los ojos...

Fourteen years ago today, this beautiful girl

walked across the street to meet me...
I'll be taking this weekend off to celebrate that moment.

"there's no why. he's a zombie."

So it seems that most shows that I like on the TV don't survive very long.
This has been the case for years, but has become more acute recently... This year alone: Pushing Daisies. Reaper. Eli Stone. Aliens In America. Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends. Life On Mars... & The Unusuals, which we just started watching, having saved the whole season on that wonderful magic device known as the DVR. The show is quirky & smart & doesn't always hit the right notes, but at least it was playing its own tune so to speak...
& speaking of tunes, what I especially dug was the soundtrack, which matched the show both in style & in funkiness, like this lil' number right here, which is perfect for when yer runnin' down a perp in the subway~
Cobrastyle

people deserving of more respect, pt. h

chris giarusso

o mine papa...

I already gave my Pop enough props in my Vonnegut piece,
but this pic is too good not to post.

Happy Pre-Fabricated, Greeting Card-Created, Ad Revenue-Stimulating, Unnecessary-& Unwanted-Present-Giving Holiday!

Spongebob does the Blitzkrieg Bop?!

So J7 week comes to a close with perhaps the strangest pairing of songs one could imagine~


I truly hoped you enjoyed this sneak preview of what is simply enough the only hope for the future of music itself...
grab songs here~
Blitzkrieg Bop
Ripped Pants

Jack's a writer & Pops is a man...

The J7 now travels even further in the musical wayback machine as Pops takes the vocals to assert his manliness with Jack layin' down a mean blues riff, & then Jack sings of his literary aspirations...

tunage~
I'm A Man
Paperback Writer

Jack is a rebel who feels good...

& the hits keep comin'...
A double shot of Jack Marley & The J7, rockin' some Gorillaz & then jukin' up some Bowie~

& for your listenin' pleasure~
Feel Good Inc.
Rebel Rebel

Beautiful Day indeed...

As promised, & without any further ado,
more of the J7~

& for your listening pleasure~
Beautiful Day~ J7

Fear Of A Jack Planet

So begins a weeklong celebration of the new rock sensation, the J7...

9 year old Jack Marley Seda-Schreiber rocks out as lead singer/multi-instrumentalist of the J7, which on this sunny day consisted of Joe, Pops, Michael Brett, & JD, also well-known for his association with LemonLimeLights, Gin, Big Red & dozens of other seminal bands. This (literal) garage band tore through a half dozen songs to the delight (& bewilderment) of their overjoyed (& overheated) audience. This video & what is to follow in the coming days are just brief glimpses of a young superstar who is destined to rock many more garages- as well as concert halls & stadiums...

A new rock god is born.

more tomorrow...
To tide you over, an mp3 for your iPod~
Gone Daddy Gone~ J7

people deserving of more respect, pt. F

& "f" is for...

what's in a name...

"sweetestbaboon" originates from a beat poem written by Brion Gysin, who was a painter & poet as well as very chummy with some guy named Burroughs.
The way it seeped into my brain was on a mixtape (remember those?!) a friend made me that included the poem set to music by Gysin's frequent collaborator & jazz saxophonist, Steve Lacy.
The entire enterprise seemed to scream my name so I adopted it as my online identity as it were, in lieu of the ubiquitous "monkeyboy".
As if I even still had your attention, here's the poem in its entirety, followed by the tune as well.
Enjoy~
I'm a blue baboon
I'm a true baboon
I'm a helluva
Hullabaloo Baboon
And I love a baboon
Who bays at the moon
In the mad month of June
The looniest month of them all
He asked me to spoon
By a moonlit lagoon
and there, very soon,
I fall into a swoon
And I fall! I fall! I fall
'Cause I'm a baboon
A baby baboon
The weakest baboon of them all!
I fall into, a swoon
in the arms of this goon
And there, on a dune
I turn and I give him my all!
My all! My all! My all!
Cause I'm a baboon
You could feed with a spoon
The weakest baboon of them all
I'm a skinny baboon
I'm a mini baboon
Just so tall!
I'm the sleekest baboon
I'm the meekest baboon
But I'm the chic-est baboon
Of then all!All!All!
I'm the cheapest baboon
The deepest baboon
The sweetest baboon of them all!
I'm not uptight
I don't wanna fight
None at all!
I'll take your attack
Lying flat on my back
Or bracing myself
On a wall!
Oh, I'm a baboon
Won't join your platoon
I'm the weakest baboon
Of them all
All!All!All!
I'm a neat baboon
I'm a fleet baboon
Im' the Beat-est baboon
Of them all.~
Brion Gysin 1972.

kiss or kill, round deux

The first "kiss or kill" ended with "mrs. love" by discoRUIDO! barley surviving, albeit somewhat raunchily. Our next contender is a fuzzy pianofied remix of U2's "Get On Your Boots" by French dancemeisters Justice. When the single first came out, reaction was muy mixed & this remix seems to have a similar reaction.

Love it or hate it? Kiss or kill it?!
You decide by your comments below...

great minds think alike...

Most of the artwork I've done over the past few years has been for charity, in support of groups, causes, ideas &/or candidates in which I believe & whom I want to help. I am extraordinarily lucky to have the circumstance to allow me to do such~ a supportive base of family & friends as well as a job that I enjoy & affords me the financial freedom to pursue such philanthropic endeavors.
One of the earliest pieces I did in this regard was a donation to a benefit auction for a group of concerned citizens in Princeton, NJ, who were opposed to the inhumane & unnecessary culling of deer in the town. It seems these horrible creatures had the audacity to eat the flowers in some residents' gardens. Never mind the fact that I'm pretty sure the deer had lived there far before these houses were built & the flowers were planted.
The piece is fairly self-explanatory & I think it still holds up rather well.
A group of some pretty great folk espousing some pretty great ideas.

Enjoy~

my memory of "bruises"...

Sometimes a song is not at all about the song itself but the memory it induces...
I found myself inundated by the first few notes of Chairlift's “Bruises” as it was pumped continuously & mercilessly out of the Apple store @ Fashion Mall in Las Vegas as I waited for my lovely bride to finish her Legal Services convention down the block @ Circus Circus.
By all rights, I should now run screaming from this song as it was the aural equivalent of Alex being re-conditioned, forced to watch a bit of the "ultra-violence" whilst being fed nausea-inducing drugs, but alas & alack, instead of being revulsed, I find myself undeniably & inexplicably attracted to the song & its oh-so-twee charms. It was one of the few high points of an otherwise dismal trip to Las Vegas, which I found to be the asshole of the armpit of our otherwise mostly beautiful country.
I danced with my girl outside that mall when she came to meet me & now I have a secret smile every time I hear it...

people deserving of more respect, pt. 5

Lynda Barry

Reborn?

crazy mash

Our second mad foray into exploring how different mash-up artistes deconstruct & funkify the same root song begins! Last time out, I gave you some mashes to ring your doorbell now here's some tunage to make you crazy...
Here are four very different tasty treats from some talented folk throwin' Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" into the blender. Cheekyboy tries to cure some of the crazy with the prescription-strength funk of The Avalanches' "Frontier Psychiatrist" whereas The Legion Of Doom tries to rock out the madness with the Raconteurs' "Steady As She Goes". ToTom then doubles down on the crazy with two great boots- first mashin' it with Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" & then bringin' us home all mellow like with Elton John's "Your Song".
Swallow yer meds like good little girls & boys & enjoy~

"All The Art That's Fit to Print"

Something fun indeed today...
The New York Times published an article showcasing readers' portraits of President Obama & "Man Of Hope" was selected to be showcased~

Click on the pic to enjoy the article

& If you've come from the Times article to see my other Obama piece, "Baby Got Hope", click here & enjoy.

in hope that one does actually learn by example...

My folks celebrate 47 years together today.

They have by far the best relationship I have ever seen any couple share yet have never decided on a song.

This is the closest they've come for the time being~

people deserving of more respect, pt. D

Yoshitoshi

can you tell me how to get...

This is a piece I did in for my boy a few years back as he went from the family bed to his own digs. It's a simple & fun drawing of my family hangin' on Sesame Street with some of our favorite folk, done to make his new surroundings feel like his own spot whilst still bein' looked upon by some ol' friends~

(I am especially proud of the fact that I somehow (albeit barely) managed to work my wife's cleavage into the drawing.)