Science has brought us a permanent, but easily-removable, tattooing ink. Does this change the metatext of tattooing? I mean, the pain is still there, but if the permanence isn’t part of the subtext anymore, what does that mean for the story? Is it to obvious to predict the rise of a serial-tattooing culture, or a rift between the permanents and… Read more →
Category: Music
Leonard Cohen For Iron Doug
This post is primarily targeted to my pal “Iron” Doug Hern, who is having his 127thThis is an approximate value birthday today. This is a recording of Leonard Cohen doing a reading/performance at the 92nd Street YM-YWHA (yes, that’s the “The Young Men’s-Young Women’s Hebrew Association”) Hotel in New York City, New York on 14 February 1966. It includes Cohen… Read more →
The Sacred Art Of Leaving
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Billy Franks. Boy, those lyrics are sharp. I only had to be cut once to know how to bleed I know why we tend to love most those who know How to leave and Take my hand and let me tell you All but my love will soon be gone And the exit wound will be… Read more →
Friday Playlist
What does this say about my mood? Read more →
Steve Dooks Brings It
Even if very few of them know his name, almost everyone in the greater Halifax area knows Steve Dooks. For most people, Steve is “that guy who plays the piano at Pete’s“–one of Pete‘s better ideas, by the way. In Bedford they think of him like this: and people downtown think of him like this: While I’m sure that guy… Read more →
Last Call
And so we’ve had another night Of poetry and poses And each man knows he’ll be alone When the sacred ginmill closes. And so we’ll drink the final glass Each to his joy and sorrow And hope the numbing drink will last ‘Till opening tomorrow. And when we stumble back again Like paralytic dancers Each knows the question he must… Read more →
For the discerning individual
If you are a fan of Tom Waits, or of the fine television program The Wire, you will thank me for this. First, go to the Kronos Quartet page. Over at the left, click on the “Kronos Quartet plays Sigur Ros” graphic. This will popup a window with a Quicktime player in it. It will be playing Flugufrelsarinn by default.… Read more →
Wow
A Weekend Miscellany
(You may not think it’s the weekend, but since I have Friday and Monday off, and my late night meeting with Australians is done, I am now into my weekend.) OK, let’s talk unexpected interpretations in cover tunes. Sarah Nixey covers Human League‘s Black Hit Of Space [via jwz]. Petra Haden covers Journey‘s Don’t Stop Believin’ [via Scalzi]. Ophelia Blitz… Read more →
This is for Mike Drake
But, of course, the rest of you are welcome to be amused by it. You can go buy Gorilla, the first Bonzo Dog album, right now. This track is from that, although it’s also on about six other “best of” collections. (This post inspired in part by Gwenda pointing to this list of noir quotes.) Read more →
Mixing It Up 5: Minksellaneous
OK, after a pause long enough for the Minks to cross most of Canada–so much for the “do some easy posts to keep the blog going while work crested” plan–we come to the last one ..and let's finish up with an unthemed mix of various things. They’re all appropriate in some way, but they don’t fit nicely into themes as… Read more →
Mixing It Up 4: “Love Songs”
Those scare quotes are important. Most straight up, earnest love songs bore me–unless they feature a lot of use of the word “baby” in which case they positively repell me. These songs are all songs about love, of one kind or another, but they are not what you would call “love songs”. (If you’re wondering why that image for this… Read more →
Mixing It Up 3: Late Night And Mellow
So this is the one for making the exact middle of the night slip by… Back in the days when I used to do a lot of team road-tripping, we determined that 3:41 (the whole minute) is the exact middle of the night. If you make it past 3:41, you can go all night. They try harder and harder to… Read more →
Mixing It Up 2: Late Night Giddy
So, for the second disc, the idea was to gather together some upbeat and amusing songs; songs to keep you feeling a bit silly during long night drives. Maybe songs to keep your spirits up when cold rain is falling on you in the dark. As with all these mixes, these are only a subset of the songs I have… Read more →
Mixing It Up 1: Immortal Tunes
“I believe that when you’re making a mix tape or CD, you’re making history. You ransack the vaults, you haul off all the junk you can carry, and you rewire all your ill-gotten loot into something new. You go through an artist’s entire career, zero in on that one moment that makes you want to jump and dance and smoke… Read more →
