30 November 2006

Quotes of the Day

"I can believe anything, provided it is incredible." ~ Oscar Wilde

"It is to the poet a thing of awe to find that his story is true." ~ Isak Dinesen

“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Women: You can't live with them, and you can't get them to dress up in a skimpy Nazi costume and beat you with a warm squash.” ~ Emo Phillips

21 November 2006

Prague in 3 Minutes

I wish I could say I had something to do with this short film of Prague still-shots, or the superb choice of my favorite band Wilco for the sound, but alas I only found it on YouTube, so I take credit only in presenting it to you:

Seldomfence - Possibly My 'Post of the Season'

I wonder why CDs from one of my old bands, Seldomfence, are selling for so much on amazon when we could barely sell them for half that much at our shows?


Some online reviews I found through google mention:


"[Seldomfence]...would be excellent listening for a road trip across the midwest in autumn" (Portland Mercury, 25 Oct 2000)

and

"...the type of music that might be created from a group of friends cooped up inside on a cold winter night after having a few whiskeys (or maybe just a Portland microbrew) to warm up" (Swizzlestick, 1 May 2001)

but there's certainly nothing that warrants a $20+ price tag - that's ridiculous.

20 November 2006

Rob and I hard at work...



Rob (on right) and I, the tech guys behind the scenes at the Sweater Club...

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17 November 2006

My New Job


The Origin of 'Terrorism'

"DON'T EAT THE BIG APPLE," God said to the first humans, and so they cut down the tree that held it, all the other trees around it, and built two towers in its place.

They called these Babel North and Babel South, both majestic and, to them, superior to anything God had made.

And since God saw the humans' hubris, He sent a score of brown dragons to destroy their towers.

Then the terrified humans said, "Surely our God would not do such a thing," and so they waged war on the brown dragons, for they could no longer see the works of their own God.

Quote of the Week

"It would be nice if the poor were to get even half of the money that is spent in studying them."

~ Bill Vaughan

Prague Sonnet #3

From New-in-Prague...

My favorite cafe serves kerosene matches
that go out only with sirens
thump thump thumping at cardiac doors.
I've tried to drown them in pilsner falls.
Flapping arms I've taken flight... and still
they burn. I am sleepless over this
pending inferno. This game between hops & scotch,
studying white lines thick as pages,
counting quarter-to-two cracks in the plaster
waiting for the pipes to burst. I am
a medieval rocket - destined to hoist
red flags on the moons of dark ages.
I satellite spires, awake as a wheel
in the midst of zodiac clocks.

17 October 2006

16 November 2006

Quote: Our Greatest Fear

The following quote, perhaps best-known from its use in the film Coach Carter, is often mistakenly attributed to Nelson Mandela, but was in fact written by Marianne Williamson:


"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God, your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some; it is in everyone. And, as we let our light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

New Jeff Tweedy Film Trailer

Jeff Tweedy, the mastermind behind the bands Wilco and Loose Fur, as well as contributor to such musical projects as Golden Smog and Uncle Tupelo, is one of my favorite living songwriters (along with Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and JJ Cale). Here's a trailer for a new film about a solo tour in the Pacific NW that I had the pleasure of seeing with my friend Brennan Ehret at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon:



Buy the DVD:
Jeff Tweedy - Sunken Treasure - Live in the Pacific Northwest