It's Muffin Man Phil At The Wheels Of Steel!

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"Hello out there in blog land! This is Dayton's pride and joy, Muffin Man Phil, spinnin' all the hits for all you cool cats and cool kittens out there in D-town and beyond!

Next up is a blast from the past from one of my favorites - my fellow Daytonian, Andy Smith!

And don't forget . . . if you ever see ol' Muffin Man Phil on the street - give him a quarter so he can get himself a muffin!"

Take us home, Andy!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ewu4Fvx7_k










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love like the child
(a. smith)

love like a child

and trust like a fool

kiss the blue lips of depression

abandon all doubt
like trash to the can

but hold onto all yr good lessons

mind to yr health

but drink like yr dead!

yr gift ain't waitin' in heaven

yr gift ain''t waitin' in heaven

hide all yr secrets

inside of yr jokes

but yell the truth when it's questioned

skip pass the sidewalk

and take to the streets

fight to out whatever is missing

mind to yr health

but drink like yr dead!

your gift ain't waitin' in heaven

your gift ain't waitin' in heaven

your gift ain't waitin' in heaven

cause yr gift ain't waitin' nowhere!

My First SA ("Socialists Anonymous") Meeting

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Well, I am proud to say that I finally bit the bullet, owned up to the last 30 years of my life, and attended a SA (Socialists Anonymous) meeting.

It was probably one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do, but I am very proud that I "stepped up to the plate" and admitted that I have a problem.

I thought that some of you might be interested in reading the transcript from my first meeting:



"Hello. my name is Kevin and I am a socialist.

["Hi Kevin"]

I have been a socialist most of my life, but am now finally admitting it

[sporadic hand claps & a quiet 'amen brother'].

I worked for 30 years in public funded socialist libraries where anyone could just walk in and borrow items without having to pay for them. I not only watched this happen - and made no attempt to avert my eyes - sometimes I even helped these people. But unfortunately, that wasn't enough. I also pooled my money with my colleagues and started receiving socialized medicine.

In 2005, my retirement system knew of my weakness and they offered me a sweet deal that came from socialized public funds. But once again that wasn't enough for me. I also signed up for public funded socialized medicine from this same retirement group.

I guess I knew I was really hooked on the stuff back in '89, when I [voice shaking], well . . . as they say 'the son inherits the sins of the father' when I . . . I - enrolled my son at the public funded socialist school 'Madison Park' in Trotwood

[a few gasps and a soft 'Go Rams!'].

Now I just try to stay clean, although I'm still sucking off the double socialist teat (money & health insurance) of my retirement system.

Sure I occasionally stop at my local public funded socialist library, but it's usually for just *one* book. Then I head on down the public funded socialist road back to my house.

Sometimes, while watching television, I will stumble onto the public funded socialist Public Broadcasting System (PBS) television station. Although I try to immediately change the channel, I admit that on occasion I have lingered there . . . and watched.

Well - that's it for now, I guess. thanks."

[applause and random words of encouragement]




ADDENDUM: I am supposed to return for another meeting, or at least contact my support person, this month. I will keep you posted of any developments. In the meantime, thanks to everyone for their support. I will get through this . . . "I will survive."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBR2G-iI3-I


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Bob vs. The Tea Party

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Two very brief videos for your viewing "pleasure":

Directly below is a video of the Tea Party in action this week in Columbus, Ohio. For this week's protest they have decided to mock a man with Parkinson's disease by, among other things, throwing dollar bills at him and hollering "Communist!" and "I'll decide whether you get money!":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXsRH73Cnw8


Background on Bob:

"Bob, the man with Parkinson's who was targeted by the Tea Partiers, sat down with ProgressOhio for an interview. He is 60 years old and was first diagnosed with Parkinsons 15 years ago. He has two masters degrees and a Ph.D. from Cornell. He taught at the University of Michigan and worked as a nuclear engineer.

Bob was able to have a $150,000 surgery that greatly increased his quality of life, thanks to Medicare and the Cleveland Clinic. He attended the event in Columbus because he believes in giving back and thinks everyone should have access to affordable health insurance and quality health care."

Bob responds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfvnNzgQy7Q

















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My Pal Aiden ("80")

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Alex Chilton RIP: "I'm In Love, With That Song. I'm In Love, What's That Song?"

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Alex Chilton passed away on Saint Patrick's Day. He was 59-years-old. Chilton made his first appearance on the music scene as a young teenager. He was the very non-teenager sounding-like vocalist on the familiar hit by The Boxtops titled "The Letter." If you have not heard the song before you probably have never owned a radio:



The Boxtops
"The Letter"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD9mCp8SifM




"I never travel far, without a little Big Star"
(The Replacements "Alex Chilton")

Chilton went on to become songwriter and vocalist for the highly influential and much revered band "Big Star." Two of their songs were already featured on this blog. Here is one of those songs.


Big Star
"Thirteen"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pte3Jg-2Ax4




Chilton released many solo albums after Big Star, but mostly served as record producer extraordinaire. On the EP by The Cramps titled "Gravest Hits," Chilton did a miraculous job capturing that band's unique "ooze and throb" sound. One of my favorite sounding records to this very day:

The Cramps
"Human Fly"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPOVmWzeqEo




In the 1980's, one of my favorite bands, The Replacements, paid homage to Chilton with their song "Alex Chilton," from the album "Pleased To Meet Me."

The Replacements
"Alex Chilton"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTSJYZyouek


So even though he was somewhat of a recluse, Chilton managed to be a teenage star; the leader of a highly respected cult band; a much sought after producer; and finally, to have a brilliant song written for him by one of the truly great bands of the eighties.

All of that and so much more.

Nicely done, Alex.

May you rest in peace.





"Children by the million
sing for Alex Chilton
when he comes 'round, they sing:
'I'm in love, with that song
I'm in love, what's that song?'"
(The Replacements "Alex Chilton")


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Happy Saint Patrick's Day from William Butler Yeats, The Waterboys, and Me

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. . . . . . "Come away, human child/to the water, and the wild"



In 1988, the Irish folk-rock group, The Waterboys, released a near perfect album titled "Fisherman's Blues."


As befitting a near perfect record, the album ends with a stunningly beautiful track titled "The Stolen Child."

The song is actually a poem set to music by The Waterboys. The poem was written approximately 100 years earlier by the great Irish poet William Butler Yeats.

The song almost always makes me teary-eyed, if not flat-out weepy. It's just too damn gorgeous. I have no choice.

There are two videos for your listening/viewing pleasure.

I recommend the first one mainly because it includes the lyrics with the video. There are also some scenic still photos and some pretty cool fantasy artwork:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7YIYQfnreM

However, those of you who are up to your eyeballs in testosterone, and/or have not fully embraced your "inner girlie-man," may prefer the non-fantasy artwork version. It is simply the song with a photo of the album cover as the sole graphic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg-oJKYIinQ



The Stolen Child
(W. B. Yeats/The Waterboys)

Come away, human child
to the water
Come away, human child
to the water, and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
for the world's more full of weeping than you can understand

Where dips the rocky highland
of Sleuth Wood in the lake
There lies a leafy island
where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water rats;
there we've hid our faery vats
Full of berries
and of reddest stolen cherries

Come away, human child
to the water
Come away, human child
to the water, and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
for the world's more full of weeping than you can understand

Where the wave of moonlight glosses
the dim gray sands with light
Far off by furthest Rosses
we foot it all the night
Weaving olden dances
mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
to and fro we leap
ANd chase the frothy bubbles
while the world is full of troubles
And is anxious in it's sleep

Come away, human child
to the water
Come away, human child
to the water, and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
for the world's more full of weeping than you can understand

Where the wandering water gushes
from the hills above Glen-Car
In pools among the rushes
the scarce could bathe a star
We seek for slumbering trout
and whispering in their ears
We give them unquiet dreams;
leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
over the young streams

Away with us he's going
the solemn-eyed:
He'll hear no more the lowing
of the calves on the warm hillside;
Or the kettle on the hob
sing peace into his breast
Or see the brown mice bob
around and around the oatmeal-chest

For he comes, the human child
to the water
He comes, the human child
to the water, and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
from a world more full of weeping than he can understand
than he can understand
than he can understand
than he can understand



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Butler Yeats


. . .. . .Shoot The Crows, a favorite watering hole of W. B. Yeats


. . . . . . .. . . . .I'm pretty sure this is a W. B. Yeats statue


"Come away, human child/to the water, and the wild/. . . for the world's more full of weeping than you can understand"







[photos, Ireland 1995 - a special thanks to Mark, the only person who could have gotten me there]
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"The 20 Greatest Cult Heroes"

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The UK's New Musical Express (NME) magazine named "The 20 Greatest Cult Heroes" in their latest issue.

Look who cruises in at #6 (nominated by Julian Casablancas of The Strokes), why it's Dayton Ohio's very own GUIDED BY VOICES!

A couple other favorites of mine made the cut as well: The Replacements (#4), Daniel Johnston (#9), Television Personalities (#20), and at the #1 spot - none other than my old chum, Mark E. Smith of The Fall.

But let's hear it for our hometown lads!

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/8317/screenshot20100316at102.jpg


























(Ol' Kev & Robert Pollard, 1997 Mag Earwhig tour, Pittsburgh - photo by Andy Smith)









[as always: click on photos to enlarge . . . enlarge the photo that is - not yourself]
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I Generally Dislike Music Videos But This One Is Pretty Cool, Volume 1

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"Hello Skinny"
The Residents

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krmowThBYUk




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A Birthday Poem For Penny

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. . . . . .(vincent van gogh "wheat fields with reaper at sunrise" [detail])



on this new morning
 

rustled golden locks
unlocked and set free
tethered yet tossed hither and [yawn!]
straw across the dawn
 
her rising horizon eyes
come out of darkness bright
tandem suns burning warmth and heat
through a field of dream reaper wheat

on this new morning
penny lee penny lee
place your pillow next to me

in your waking eyes
penny lee penny lee
i can see! i can see!

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ANDREW & THE PRETTY PUNCHERS CD RELEASE UPDATE #2

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. . . . . . (pictured l to r: kevin, michael, andy, greg, and josh)

Two more songs remixed and finished tonight! Two more to go this Thursday! Then it's design and packaging!

Then VOI-fucking-LA!

A brilliant new album for everyone to enjoy!




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Spoon

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . Spoon @ home


In my relatively humble opinion, Spoon is still one of the best rock and roll bands in all of the land - and judging on consistency alone, probably the best of the lot.

If you enjoy the performance below from last night's David Lettermen show, then check out the new album Transference, or try A Series Of Sneaks from 1998. It's one of the band's older albums, but still my favorite. Although a bit of an acquired taste, when A Series Of Sneaks hits, you'll feel it.

My son highly recommends the excellent Girls Can Tell from 2001. The songs on that release are quite a bit more accessible than those from A Series Of Sneaks, so that may be a good place to start.


Here is Spoon performing "Got Nuffin'" from their new album Transference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI6SNNeojw8



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spoon @ the library

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