Go Ask Alice

My dear,dear friend Lisa sent me this video today. She said it reminded her of the apartment that Marko and I shared off Enfield back in the 80s. I take that as a compliment!

Norton's Anthology

I guess it's a bit of a nerdish confession, but my favorite book for many years was my 1984 edition of the Norton Anthology of Poetry. I got it for a poetry class at TCU my freshman year in 1985 and glanced at it often enough to wear off its outer cover by the end of the decade.

One of my favorite poems in the anthology was "Suzanne Takes You Down" by Leonard Cohen. I liked it so much that in the early 90s I decided to write a song and use the poem for the lyrics. I did not know at the time that Cohen had already set it to music way back in the 60s.

When I found out, I wrote my own words and gave the original music a Bo Diddly beat. The name of the song comes from Mike, who gave a number of my songs non-sensical names that somehow stuck.

Lady Breaks Bread

I walked in the wake of the sad and the lonely.
I recall how my boots clicked against the paving stones
and echoed out loudly, and sharply, and clearly,
then faded away in the cold Polish dawn.

At the edge of the town where the trains were all waiting,
the brazen, exceptional strumpet appeared.
She said, "Well, well done, my good and faithful servant."
and the whistles screamed out in the grey morning air.

Well, I remember wine and roses
and I can still recall the cool, electric thrill
of the first time I ever saw you--
you were so seductive and invitational.

We rode through the night in the pine woods of Georgia,
so ghostly, so pale, immaculately clean.
The new moon hung low like a white shard of dresden,
and the earth thundered out beneath our horses' feet.

We hid in the dark at the edge of the clearing,
all eyes on the house, make sure everyone's asleep,
and Bobby Lee went up with our notice of eviction--
a homemade wooden cross and a jar of gasoline.

Well, I remember wine and roses
and I can still recall the cool, electric thrill
of the first time I ever saw you--
you were so seductive and invitational.

Elliot Smith-- Five Years Gone

Very hard to believe its been five years.

Blaze Foley Tribute & Fundraiser for the Homeless

Last week my friend and colleague Mickey White asked if I'd back him up on bass at a fundraiser at Ruta Maya. We had a twenty-minute practice on Tuesday after work-- more than enough time to work up "Larimer Street", "The Cuckoo", "Rex's Blues", "Going Down the Road Feelin' Bad", "Sweet Home Chicago", and a demi-medley of "I've Been Everywhere" and "When the Saints Go Marching In." Right?

Actually, I've played with Mickey twice before, and we'd done two of those tunes already, but more importantly, he's such a great musician that it's just easy to play with him. Ditto for his son, who plays drums.

In short, this evening was an absolute blast. We had a second guitarist and a saxophonist. The latter played with Townes Van Zandt back when Mickey played with him, and despite the fact that this gig WAS our rehearsal, it all came off very strong.

It was a little funny to be treated like a minor VIP. When I first got there one of the event coordinators sought me out and gave me a special bracelet that let me get free beer. It was also very cool to play for a large crowd that cheered enthusiastically between songs (for the wizardry of the guitarists and the saxophonist!). When we stepped off stage, one of the event organizers came up and asked me if I would sign some fliers that were going to be auctioned off. I declined, telling her that I was just a friend backing up the guy who had actually known Blaze Foley (we were listed as "Mickey White" after all) but she insisted. They wanted all the musicians to sign them.

Oddness, all of this. But I liked it!

The Evils of Drink

This cautionary tale chock full of charming little metaphors. One I cannot figure out is the odd little figure who likes to tap glasses of varying sizes and then quickly jump into them. Don't know what it means, but I love the image!

Poi Dog Pondering

Early spring semester, 1988.
West Mall of UT, very close to Guadalupe.

A few musicians are playing some rather unusual but upbeat music. A young man standing between the musicians and the crowd is singing loudly. He has dark, unkempt hair, a heavy afternoon shadow, and one of those Palestinian scarves that were so popular back then. He keeps his eyes closed and his feet together, and he lets his arms just hang down at his sides as he sings with great gusto. I admire his lack of self-consciousness. His natural talent is only middling, but his enthusiasm is endearing.

The song over, he squeaks away in his black army boots and disappears through the smallish crowd.

A young woman appears and sets down a violin case, from which she very quickly produces a violin. She snaps the case closed and takes her place among the remaining musicians. Another song is already in the offing. Seamless and seemingly spontaneous, too. The crowd grows by a few individuals, and everyone seems to enjoy the music and to be aware that this is something different.

The song over, I turn to the girl next to me in the crowd and ask who the band is.
"It's not a band, really," she explains, "It's just a group of friends who kind of come and go. They're called 'Poi Dog Ponder'[sic]."

Fast forward seven or eight months. I have graduated. I have spent most of a summer in Europe. I have returned to work briefly with the Job Corps before my move to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The hot months of summer have come and gone. It is a cool October day, and I am at the corner of Columbia St. and Franklin listening to my car radio when a really cool song comes on. I speed on to the apartment on Jones Ferry Road, look up the phone number of the local radio station, and ask about the song. "Oh," the friendly college radio DJ replies, "It's called 'Pulling Touch' and it's by an Austin, Texas band called Poi Dog Pondering."

Wow! From the West Mall to college radio in a matter of months! Pretty cool! Plus it was a connection to Texas and to Austin that I was happy to make.

At some point I remember Big A telling me he had seen them on the steps of the West Mall playing the Velvets' "Pale Blue Eyes". Here is a video of them doing 'Living With the Dreaming Body' on Guadalupe.

Not sure what ever happened to the tussle-haired chappie who sang like a soulful borracho. I never saw him with the band again.

Here is singer Frank Orrall playing 'Pulling Touch' at a recent dinner party(?)... if you watch, give it a minute to rev up, then imagine that it has the energy and and vitality that twenty years have mellowed.

Fox Scat

On Friday a state investigator's report concluded that Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin abused her power as governor and violated state ethics law by trying to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the state police.

So, what was FOX news' story of the night? All night? Repeated over and over ad infinitum?

ACORN!

Hydrogen vs. Boost

Cute!