Dooley trying hard to look like Gary Cooper
The beat goes on
Well, what do you know?
Keith “Syd” Barrett has died at the age of 60.
I was stunned to hear the news.
I mean, how can this be? Are you saying he wasn’t dead already?!?
The guy has been a recluse for the last 30 years.
Not a peep out of him. Not a word to his fans. Nothing.
Ok, give him a break. He had psychological problems.
Albeit self inflicted as a result of LSD induced mental breakdown, but still…
Yes he helped create one of the most influential bands of all times.
Yes he shaped the landscape of art rock as we know it.
Yes he was a musical genius.
But everything he has done is there on the record. It’s readily available to anyone seeking it. It’s not like we are being denied some potential reunion tour or anything. Obviously he was done with us a long time ago.
I, for one, do not grieve his passing.
If anything I suppose it is deaths like these that serve as a type of mortality milestone. Something to cause us to pause and reflect on our own time-lines.
Maybe therein lies the true catharsis.
Ah Pink Floyd, how I remember thee.
It was a combination of Pink Floyd, Genesis and Yes that saved me from a life of meaningless heavy metal and pop-rock in the mid 70’s. Although I must confess I did see Mahogany Rush aong with Angel, Humble Pie, & Mothers Finest at The Sam Houston Coliseum in 1980.
My second live rock concert ever was in 1977. It was Pink Floyd’s “Animals” tour at Jeppesen Stadium, now Robertson Stadium, home of the Houston Dynamo soccer team.
It was an awesome show, even if it was pouring down rain the whole time.
It was actually broadcast in quadraphonic sound.
I stayed loyal to Pink Floyd for a long time.
In 1984 I ventured out to see the David Gilmore’s “About Face” tour at The Houston Summit. Very nice.
I even went to see the Roger Waters tour in 1985. This was not the “Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking” tour from the year before featuring Eric Clapton on guitar. Sadly that never did make it to Houston. This was, and I kid you not, the “Pros and Cons Plus Some Old Pink Floyd Stuff-a multimedia extravaganza with quadraphonic sound” tour.
And it was just that. The first half of the show was the Pros and Cons album front to back. Then a short intermission and back for some classic Floyd from the early works all the way up to and including The Wall.
I was even giggling like a school girl a few years back as Cynthia and I were riding the train to London and I spotted and photographed Battersea Power Station.
These days I don’t listen to much Floyd. I tried to sit through a concert by Us and Them, Houston’s only Pink Floyd tribute band.
It was unbearable. I mean the band was technically pretty good and the performance was not, in and of itself, unpleasant. It was just whole atmosphere.
Imagine a cheezy Astroworld style Pink Floyd themed amusement park complete with bleary eyed stoners holding up lit cigarette lighters or pumping their fists while grimacing to the oppressive downbeat of a earnest effort at reproducing one of Pink Floyd’s rich art rock and roll musical tapestries.
It was all too much to bear so I got the hell out of dodge.
Of course those of you who know me might say “Hey, hypocrite! Didn’t I see you at a Light Rock Express show recently? Haven’t you been known to show up at an Allen Oldies Band concert on more than one occasion? Aren’t you like a big fan of Molly and the Ringwalds? Aren’t THEY just cheezy cover bands as well?”
To which I would reply “Yes, but they KNOW they’re cheezy.”
“Jay, why are you harshing my buzz, dude. I love Pink Floyd!”
I guess it’s a perceived difference in the presentation. The cover/tribute bands I enjoy don’t try to reproduce the exact experience from the original bands or the time period. It’s playful and, in some ways mocking or irreverent which I appreciate.
I will always treasure my memories and my own personal Pink Floyd experiences but I won’t try to recapture them or relive them. I will just remember them fondly. And I won’t pretend to be deeply affected by the passing of someone I barely might have known was even still alive in the first place.
I guess what I am saying is that Syd Barrett was missed long before he died.
This Lord’s for you
Local story snagged from ABC13.com
Someone covered up a billboard on La Branch at Winbern with a poster featuring a picture of Jesus Christ holding a Budweiser can. The company that leases the billboard believes vandals made the poster at home and then pasted it on top of the ad that’s supposed to be there.
It shows Jesus holding a Budweiser in between the phrases “Jesus, King of Jews” and “Jesus, King of Beers.”
“I thought that was just crazy,” said commuter Jose Cazares. “It looks professional too.”
Neighbors say the billboard has been up there for a week or more.
San Francisco – Saturday
Saturday I made my way in to San Francisco.
The plan was to meet my friend Kevin who had recently taken a job with McAfee and moved to the Bay Area.
Kevin guided me in via cell phone with some help from his heterosexual life partner, Glen.
We set off in search of food and I got a quick tour of the city.
Got brakes?
Let’s build a city on the side of a mountain in an earthquake prone region!
This has drawbacks I will discuss in a bit.
We ended up down at Fisherman’s Wharf where we ate seafood at a place called Tanatino’s which had a nice scenic view of the marina.
From there we trucked around and saw a few things and then headed over to Ghiradelli’s for ice cream.
Yum!
It was time to get Kevin and Glen home so we headed back toward the apartment.
Kevin mentioned that we should go to the top of this scenic overlook so I could get some pictures.
I was thinking “Sure, let’s drive up there.”
It turns out you can only drive so far. Then you climb.
Glen said he had to get on back and he would drop us off. Kevin said it was only a few blocks away from the apartment so I sucked it up and went for it.
Turns out the view WAS worth the sound of my own heart beat pounding in my ear.
Click these to REALLY see the magnificence
You could see from downtown on to the ocean. It was breath taking.
It turns out that Kevin’s idea of a “few blocks” was, in reality, about 12 downhill blocks and 3 really steep uphill blocks. I was pretty beat when it was all said and done.
I did take time to cross The Golden Gate Bridge before heading back to my hotel in San Jose to crash.
Truly this was a day in which I benefited greatly from knowing the way to and from San Jose.
Long live the new flesh
Seeing as how it’s anniversary time and all you’ll excuse me for waxing nostalgic.
After a caller to the radio show made a comment about my previous radio program from years and years ago I got to thinking that it has been WAY too long since I have seen David Cronenberg’s film Videodrome.
I wonder if it still holds up.
I should look for it at BB or Netflix.
The current radio show I do now evolved from my late night talk show I called Radiodrome which was a play on this movie title. It was an overnight (pre Art Bell) talk show with music that addressed some very bizarre topics.
The suffix “drome” in Latin means racecourse or field and is derived from Greek dromos which means racecourse.
It is used in words to describe a facility or a all encompassing space where something takes place.
Like a velodrome is a structure for cycling events or an aerodrome is defined area intended to be used either wholly or in part for the arrival, departure, and movement of aircraft or hippodrome which is place set apart for equestrian and chariot races.
I envisioned this show as an all encompassing place for a radio experience to be had. It was a lot of fun.
The shirt I had made for it was designed by my good friend James Keene.
Note the dial on the radio is tuned to 90.1 which is the channel the show was on. The slogan was “Old Fashioned Radio With A Beat”…
Sometimes I really do miss doing the ultra-creative and weird radio.
But the only place for it is overnight and I just don’t have the stamina for it anymore.
Maybe I will find a way to get back to it someday.
How did a lion get riches? … It was the olden days
Before the Internet and the infernal Intraweb there were BBS’s.
Electronic bulletin boards that were hubs of free speech and pirated software and some very cool turn based “door” games like Trade Wars 2002.
This is what we computer nerds used to interface with our brethren all across the globe.
In my time I have known quite a few of the Houston based underground including Chris Goggans aka Erik Bloodaxe of Legion Of Doom fame. I read Phrack and cDc religiously.
In 1991 I was approached by a group of people to participate in an online “zine” called The Worldview (Der Weltanschauung). It was an eclectic group of folks and we had some very good times.
My “Nom De Plume” was The Reverend Scott Free.
We believed we were going to change the world.
Perhaps we did. It’s hard to say. Those were heady times. Reagan had been the prez for 8 years and we were under the stewardship of Bush Sr. and the first Gulf War.
These “zines” were distributed all over the world using very basic modem technology. One BBS would call another and download the issue and then pass it on.
I was pleased to discover that our little enterprise has been archived at a number of web sites like the one linked here: The Worldview (Der Weltanschauung)
It’s really odd to go back and read some my old political rants.
My paranoia and hyperbole are very apparent in my first rant in issue number 2 which came out on May 4 1991. You can read it here:
http://www.textfiles.com/magazines/WORLDVIEW/wview1.2
Yowza!
11 years and technology still bytes
Houston’s longest running, award winning, advice giving computer show is celebrating 11 years on the air in Houston, Texas.
Join the cast, crew and fans of Technology Bytes this Friday, July 14th at Dean’s Credit Clothing for a party of epic nerd proportions.
Again this year we will be graced with the legendary space jazz ensemble Drop Trio laying down their own funky groove as we get our geek on.
The party gets underway at 7:30 and goes till we’re done.
Did I mention there’s no cover? I didn’t? Oh…well then…
NO COVER!
Keep in mind that Dean’s is a full service bar…
Upside: alcohol
Downside: 21 and up
If last year’s party is any indication, this will be an awesome way to spend your Friday evening.
Jennifer the Intern sums it up in one word:
All fans past, present and future are invited to come out.
—
The promo that’s been running on KPFT to hype this event is here.
It’s another hilarious phliKtid production, check it out!
World Cup loser
I was actually rooting for France until Zinedine Zidane (aka Zizou) let loose with one of the most un-sportsmanlike acts I have ever seen in a professional sporting event. I have tried and tried to like the French, honestly I have. But they always manage to demonstrate the most unlikeable behavior.
On the plus side, last nights antics have made for a wealth of humorous animations.
This is my favorite:
I’m still trying to imagine the post game interview
[Sports program interviewer] How could this happen? Did you not take into consideration that your actions would cost you, your teammates and your countrymen a chance to take home the World Cup trophy? The single most prestigious trophy in sports today?
[Zidane (in very thick French accent)] I cannot help it! I am French! Vive le asshole! (smacks cameraman with a running shoe).
*EDIT*
This is a close second on the animations:
And thanks to Bill Shirley for this link.