The Mother Courage of Rock
She was skinny, quick-witted, disarmingly unprofessional, alternating between stand-up patter, bardic intonations, and the hypnotic emotional sway of a chanteuse, and she was sexy in an androgynous way I hadn’t encountered before. The elements cohered convincingly; she seemed both entirely new and somehow long-anticipated. For me at nineteen, the show was an epiphany.
Springtime 1976, I was living in the cinderblock building on the glorified median strip there where they split Highway 13, and one day I went over to this one girl’s apartment, she lived right by the guy who dealt me speed, and she said, “Hey, you know who you remind me of? You remind me of Patti Smith!”
Gave her a possum grin I’m still grinning.
Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Related to stuff we’re talking about.
headline of the day, II
Paula Deen confirms that she has type 2 diabetes, unveils partnership with drug company
from the comments
Amanda Mae, I’m going to tape your thoughtful comment to the back of my clenched fist for a while, and see if I can slowly release.
Captain Beefheart’s Ten Commandments of Guitar Playing
4. Walk with the devil
Old Delta blues players referred to guitar amplifiers as the “devil box.” And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you’re bringing over from the other side. Electricity attracts devils and demons. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub.
(From WFMU’s Beware of the Blog. Via Brian Beatty.)
Headline of the day
Super Exciting News on Super Polynomiality of LP Formulations of the TSP Polytope
Correction: December 30, 2011
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
An article on Monday about Jack Robison and Kirsten Lindsmith, two college students with Asperger syndrome who are navigating the perils of an intimate relationship, misidentified the character from the animated children’s TV show “My Little Pony” that Ms. Lindsmith said she visualized to cheer herself up. It is Twilight Sparkle, the nerdy intellectual, not Fluttershy, the kind animal lover.
Previously, on clusterflock.
(via @kerri9494)
Happy New Year, Y’all
Smootch.
Go Bury Money, Like Now
I’m sharing a New Year’s tradition aimed at drawing wealth to you. I have no idea about its origins.
Take a bill or some coins and put the money in a plastic bag. The amount does not matter. Bury it outside your front door while saying, “I am burying my poverty.” Mark it with a stone or something you can find the next day. Seriously, people have not been able to find their buried money the next day. Do this on New Year’s Eve, before midnight. Then, on January 1, dig up the money while saying, “I am uncovering my wealth.” Do this anytime during the 24-hour period on New Year’s Day.
If you don’t have ground outside your door, not to worry, take a pot and bury your money there and place it outside your door or on the balcony. If that doesn’t work, take a bowl and cover the money with a wash cloth and put it beside the door. This is about symbolism and intent. Do not spend the money, ever. Put it away. Some say that if you spend the buried money, you’ll lose money.
If you follow these instructions, unexpected money will show up for you in the next year. Maybe because I believe, this always happens for me. Always. At least in the years the Iowan has not found, and spent, my buried money. I have heard about people who eventually have taken stacks of buried money and donated it to a good cause. For instance, they have donated it to a church or favorite charity and report all is well.
Or you could leave it tucked away in its individual sandwich bags in a hope chest or drawer. And laugh to think about what your heirs will think to find it.
I was feeling all hurt
and helpless and hopeless, then I heard this on the radio, and my heart rose up in spite of me.
From the Comments
Forgive me for touting my own.
Merry Christmas, er, Happy Holidays, whatever floats the boat.
12 Indicted On Hate Crimes Charges For Hair Cutting Assaults Led By Break-Off Amish Group
I think this is my favorite story of 2011.
Secret Santa
People are starting to receive their secret Santa gifts! Hooray!
Figured I’d start this thread if people want to post what they got (or share shopping/shipping stories).
As far as anonymity goes I’m fine with gifters outing themselves or giftees outing who their gifters are. Personally I went to a bit of effort to stay anonymous but it probably won’t be difficult to deduce.
Hope everyone gets their gifts before Christmas!
2CELLOS: Welcome to the Jungle
I’m sure these guys could’ve pulled this off without the excellent headbanging hair, but it certainly helps.
NPR’s Winter Songs: Bill T. Jones on Schubert’s ‘Winterreise’
As cold weather descends on most of the country, we’re asking for winter songs — songs that evoke the season, and the memories that come with them. So far in our [NPR] series, we’ve heard some lighthearted or slightly wistful tunes, but this next song goes to a far icier place. It’s the choice of the celebrated dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones.
His winter song comes from “Winterreise,” — or “Winter Journey” — by Franz Schubert. It’s a song cycle about a solitary traveler in a savage winter whose heart is frozen in grief. Jones chose the last song in that song cycle: “Der Leiermann,” or “The Hurdy-Gurdy Man.”
“For me, it’s the musical arrangement underneath,” Jones tells All Things Considered host Melissa Block. “It speaks about a bleak landscape. And this bleak landscape takes me back to a day when I was in fourth grade out on the edge of town, looking at a snow-covered highway many, many yards away from my window — I should’ve been paying attention, but I was dreaming.
Carmen Classy Christmas
The best part about going to the Christmas party of a bunch of film industry people is they make a serious invite.
If you comment on this post…
I’ll say something insanely nice to you.*
*So make it good so I have plenty to work with.
Best Talk Show Ever?
I don’t really know where to begin with this.
Wreath this year…
I didn’t do a wreath for DIFFA this year. This one, I did at a client’s house this morning.
I hope they like it. The feathery greenery, painted silver, at the bottom the wreath: I couldn’t decide if it looked like hoar-frost or Santa’s beard, but it seemed terribly original.
Texts from Bennet
The tumblr claims it’s real. I don’t believe it, but that doesn’t matter.
headline of the day
‘Mahna Mahna’ came from a porn film
dueling tumblrs
LADIES LOUNGING (UNCOMFORTABLY) WITH LAPTOPS1
…
1Not technically a tumblr, but fuck you.
Secret Santa!
Second call in case people missed the first post over the holiday weekend.
If you’re interested in participating in some Clusterflock Secret Santa, email me at christopherflocken at gmail dot com by tomorrow with your snail mail address so I can pass it along to your Santa (or I’ll put them all in a shared Google Doc, whichever winds up being more practical).
You should get an email Wednesday night/Thursday morning with who your assigned giftee is. Try to get your gift in the mail by December 14th so it gets to them before any holiday traveling.
Merry Flockmas!
sketch out of context
via Aaron Cohen
Demi Moore’s Bush Is a Force of Nature
Amanda brought this to my attention earlier this evening, and I’ve been meditating — yes, meditating! — ever since.
I am pre-sorry for posting this, but someone sent me a picture of Demi Moore’s vagina in 1981, and it is beguiling.
Of course, it’s not safe for work.
