awards, friends ).

I won’t even begin to reprise Freberg’s…

Read More

Net Neutrality loses (updated)

The FTC has decided to abandon net neutrality.

Thought that battle was won, huh? Think again.

What does this mean? If your ISP is Verizon, and Verizon has, let’s say, a contract with Yahoo to provide fast service to Yahoo but not Google, then your browser may load Google very slooooooowly. That’s if Verizon feels good. If they want to play hardball, you won’t be able get Google at all….

Read More

If you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist (continued)

No picture for this link; the images accompanying this story on the photographs of the Iraq war that don’t seem to show up in the US media have a devastating effect without anything I can add.

The Republicans, with the brainpower of Karl Rove and Roger Ailes driving them, realize that images of war dead, injuries, and American coffins make for, you know, icky feelings about conquering other…

Read More

Rich Republicans find a new charity: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Taking a page from scumbag Tom Delay’s playbook, wealthy Republicans and various lobbying groups are contributing unlimited, untraceable amounts of tax deductible cash to a “charity” whose only purpose is to pay for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hotel suites and private jets.

The purpose of Schwarzeneggger’s travel? Ostensibly, “trade missions.” Actually, for no reason other than to keep Arnold’s…

Read More

Page 42 of 56« First« Prev3940414243444546Next »Last »