Sun Ra

People on Earth ought make a mistake and do something right people have been doing wrong so long that if they did something right it would be a mistake. (Sun Ra)

Flowers in My Tea

"I'm just sippin ' on camomile, watchin ' boys and girls and their sex appeal. "


Photo by Lady J © April 2016

The Polyphonic Spree and their 15th Anniversary Tour

Last night sparkled. The Polyphonic Spree ,  played at the El Rey in Los Angeles, as part of their 15th Anniversary Tour. For those of you who are familiar with the El Rey Theatre,  you know that it's a small venue. This excited me, as I knew this would create a sort of intimacy.

Photo - Lady J in Lotus Pose © 2015

My first experience with The Polyphonic Spree took place at The Derby (R.I.P) in Hollywood.  The Derby was a landmark venue, and one of the several spots where I would swing dance.

The Derby was a tight squeeze, so watching this 20 piece band in such close quarters was intense.  After their first song, all was quiet. It was a...somebody say something kind of tension.  While we stood stunned,  one of my fellow attendees said;  "DID THAT JUST HAPPEN? !" The rest of us laughed, grateful for balloon -like release.

Since that night in 2002, The Polyphonic Spree has remained one of my favorite bands.

Photos- Lady J in Lotus Pose © 2015

The Spree dressed in their most basic and recognizable garb, which they first fashioned at the time of their debut 15 years ago.

Photo -Lady J in Lotus Pose  ©2015

After the band played their first album, The Beginning Stages of..., there was a quick wardrobe change,  and then and then a second set that included their current fine tuned psychedelic pop.

As the music whirled around me, as I look up at front man Tim Delaughter, and see a whimsical close-eyed smile, and a swaying- sailing frame, towered over me. It’s been so long since I've sren a person enjoy music that much. He even shushed the audience when a few strays got to be too gabby.

As I watched this man swell, I found myself remembering the 2002 Tim, who looked like the Messiah,  with his mid-length curly chestnut tresses and extatic calm. Yeah; that's what I'll call it. Prior to that show I read an article in the LA Weekly that offered a brief description of the band, and a clarification from the band. This may be a mis-quote, but I recall, "We are not a cult."

I'm never one to shout out song requests, or bouts of praise, but in my head I said, "Happy 15", and out loud, at the end of the night, I called out, "Thank you."

the never ending argument

"Punk rock died when the first kid said,
'Punk's not dead!
Punk's not dead!'"

- David Berman (Silver Jews), "Tennessee"

please stop

Had a conversation with a friend about humility and this man came up

Livin' Free

Uplifting song from Evan Rock and Charles Haines. Both moved to the big island of Hawaii a few years ago as I understand it, to explore a life of sustainability via minimilism,  spirituality, an tropical fruit.

Evan Rock is currently putting together retreats that are centered around 80/10/10 low fat raw vegan eating,  as well as an embracing of spiritual growth. All good stuff.

One of the elements that catches my attention and interest is their willingness to harvest play and silliness.  Keep on keepin' on boys.


Livin' Free by Evan Rock and Charles Haines- The Love Ambassadors

five four three two one

made it, living it today..

To Forgive or Resent: Henry Rollins on Suicide

Henry Rollins is man I admire. You can even leave Black flag out of it. He is a great, storyteller, writer, introspective thinker, generous with his time, and he takes his work and us very seriously. We are truly fortunate to have a person of admiration put out so much energy and send it our way. Now, here are the reasons for this post. My thoughts on mental health are intense and for many reasons. Two that I feel I can disclose are that 1) I had a friend who took his life and 2) I work in a psych hospital with people whom I consider to be my heroes and sheroes.

 Below you’ll find two posts that H. Rollins wrote about suicide. One crushing and the other is redeeming. Make your own decision.  

Henry Rollins: More Thoughts on Suicide

By Henry Rollins

Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 4:14 AM

Categories: Henry Rollins!

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Sunday KCRW broadcast.]

As you might imagine, I got a few letters about my recent column about suicide. Actually, it was a lot of letters. For days. I read them. No matter how angry or instructive, I appreciate them all because they were written with complete sincerity, even if some had only two words, the second being “you.”

After reading carefully and responding as best I could, it was obvious that I had some work to do in order to educate myself further on this very complex and painful issue. I am quite thick-headed, but not so much that things don’t occasionally permeate.

In the piece, I said there are some things I obviously don’t get. So I would like to thank you for taking the time to let me know where you’re coming from. None of it was lost upon me.

I cannot defend the views I expressed. I think that would be taking an easy out. I put them out there plainly and must suffer the slings and arrows — fair enough. I won’t attempt to dodge them. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t be taught a thing or two. I have no love for a fixed position on most things. I am always eager to learn something. I promise that I will dig in and educate myself on this and do my best to evolve. Again, thank you.

In the short amount of space afforded here, hear me out. Like a lot of people, I have battled depression all my life. It’s nothing special, in that it’s too common to be considered unique. This state has made me have to do things in a certain way to remain operational. There have been some truly awful stretches, as I am sure there have been for anyone who deals with depression, that have at times rendered me almost paralytic. Hours pass and I slow-cook on a cold spit. I have likened it to being a peach in a can of syrup yet fully conscious. In an attempt to keep moving along, I must stay in the immediate present tense, acutely aware of everything happening, like driving a car on a highway. If I conclude that I am not citizen grade, I do my best to avoid people so I do not act unpleasantly. No one deserves it. This has kept me in hotel rooms, my kitchen and the corners of gyms. When I have a show that night, it’s minute-to-minute.

One of the only things that gives me a breather is music. I medicate with it.

What has perhaps kept me from seeing things differently about severe depression is that I am sure I don’t have it.

But the power of severe depression was brought up quite a bit in the letters I received. Your anger toward me on this, believe me, I got it.

I serve. That is what I do. It is, to me, the most fortunate position to be in. I have an audience. It is because of them that I get to eat, move — everything. Each member of this audience is better than I am. Braver and more real than I see myself. The only thing I fear besides being misunderstood, which would be my fault anyway, is failing these people. 

For decades I have talked to and gotten letters from people who tell me that something I did helped them, or saved them from killing themselves, helped them get clean, stay clean or come out. Never once do I really think that I had anything to do with anyone staying alive, but I get where they’re coming from. All of them are better than I am and it is them I serve. 

In my mind, all of this is mine to screw up. While I don’t take myself seriously, I take them with a frightening degree of seriousness. They can take or leave me at any time; they have options. They are all I have and, beyond that, I feel I have a duty to serve them because they have made me better.

I guess this is what makes me wrestle with the issue of suicide, when it pertains to those who have an audience, or kids, or both. I feel nothing but debt to my audience. I will try my hardest, but I will never be able to even the books. If I checked out, I would be running out on the bill.

Like I said, I am trying to evolve on this. I have a picture in my mind. There is a person — one with a family and a huge audience — who is on one side of a seesaw. The family and the audience are on the other side. This person’s condition makes him heavy enough to tilt all of them up in the air and send him to the ground. He didn’t want to go, but the condition outweighed all of them and even he couldn’t stop it. Is that, albeit crudely drawn, basically it?

I understand it is my task to learn about this. It might take a while, but I will get on it. It is my belief about an ingrained sense of duty that will make this challenging, but I am always up for improvement.

I got several letters thanking me for what I said. However, it was the ones that took me to task that made me think the most.

To those I offended, I believe you and I apologize. If what I wrote causes you to toss me out of your boat, it is to my great regret, but I understand and thank you for your thoughts.

---------------

Henry Rollins: Fuck Suicide

By Henry Rollins

Thu, Aug 21, 2014 at 9:43 AM

Categories: Henry Rollins!

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Sunday KCRW broadcast.]
Days after Robin Williams died, I kept seeing his face on the Internet. His death seemed to have a momentum of its own. It went from a sad death of a famous person to “a nation mourns” pitch, which I didn’t quite understand. Sites such as Huffington Post swim in their own brand of hyperbole. They call it news and culture, but often, it’s just content.

I understand why people feel Williams’ loss so intensely. His talent as an actor is not in dispute. His performance in Good Will Hunting is unimpeachable. I wonder if he was tapping into his own deep trench of personal pain to deliver some of those scenes. It was brave and excellent work.

The more you think about it, the more you remember one great performance after another. Good Morning Vietnam is a favorite of mine.

When someone with this level of exposure dies in this way, it is confusing. An Oscar-winning actor, well-paid, with a career that most performers could only dream of — how could anyone so well regarded and seemingly fortunate have as much as even a single bad day, much less a life so unendurable that it has to be voluntarily voided?

On more than one of my USO tours, Robin Williams had been on the same stage a few days before me. That’s all I needed to know about him. As far as I was concerned, he was a good man.

But it’s here where I step off the train. I am sure some will strongly disagree with what I’m about to say. And I also understand that his personal struggles were quite real. I can’t argue with that.

But I simply cannot understand how any parent could kill themselves.

How in the hell could you possibly do that to your children? I don’t care how well adjusted your kid might be — choosing to kill yourself, rather than to be there for that child, is every shade of awful, traumatic and confusing. I think as soon as you have children, you waive your right to take your own life. No matter what mistakes you make in life, it should be your utmost goal not to traumatize your kids. So, you don’t kill yourself.

I know some people will disagree. And I get that you can’t understand anyone else’s torment. All that “I feel your pain” stuff is bullshit and disrespectful. You can appreciate it, listen and support someone as best you can, but you can’t understand it. Depression is so personal and so unique to each of us that when you’re in its teeth, you think you invented it. You can understand your own, but that’s it. When you are severely depressed, it can be more isolating than anything else you have ever experienced. In trying to make someone understand, you can only speak in approximation. You are truly on your own.

Everyone handles their emotional vicissitudes in their own ways. I am no doctor, but I think the brain is always looking for a sense of balance and normal function so the body can operate efficiently. Some people medicate accordingly, in an attempt to stay somewhat even. That pursuit can lead one down some dark paths. Someone who is an addict might not be an “addict” in the pejorative sense but merely trying to medicate and balance themselves.

Many years ago, I lived in Silver Lake with a housemate who suffered from severe bouts of depression. When she wasn’t in her small bedroom with the lights off, crying for hours, she was bright and hilarious. Anywhere we went, we laughed our asses off. She fought her depression with everything from bike rides to drugs, prescribed and otherwise. Years after the last time I saw her, I guess she could no longer keep up the battle and killed herself. No one who knew her was surprised. When she was in her deepest misery, she was unrecognizable.

The hardest part about being around her was you knew there was nothing you could do to help.

I get it, but then again, maybe I don’t.

When someone negates their existence, they cancel themselves out in my mind. I have many records, books and films featuring people who have taken their own lives, and I regard them all with a bit of disdain. When someone commits this act, he or she is out of my analog world. I know they existed, yet they have nullified their existence because they willfully removed themselves from life. They were real but now they are not.

I no longer take this person seriously. I may be able to appreciate what he or she did artistically but it’s impossible to feel bad for them. Their life wasn’t cut short — it was purposely abandoned. It’s hard to feel bad when the person did what they wanted to. It sucks they are gone, of course, but it’s the decision they made. I have to respect it and move on.

A few years ago, a guy I’d known for many years hanged himself in a basement. Weeks later, I went to the spot and picked up bits of plastic coating from the cord he used, which were on the floor after he was cut down. I liked the guy, but all I could think of then is all I can think of now — the drawings his kids had made that were pasted up on the walls of his kitchen.

Almost 40,000 people a year kill themselves in America, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In my opinion, that is 40,000 people who blew it.

Fuck suicide. Life isn’t anything but what you make it. For all the people who walked from the grocery store back to their house, only to be met by a robber who shot them in the head for nothing — you gotta hang in there.

I have life by the neck and drag it along. Rarely does it move fast enough. Raw Power forever.

---------------

To follow H.R. at LA Weekly click, here.

Clockwork Orange County: The Rise of West Coast Punk Rock!

Finally out on DVD. Dropped earlier this month.


Clockwork Orange County: The Rise of West Coast Punk Rock!

"Southern California. The early 70s. Spike-haired kids with tattoos and a love for loud music stuck out like sore thumbs. These Punk pioneers found their only sanctuary at Cuckoo's Nest, a club in Costa Mesa. ""Clockwork Orange County"" chronicles this scene, where seminal Punk acts such as The Ramones, T.S.O.L. and Black Flag launched, and a west coast chapter of a global musical movement was born."

someone who gets me

someone who just doesn't know that he gets me. when i grow up i want to be just like me.

ebedded capabilites are blocked for this video.
visit this link: http://vimeo.com/89659920 or go to http://henryrollins.com/video#juicing

i'd like to believe that he fully embraces a sense of play, and is not simply delirious from lack of unliquified sustenance. a lesson to us all. don't ever lose your sense of play, for if you do, God, Satan, Santa, and Al Qaeda wins. and so do girls who use the word "bestie", guys who dig girls who do, and those who insist alcohol need be photographed and put up on social media pages. God forbid. find yourself an old game of hungry hungry hippos, remember the days of "playing pretend", discover that doing a cartwheel is like riding a bike, you're never too mature to abandon capital letters, and know that skipping can still be fun at 33. and HR here shows us what is still necessary at 53. i'll check back again, when he's 70, and you are ___.

oh; and i juice.

i'll race you to the swings!

the urk and disappointment of miley cyrus, caused the abandon of hope and capital letters

oh miley. i turned off the tv, but didn't think to turn off the magazines. as i turned my head too quickly to avoid self inflicted pain-- that i decided to blame the sexified teen for ---i had an inspired thought. madonna was considered--almost by law--to be an inspiration to all things pop, female,and impressionable enough to feel honored to partake in the clumsy losing of the clothes tradition. but ...madonna grew up. grew, aged, and got wise and spiritual. humility and arm muscle is the new skinny. i believe it truly. let us all roll around on the floor in something lacy and white, in symbolic prayer. maybe they'll grow out of it and find that the way to enlightenment is to make a kabuki themed music video. it's just a simple game of follow the leader. for the sake of your kids; in Britney we trust.

the weight of strawberries

If you read, write, hear, utter the word strawberry or if you are to draw or see the image of one without thinking of a Beatles song in some way; I don't want to know you.

Ital Tek - Babel

Ital Tek - Babel

Visit: iTAL tEK facebook

Official Music Video for ITAL TEK - BABEL
From the album Midnight Colour
Directed by Jack Pirie and Alex Hylands-White
Produced by Jack Pirie
Director of Photography -- Jaime Feliu Torres
Dancer -- Victoria Heathcote
Choreography -- Samantha Vale
Art Director -- Rich Morrell and Hayley Gibbs
Art Department -- Amy Smith, Marcy Hudakova, Scott Watson, Sabrina Shah
Make Up Artist and UV Design -- Elvis Schmoulianoff
Stills -- Marcy Hudakova
Gaffer - Paul Thomas
Spark - Viv Chan
Colourist -- Jack Jones

Format: RED One

Dir. Jack Pirie and Alex Hylands-White
Halcyon Nights
www.halcyonnights.co.uk
twitter.com/halcyonnights

Jan. 18, 2014 edition of TWFPS, Henry Rollins talking to Mike Watt about D Boon & Minute Flag

 Henry Rollins on The Watt From Pedro Show.


TWFPS Jan 18, 2014 with Mike Watt's guest Henry Rollins


Jan. 18, 2014 edition of TWFPS, Henry Rollins talking to Mike Watt about D Boon & Minute Flag


Henry Rollins/on touring - twfps 

From Youtube User: Bro Matt

Visit TWFPS

LEGO Record Store

A miniature record store made of LEGO toy pieces by Ryan Howerter (AKA eldeeem). 

Via KFMW

all of it

via Edward Sharp & the Magnetic Zeros tumblr

Brilliance. This is Brilliance. This is Brilliance. This is Brilliance. Oh to shine.

Rocco Deluca - Swing Low - Nov, 18th 2010 - Philadelphia

Thanks to YouTube user Doug Seymour  for posting.

Official Rocco Deluca Facebook

Official Rocco Deluca Website

someone loves the green

source: coffee culture

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros Big Top Featuring "In The Lion" Official Fan Made Video

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Big Top Featuring "In The Lion"
Official Fan Made Video - 10/2013

Created By: Sarah Moumblow (http://sarahmoumblow.wordpress.com/)

http://edwardsharpebigtop.com/

Edward Sharpe Big Top Poster

via Edward Sharpe Shop

I was here and it was grand.