miércoles, 28 de octubre de 2009
Halloween is Coming!!!
I just love Halloween and another thing that I love are Political Cartoons. I thought I might share this political cartoon. It blends Halloween with the economy. The political cartoon is courtesy of Rex Babin and the Sacramento Bee newspaper in Sacramento, California. Enjoy!!!
Today in Alternative Music History: October 28, 1977
The Sex Pistols release their debut album Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols in America.
Born On This Day: William Reid, October 28, 1958
The guitarist /composer for the Jesus and Mary Chain has a birthday today! He was born in Glasgow, Scotland.
martes, 27 de octubre de 2009
Phrase of the Day
The easiest way for your children to learn about money is for you not to have any.
Katharine Whitehorn
Katharine Whitehorn
Born On This Day: Simon Le Bon, October 27, 1958
The singer for Duran Duran turns 51 today. Simon Le Bon was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England. He was raised in and around London.
Born On This Day: October 27, 1967, Scott Weiland
The singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver has a birthday today! Scott Weiland was born in Santa Cruz, California.
domingo, 25 de octubre de 2009
The Return of Motozen!!!!
On Friday October 23, I had the opportunity to sit in on rehearsals of a band that I feel will make a name for themselves here in Ecuador and will do the same outside as well. I am talking about MOTOZEN. I wrote an entry on the band a while back on this blog (check it out). The band have reunited with their original bass player, Raul Arias, and as I was watching them rehearse, I could see and feel that they mesh well together. It's like they never parted. The thing that I did notice is that they have matured more in their sound than they did in the past and that is a positive thing. It was great to hear some tracks that they have not played in a while like "Escapar" or my favorite "Retro". It is so cool to hear the familiar sound that has really captivated me for the last couple of years.
Motozen have a sound that no band here in Ecuador has, which makes me say that they will cause a stir in the local indie scene here in the country. They have that sound that recalls the post punk period of the 80s but sound updated. They also incorporate the garage rock sound.
Iganacio Izquierdo vocalist and guitar player has clearly defined his voice and stage presence. The man is really into the music and you can hear and see it from him. Alejandro Naranjo always impresses me with his guitar skills (the guy rocks!!!). Alejandro Tobar has such an incredible energy behind the drum kit that always makes me toe tap or hop up and down to the rhythm. Raul Arias is what you call one cool bass player. I say this because he knows what he is playing and the same time looks cool while he's doing it!
Motozen will be returning to the Quito stages this week!!!! They will play a concert at the bar Ananké de la Mariscal on the corner of Pinto y Almagro October 29 at 9:00 PM . The cost of the concert is $4. I highly recommend you see the band to understand what I see and hear from them. I guarantee that you will leave the concert with a lasting impression and you will be clamoring to find out when the band will play again.
Motozen will be returning to the Quito stages this week!!!! They will play a concert at the bar Ananké de la Mariscal on the corner of Pinto y Almagro October 29 at 9:00 PM . The cost of the concert is $4. I highly recommend you see the band to understand what I see and hear from them. I guarantee that you will leave the concert with a lasting impression and you will be clamoring to find out when the band will play again.
The pictures that are with this entry, I took Friday night while the band were rehearsing.
Halloween is Coming!!!
Here's a scary story from the State of Pennyslvania.
"Come into the water, love,
retold by
S. E. Schlosser
She lurks below the surface of the lake near Presque Isle, her lithe form forever swimming through the weeds and the mire. Pale and green of skin, her yellow eyes shine luminously in the dark, and her thin long arms wrap themselves around the unwary, while foul-green pointed teeth sink into soft flesh and sharp nails at the end of long bony fingers stroke you into the deepest sleep there is. She is called by many names, but to sailors of Lake Erie, she is known as the Storm Hag.
The creature is a sea witch, an evil Jenny Greenteeth who summoned the storms and pulled shipwrecked sailors down into her evil embrace to live with her forever at the bottom of the lake. Sometimes she waits until the calm right after the storm to attack. When the sailors relax their guard, lulled into thinking that the danger had passed with the storm, the Storm Hag bursts forth from the dark waters of the lake, spewing forth lightening and wind like venom. And the ship will vanish - never to be seen again.
There is only one warning before she strikes. If you listen closely, you can hear her singing against the harsh wind and the thrashing waves:
The creature is a sea witch, an evil Jenny Greenteeth who summoned the storms and pulled shipwrecked sailors down into her evil embrace to live with her forever at the bottom of the lake. Sometimes she waits until the calm right after the storm to attack. When the sailors relax their guard, lulled into thinking that the danger had passed with the storm, the Storm Hag bursts forth from the dark waters of the lake, spewing forth lightening and wind like venom. And the ship will vanish - never to be seen again.
There is only one warning before she strikes. If you listen closely, you can hear her singing against the harsh wind and the thrashing waves:
"Come into the water, love,
Dance beneath the waves,
Where dwell the bones of sailor-lads
Inside my saffron cave."
If you can, flee immediately, for the Storm Hag is right beside you. If you cannot, then pray to your God for mercy, for the Storm Hag will grant you none. Her whirlpool will suck down your ship, and her long green arms will lovingly stroke you into the depths of the lake, where she will feast on your body among the weeds.
Halloween is Coming!!!
Famous Movie Monsters
One of my favorites is GODZILLA!!!!
Godzilla (Japanese: Gojira) is a fictional monster that looks like a huge green bipedal lizard featured in Japanese films which has become one of the world's most recognized movie characters. Godzilla was first released by Toho Co. Ltd in Japan in 1954, under the name "Gojira." Two years later, Gojira reached America as "Godzilla King of the Monster." To date, Toho has produced 28 Godzilla films. In 1998, TriStar Pictures produced a remake, set in New York City.
Godzilla is one of the defining aspects of Japanese popular culture for many people worldwide. Though his popularity has waned slightly over the years, he is among the top monstrous creatures in movies along with Dracula and the Wolfman. Embodying the kaiju subset of the tokusatsu Japanese movie genre, Godzilla has been called a filmographic metaphor for the United States. Godzilla is also among the few fictional characters granted a Lifetime Achievement Award when he was awarded one by MTV in 1996, becoming the second fictional character (and the first non-human) to have received it. The character was also recently awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
KATE BUSH: JUST THE FACTS
Desert Island Dics
Although Kate Bush has (to date) never appeared on the famous BBC radio program, in 1990 the British music magazine Q asked her to select recordings she would choose to bring on a journey to a desert island. Her choices were: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour by the Beatles, My Life In the Bush Of Ghosts by David Byrne and Brian Eno, the Nigel Kennedy recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, the song Strati Angelaki by The Trio Bulgarka, Donal Lunny's album Donal Lunny, Eberhard Weber's album Fluid Rustle ("a lot of fond memories"), Billie Holiday's rendition of I Love You Porgie ("the singer of singers. Lindsay Kemp used to use this one in a show of his, and the combination of her singing and his theatre was terrific"), and Comfortably Numb from The Wall by Pink Floyd.
Halloween is Coming!!!
Here's another scary story from the State of West Virginia.
The old storage sheds along the tracks were abandoned shortly after the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was built, and it wasn't long before the poor folk of the area moved in. The sheds provided shelter - of a sort - although the winter wind still pierced through every crevice, and the small fireplaces that the poor constructed did little to keep the cold at bay.
A gentle, kindly woman named Jenny lived alone in one of the smaller sheds. She had fallen on hard times, and with no family to protect her, she was forced to find work where she could and take whatever shelter was available to someone with little money. Jenny never had enough to eat and in winter her tiny fire barely kept her alive during the cold months. Still, she kept her spirits up and tried to help other folks when they took sick or needed food, sometimes going without herself so that another could eat.
One cold evening in late autumn, Jenny sat shivering over her fire, drinking broth out of a wooden bowl, when a spark flew from the fire and lit her skirts on fire. Intent on filling her aching stomach, Jenny did not notice her flaming clothes until the fire had burnt through the heavy wool of her skirt and began to scorch her skin. Leaping up in terror, Jenny threw her broth over the licking flames but the fluid did nothing to douse the fire. In terror, Jenny fled from the shack and ran along the tracks, screaming for help as the flames engulfed her body.
The station was not far away, and instinctively Jenny made for it, hoping to find someone to aid her. Within moments, her body was a glowing inferno and Jenny was overwhelmed by pain. Her screams grew more horrible as her steps slowed. She staggered blindly onto the tracks just west of the station, a ball of fire that barely looked human. In her agony, she did not see the glowing headlight of the train rounding the curve, or hear the screech of the breaks as the engineer spotted her fire-eaten figure and tried to stop. A moment later, her terrible screams broke off as the train mowed her down.
Alerted by the whistle, the crew from the station came running as the engineer halted the train and ran back down the tracks toward poor dead Jenny, who was still burning. The men doused the fire and carried her body back to the station. She was given a pauper's funeral and buried in an unmarked grave in the local churchyard. Within a few days, another poverty-stricken family had moved into her shack, and Jenny was forgotten.
Forgotten that is, until a month later when a train rounding the bend west of the station was confronted by a screaming ball of fire. Too late to stop, the engineer plowed over the glowing figure before he could bring the train to a screeching halt. Leaping from the engine, he ran back down the tracks to search for a mangled, burning body, but there was nothing there. Shaken, he brought his train into the station and reported the incident to the stationmaster. After hearing his tale, the stationmaster remembered poor, dead Jenny and realized that her ghost had returned to haunt the tracks where she had died.
To this day, the phantom of Screaming Jenny still appears on the tracks on the anniversary of the day she died. Many an engineer has rounded the curve just west of the station and found himself face to face with the burning ghost of Screaming Jenny, as once more she makes her deadly run towards the Harpers Ferry station, seeking in vain for someone to save her.
retold by
S. E. Schlosser
The old storage sheds along the tracks were abandoned shortly after the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was built, and it wasn't long before the poor folk of the area moved in. The sheds provided shelter - of a sort - although the winter wind still pierced through every crevice, and the small fireplaces that the poor constructed did little to keep the cold at bay.
A gentle, kindly woman named Jenny lived alone in one of the smaller sheds. She had fallen on hard times, and with no family to protect her, she was forced to find work where she could and take whatever shelter was available to someone with little money. Jenny never had enough to eat and in winter her tiny fire barely kept her alive during the cold months. Still, she kept her spirits up and tried to help other folks when they took sick or needed food, sometimes going without herself so that another could eat.
One cold evening in late autumn, Jenny sat shivering over her fire, drinking broth out of a wooden bowl, when a spark flew from the fire and lit her skirts on fire. Intent on filling her aching stomach, Jenny did not notice her flaming clothes until the fire had burnt through the heavy wool of her skirt and began to scorch her skin. Leaping up in terror, Jenny threw her broth over the licking flames but the fluid did nothing to douse the fire. In terror, Jenny fled from the shack and ran along the tracks, screaming for help as the flames engulfed her body.
The station was not far away, and instinctively Jenny made for it, hoping to find someone to aid her. Within moments, her body was a glowing inferno and Jenny was overwhelmed by pain. Her screams grew more horrible as her steps slowed. She staggered blindly onto the tracks just west of the station, a ball of fire that barely looked human. In her agony, she did not see the glowing headlight of the train rounding the curve, or hear the screech of the breaks as the engineer spotted her fire-eaten figure and tried to stop. A moment later, her terrible screams broke off as the train mowed her down.
Alerted by the whistle, the crew from the station came running as the engineer halted the train and ran back down the tracks toward poor dead Jenny, who was still burning. The men doused the fire and carried her body back to the station. She was given a pauper's funeral and buried in an unmarked grave in the local churchyard. Within a few days, another poverty-stricken family had moved into her shack, and Jenny was forgotten.
Forgotten that is, until a month later when a train rounding the bend west of the station was confronted by a screaming ball of fire. Too late to stop, the engineer plowed over the glowing figure before he could bring the train to a screeching halt. Leaping from the engine, he ran back down the tracks to search for a mangled, burning body, but there was nothing there. Shaken, he brought his train into the station and reported the incident to the stationmaster. After hearing his tale, the stationmaster remembered poor, dead Jenny and realized that her ghost had returned to haunt the tracks where she had died.
To this day, the phantom of Screaming Jenny still appears on the tracks on the anniversary of the day she died. Many an engineer has rounded the curve just west of the station and found himself face to face with the burning ghost of Screaming Jenny, as once more she makes her deadly run towards the Harpers Ferry station, seeking in vain for someone to save her.
Halloween is Coming!!!
Here's a spooky story from the state of Maryland.
When Felix Agnus put up the life-sized shrouded bronze statue of a grieving angel, seated on a pedestal, in the Agnus family plot in the Druid Ridge Cemetery, he had no idea what he had started. The statue was a rather eerie figure by day, frozen in a moment of grief and terrible pain. At night, the figure was almost unbelievably creepy; the shroud over its head obscuring the face until you were up close to it. There was a living air about the grieving angel, as if its arms could really reach out and grab you if you weren't careful.
It didn't take long for rumors to sweep through the town and surrounding countryside. They said that the statue - nicknamed Black Aggie - was haunted by the spirit of a mistreated wife who lay beneath her feet. The statue's eyes would glow red at the stroke of midnight, and any living person who returned the statues gaze would instantly be struck blind. Any pregnant woman who passed through her shadow would miscarry. If you sat on her lap at night, the statue would come to life and crush you to death in her dark embrace. If you spoke Black Aggie's name three times at midnight in front of a dark mirror, the evil angel would appear and pull you down to hell. They also said that spirits of the dead would rise from their graves on dark nights to gather around the statue at night.
People began visiting the cemetery just to see the statue, and it was then that the local fraternity decided to make the statue of Grief part of their initiation rites. "Black Aggie" sitting, where candidates for membership had to spend the night crouched beneath the statue with their backs to the grave of General Agnus, became popular.
One dark night, two fraternity members accompanied new hopeful to the cemetery and watched while he took his place underneath the creepy statue. The clouds had obscured the moon that night, and the whole area surrounding the dark statue was filled with a sense of anger and malice. It felt as if a storm were brewing in that part of the cemetery, and to their chagrin, the two fraternity members noticed that gray shadows seemed to be clustering around the body of the frightened fraternity candidate crouching in front of the statue.
What had been a funny initiation rite suddenly took on an air of danger. One of the fraternity brothers stepped forward in alarm to call out to the initiate. As he did, the statue above the boy stirred ominously. The two fraternity brothers froze in shock as the shrouded head turned toward the new candidate. They saw the gleam of glowing red eyes beneath the concealing hood as the statue's arms reached out toward the cowering boy.
With shouts of alarm, the fraternity brothers leapt forward to rescue the new initiate. But it was too late. The initiate gave one horrified yell, and then his body disappeared into the embrace of the dark angel. The fraternity brothers skidded to a halt as the statue thoughtfully rested its glowing eyes upon them. With gasps of terror, the boys fled from the cemetery before the statue could grab them too.
Hearing the screams, a night watchman hurried to the Agnus plot. To his chagrin, he discovered the body of a young man lying at the foot of the statue. The young man had apparently died of fright.
The disruption caused by the statue grew so acute that the Agnus family finally donated it to the Smithsonian museum in Washington D.C.. The grieving angel sat for many years in storage there, never again to plague the citizens visiting the Druid Hill Park Cemetery.
retold by
S. E. Schlosser
When Felix Agnus put up the life-sized shrouded bronze statue of a grieving angel, seated on a pedestal, in the Agnus family plot in the Druid Ridge Cemetery, he had no idea what he had started. The statue was a rather eerie figure by day, frozen in a moment of grief and terrible pain. At night, the figure was almost unbelievably creepy; the shroud over its head obscuring the face until you were up close to it. There was a living air about the grieving angel, as if its arms could really reach out and grab you if you weren't careful.
It didn't take long for rumors to sweep through the town and surrounding countryside. They said that the statue - nicknamed Black Aggie - was haunted by the spirit of a mistreated wife who lay beneath her feet. The statue's eyes would glow red at the stroke of midnight, and any living person who returned the statues gaze would instantly be struck blind. Any pregnant woman who passed through her shadow would miscarry. If you sat on her lap at night, the statue would come to life and crush you to death in her dark embrace. If you spoke Black Aggie's name three times at midnight in front of a dark mirror, the evil angel would appear and pull you down to hell. They also said that spirits of the dead would rise from their graves on dark nights to gather around the statue at night.
People began visiting the cemetery just to see the statue, and it was then that the local fraternity decided to make the statue of Grief part of their initiation rites. "Black Aggie" sitting, where candidates for membership had to spend the night crouched beneath the statue with their backs to the grave of General Agnus, became popular.
One dark night, two fraternity members accompanied new hopeful to the cemetery and watched while he took his place underneath the creepy statue. The clouds had obscured the moon that night, and the whole area surrounding the dark statue was filled with a sense of anger and malice. It felt as if a storm were brewing in that part of the cemetery, and to their chagrin, the two fraternity members noticed that gray shadows seemed to be clustering around the body of the frightened fraternity candidate crouching in front of the statue.
What had been a funny initiation rite suddenly took on an air of danger. One of the fraternity brothers stepped forward in alarm to call out to the initiate. As he did, the statue above the boy stirred ominously. The two fraternity brothers froze in shock as the shrouded head turned toward the new candidate. They saw the gleam of glowing red eyes beneath the concealing hood as the statue's arms reached out toward the cowering boy.
With shouts of alarm, the fraternity brothers leapt forward to rescue the new initiate. But it was too late. The initiate gave one horrified yell, and then his body disappeared into the embrace of the dark angel. The fraternity brothers skidded to a halt as the statue thoughtfully rested its glowing eyes upon them. With gasps of terror, the boys fled from the cemetery before the statue could grab them too.
Hearing the screams, a night watchman hurried to the Agnus plot. To his chagrin, he discovered the body of a young man lying at the foot of the statue. The young man had apparently died of fright.
The disruption caused by the statue grew so acute that the Agnus family finally donated it to the Smithsonian museum in Washington D.C.. The grieving angel sat for many years in storage there, never again to plague the citizens visiting the Druid Hill Park Cemetery.
Naming Names: How Bands Got Their Names: Toad The Wet Sprocket
This band got their name from a skit from Monty Python's Flying Circus which is about a weird rock band.
Halloween is Coming!!!
GATOS NEGROS
El gato era considerado símbolo de la divinidad entre los egipcios; los celtas, por el contrario, desarrollaron un miedo particular a este mítico animal, pues creían que los gatos negros era la forma felina en que algún poder demoníaco había transformado a una persona, es decir, los gatos eran personas malditas.
Se dice que el cuerpo del gato negro no es más que el disfraz que utilizan las mismas brujas para pasearse tranquilamente por la ciudad, para pasar desapercibidas. Por eso una de las tradiciones de Halloween advierte que si un gato negro se te cruza por delante en esta noche la mala suerte caerá sin remedio sobre tu cabeza. ¿Sin remedio? Noooo, hay un antídoto: cuando te pase eso da inmediatamente siete pasos hacia atrás y ¡maldición conjurada!
Halloween is Coming!!!
Origins of Jack O'Lantern
An Irish tale tells where the origins of the name Jack o'lantern came from. There once was a man named Jack who liked to play tricks on people. He lived a long, mischievous life.
One day he tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved the image of a Holy Cross in the trunk of the tree. This trapped the Devil up the tree.
Jack made a deal with the Devil that: he would let the Devil down the tree, if the Devil promised to never tempt him again.
After Jack died, he was not permitted into Heaven because of his evil ways. He was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the Devil. The devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the freezing blackness. This flame was put inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing.
As Jack walked his neverending journey as punishment for his trickery, he carried a burning coal inside a turnip to help him see along the roads everywhere he traveled. Soon he was known as "Jack of the lantern" or Jack O'Lantern.
In Ireland, turnips were used as their Jack's lanterns originally. However, immigrants to America, found pumpkins more plentiful than turnips. The Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.
One day he tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved the image of a Holy Cross in the trunk of the tree. This trapped the Devil up the tree.
Jack made a deal with the Devil that: he would let the Devil down the tree, if the Devil promised to never tempt him again.
After Jack died, he was not permitted into Heaven because of his evil ways. He was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the Devil. The devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the freezing blackness. This flame was put inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing.
As Jack walked his neverending journey as punishment for his trickery, he carried a burning coal inside a turnip to help him see along the roads everywhere he traveled. Soon he was known as "Jack of the lantern" or Jack O'Lantern.
In Ireland, turnips were used as their Jack's lanterns originally. However, immigrants to America, found pumpkins more plentiful than turnips. The Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.
Halloween is Coming!!!
Aqui va una leyenda urbana desde Peru.
CARRERA FANTASMA
Estábamos reunidos un grupo de amigos en la ciudad de Tacna, en el Perú, y de pronto llega Víctor un amigo taxista, bajó de pronto de su auto, muy asustado y entre balbuceos empezó a contarnos algo increíble:- Muchachos acabo de hacer una carrera a una fantasma. Nos dijo pasmado y muy preocupado.Algunos le creímos pero otros empezaron a reír. Pero nos juraba y perjuraba que era totalmente cierto, entonces uno de nosotros para poder creerle, le pidió que nos llevara donde recogió y dejó a la supuesta fantasma. Accedió. Nos llevó a la altura de un cruce de Calana, lejos de la ciudad, comentó que cuando regresaba de dejar a un cliente se encontró con una señora de edad, iba con la cara tapada con un velo negro, daba escalofríos. La tomó en carrera y ésta le pidió que la llevara a Pocollay, pero cuando llegó al cruce de Pocollay con Tacna, nuestro amigo el taxista pudo apreciar que en una de las manos le faltaba un dedo. Simplemente por dar un poco de conversación y por curiosidad el taxista le preguntó. ¿Señora que le paso con el dedo? ¿Cómo lo perdió?, a lo cual la señora le contestó:- TUUUUUUUUUUU. Con un grito estremecedor. Del susto nuestro amigo casi choca y se sale de la carretera, le costó controlar el coche y cuando se volteó para saber como estaba la mujer vio que ésta había desaparecido, no estaba…
CARRERA FANTASMA
Estábamos reunidos un grupo de amigos en la ciudad de Tacna, en el Perú, y de pronto llega Víctor un amigo taxista, bajó de pronto de su auto, muy asustado y entre balbuceos empezó a contarnos algo increíble:- Muchachos acabo de hacer una carrera a una fantasma. Nos dijo pasmado y muy preocupado.Algunos le creímos pero otros empezaron a reír. Pero nos juraba y perjuraba que era totalmente cierto, entonces uno de nosotros para poder creerle, le pidió que nos llevara donde recogió y dejó a la supuesta fantasma. Accedió. Nos llevó a la altura de un cruce de Calana, lejos de la ciudad, comentó que cuando regresaba de dejar a un cliente se encontró con una señora de edad, iba con la cara tapada con un velo negro, daba escalofríos. La tomó en carrera y ésta le pidió que la llevara a Pocollay, pero cuando llegó al cruce de Pocollay con Tacna, nuestro amigo el taxista pudo apreciar que en una de las manos le faltaba un dedo. Simplemente por dar un poco de conversación y por curiosidad el taxista le preguntó. ¿Señora que le paso con el dedo? ¿Cómo lo perdió?, a lo cual la señora le contestó:- TUUUUUUUUUUU. Con un grito estremecedor. Del susto nuestro amigo casi choca y se sale de la carretera, le costó controlar el coche y cuando se volteó para saber como estaba la mujer vio que ésta había desaparecido, no estaba…
Banned! Songs That Were Specifically Banned By Radio, TV, or The Government
"Creep" - Radiohead
It was dubbed too depressing for young teenagers by the PMRC and various other associations.
Today In Alternative Music History: October 25,1988
The album Nothing’s Shocking from Jane’s Addiction is released. The album’s cover features two topless women with their hair on fire.
Phrase of the Day
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
viernes, 23 de octubre de 2009
miércoles, 21 de octubre de 2009
Sad News Today: Liam Maher of Flowered Up Dies
I read today in the UK News that Liam Maher, vocalist for early 90s band Flowered Up died Tuesday at the age of 41. Maher fronted the band, which earned notoriety during the baggy movement as the London equivalent to the northern "Madchester" dance-inspired rock outfits like Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets.Flowered Up only released one album "A Life With Brian" in 1991, but were best known with their 13-minute hit single "Weekender". Rest In Peace Liam.
martes, 20 de octubre de 2009
Something That Surprised Me!!!
On Sunday night at Los Premios MTV 2009, Mexican Band Cafe Tacuba received the Leyenda (legend) Award. The person who presented the band with the award was none other than MORRISSEY!!!!!!! As he was being presented the audience went bananas!!! There were screams everywhere and the Cafe Tacuba members were almost in tears!!! I get the feeling that they had no idea who was going to deliver the award. KUDOS to MORRISSEY for doing this!!!!
Phrase of the Day
The world is governed more by appearances than realities, so that it is fully necessary to seem to know something as to know it.
Daniel Webster (1782- 1852)
Daniel Webster (1782- 1852)
Today In Alternative Music History: October 20, 1990
The Charlatans' album Some Friendly goes to #1 in the U.K.
lunes, 19 de octubre de 2009
Phrase of The Day
We are at the beginning of time for the human race. it is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.
Richard Feyman (1918 - 1988)
Richard Feyman (1918 - 1988)
Banned! Songs That Were Banned By Radio, TV, or The Government
"Bankrobber" - The Clash
The BBC banned this song, presumably because its lyrics about robbing banks.
The BBC banned this song, presumably because its lyrics about robbing banks.
domingo, 18 de octubre de 2009
Naming Names: How Bands Got Their Names: Cocteau Twins
These Influential Scottish etherealists (actually a trio) got their name from French surrealist filmmaker/artist/writer Jean Cocteau.
LOCAL BAND: QUITO, ECUADOR: LESBO
I'm back with another local Ecuadorian band from the alternative music scene. This band is called Lesbo. This band formed in Quito in 2007 . Lesbo are a band that uses the sounds of Alternative rock . Band members are:
Ana Cristina Ramos (vocals)
Wladimir Sanchez (guitar, vocals)
Fernando Tituaña (guitar,effects)
Agustin Fonseca (bass, vocals)
David Yepez (drums, sequencing)
The idea of forming Lesbo was Wladimir and David's when their first band spilt. As time went by more and more members joined. The two newest members are Ana and Fernando. Ana said that before joing the group she heard of the band on myspace and then found out they went to the same university and then joined.The name of the band is somewhat erotic and it is the dark side that everyone has.
Check these guys out at www.myspace.com/lesboproject . Hear a couple of tracks from them as well as a live video of them doing a Joy Division coverof "Shadowplay" Give them your support!!!
KATE BUSH: JUST THE FACTS
The song "The Sensual World" is inspired by the book Ulysses by James Joyce. The main character of the song is Molly Bloom.
Halloween is Coming!!!
Here's an Urban Legend for you. Enjoy!!!
Rat Dog
The truck driver's wife works in Boston on the docks where this little white dog comes around at noon and everyone feeds it a little something from their lunch. The wife went home and asked her husband if he would mind if she got a dog. She told him about the stray that everyone has been feeding. He said that he didn't think she wanted a dog. She said it would be nice company since he was away from home a lot, so he agreed.
The next time she went to work, she saw the little stray as usual. Everyone gave him something to eat and she coaxed the dog into her car and brought him home. She washed, cleaned and bathed him, and the dog slept with her in their bed that night and the next.
The next day she came home from work and found the dog had eaten her beloved cat! Horrified, she was confronted with the gruesome sight of a large spot of blood on the floor and all that remained was her cat’s skull sitting nearby.
The panicked woman called the veterinarian who told her to bring the dog right in. He could not do anything for the cat, but the bones from the cat could do injury to the dog.
She brought the dog in to see the vet and was in the waiting room when one of the vet techs nervously asked her to step into one of the rooms immediately! When she got in the room the vet asked her where she got the dog and she told her it was a stray she found where she works near the docks in Boston.
The vet told her the animal needed to be put down immediately. The stray she had taken in was not a dog, but a 40-pound Cambodian rat that came in from one of the ships in the harbor. The rat was so big that it looked liked a small dog with a little snub tail
The next time she went to work, she saw the little stray as usual. Everyone gave him something to eat and she coaxed the dog into her car and brought him home. She washed, cleaned and bathed him, and the dog slept with her in their bed that night and the next.
The next day she came home from work and found the dog had eaten her beloved cat! Horrified, she was confronted with the gruesome sight of a large spot of blood on the floor and all that remained was her cat’s skull sitting nearby.
The panicked woman called the veterinarian who told her to bring the dog right in. He could not do anything for the cat, but the bones from the cat could do injury to the dog.
She brought the dog in to see the vet and was in the waiting room when one of the vet techs nervously asked her to step into one of the rooms immediately! When she got in the room the vet asked her where she got the dog and she told her it was a stray she found where she works near the docks in Boston.
The vet told her the animal needed to be put down immediately. The stray she had taken in was not a dog, but a 40-pound Cambodian rat that came in from one of the ships in the harbor. The rat was so big that it looked liked a small dog with a little snub tail
Halloween is Coming!!!
Trick or Treat
The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas." The custom of wearing costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them, In Scotland for instance where the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white.
It is a custom for children on Halloween. Children proceed in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as confectionery, or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The "trick" is an idle threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.
The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas." The custom of wearing costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them, In Scotland for instance where the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white.
However, there is no evidence that souling was ever practiced in North America, where trick-or-treating may have developed independent of any Irish or British antecedent. Ruth Edna Kelley, in her 1919 history of the holiday, The Book of Hallowe'en, makes no mention of ritual begging in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America." Kelley lived in Lynn, Massachusetts, a town with about 4,500 Irish immigrants, 1,900 English immigrants, and 700 Scottish immigrants in 1920. The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but do not depict trick-or-treating.
Thus, although a quarter million Scots-Irish immigrated to America between 1717 and 1770, the Irish Potato Famine brought more than a million immigrants to North America in 1845–1849, and British and Irish immigration to America peaked in the 1880s, ritualized begging on Halloween was virtually unknown in America until generations later.
The earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English speaking North America occurs in 1911, when a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported that it was normal for the smaller children to go street guising (see below) on Halloween between 6 and 7 p.m., visiting shops and neighbors to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and songs. Another isolated reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920.
The earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English speaking North America occurs in 1911, when a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported that it was normal for the smaller children to go street guising (see below) on Halloween between 6 and 7 p.m., visiting shops and neighbors to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and songs. Another isolated reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920.
The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1927, from Blackie, Alberta, Canada.
Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the first U.S. appearances of the term in 1934, and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939.
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