Note: The Sea Grinds Things Up
It’s going on now
as these words appear
to you or are heard by you.
A wave slaps down, flat,
Water runs up the beach,
then wheels and slides back down, leaving a ridge
of sea-foam, weed, and shells.
One thinks: I must
break out of this
horrible cycle, but
the ocean doesn’t; it
continues through the thought.
A wave breaks, some
of its water runs up
the beach and down
again, leaving a ridge
of scum and skeletal debris.
One thinks: I must break out of this
cycle of life and death,
but the ocean doesn’t; it
goes past the thought.
A wave breaks on the sand,
water planes up the beach
and wheels back down,
hissing and leaving a ridge
of anything it can leave.
One thinks: I must
run out the life
part of this cycle
then the death part
of this cycle
after the last word,
but this is not the last
word unless you think
of this cycle as some
perpetual inventory
of the sea. Remember:
this is just one sea
on one beach on one
planet in one
solar system in one
galaxy. After that
the scale increases,
so this is not the last word,
and nothing else is talking back.
It’s a lonely situation.
—Alan Dugan, 1983

Stella Winston: Installations & Assemblages 3

The third in an ongoing series. 

"Three little monkeys and pillow, yellow spoon and black toy railroad engine with cable box." Mixed media. 2014. 

Stella Winston: Installations & Assemblages 2

The second in an ongoing series. 

"Top of the back stairs. Fisher-Price barnyard animals on crib mattress and baby blanket". Mixed media. 2014. 

Stella Winston: Installations & Assemblages 1

The first in a series of documents of domestic artworks in three dimensions by our 5-year old artist in residence.

"Alligator with golf ball, coyote polished stones, and costume jewelry." Mixed media. 2014. 

Stationery Card

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy Holidays!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Galactic: Hey Na Na

Seeing this live at The Park West with B was one of the most euphoric live concert moments of my life. A vast room of people losing their freaking minds. Wow. I just got goosebumps remembering it. They are. Just. Too. Damn. Good.

Lucero: Women and Work

Their last album, Overton Park, was one of my very favorites of 2010. The addition of the horn section blew their sound up and added soul to the angsty blues/alt country sound they already had down pat. The new album is just as good, and I'm stoked to see them at Metro on April 7. This video is really just an audio track, but still worth it 'cause the song is so dang good.

And even more cool is that frontman Ben Nichols is from Little Rock, y'all! One of the best voices in rock today, IMHO.

In Honor of Chick's Leaving Atlanta (for the last time...)

The first single from Gentleman Jesse's new album, Leaving Atlanta. He's all Elvis Costello and Marshall Crenshaw and like that...so of course I love it. (Though it is not the best video.)

C'est la Pop!

After Phoenix exploded the myth that there could never be a French pop music, Damien Robitaille takes it even further and sings...in French. Sacre bleu! But he does put in down with soul.



What's up with Canada? Is it trying to be the new Australia?

Edmonton, AB: restoring intelligence and humor to hip-hop...

You read that right: Edmonton. First, Mitchmatic. Haven't heard anything this funny, breezy, and smart since De La Soul's "3 Feet High and Rising."



Buy/download Mitchmatic here.

And through Mitchmatic, I discovered another gem of the Edmonton hip-hop scene (that still sounds weird), The Joe.



Buy/download The Joe here.

Now, back to post-punk...

Prinzhorn Dance School Challenges You to a Duel

So happy this sound is coming back. And that art school dropouts still want to make pop music rather than apps for cell phones. Sharp, aggressive, jangly, spare.



Also check out Household.

Resolution

A page from Woody Guthrie's diary, 1942. Hard to improve on: "31. LOVE EVERYBODY."

Do your best in 2012. Fail. Try again. Fail better.



HT: The Daily Dish

For Holiday Rockin', You Can't Do Better Than...

JD McPherson. Most seriously. Can't stop dancing to this...

Happy Holidays!

Have a very wonderful holiday. Drink responsibly. By which I mean, only the best.

"

You Must Change Your Life...

...because you cannot unsee Selleck Waterfall Sandwich(es)...

Sometimes Profanity is the Highest Form of Eloquence

HT: The Daily Dish

This Will Make You Consider Joining the Hairy Hordes Occupying Wall Street...

I try to remain optimistic. I do. But increasingly I find myself absorbing just how poorly Americans treat themselves and I wonder what could possibly change us for the better? This long infographic is worth the effort. You'll feel worse, but you'll be less deceived by the crap that is flowing mightily in the run-up to the Republican primaries.

Created by: Online Masters Degree


Remind yourself that we have chosen to live this way. And also: 90% of us are losing ground every year. So...

• Let's break the unions. 
•  Restrict access to health care.
• Defend the grotesque multiples of executive pay.
• Limit parents' time with their newborns.
• Hold firm on minimum wage.
• Fund prisons rather than social programs.

Yeah, that'll work.

I Needed a Good Joke Today...I Got Like 5 out of 10

BBC News - Nick Helm's password joke is Edinburgh Fringe funniest:

Here are all the top 10.

1) Nick Helm: "I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves."

2) Tim Vine: "Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many different levels."

3) Hannibal Buress: "People say 'I'm taking it one day at a time'. You know what? So is everybody. That's how time works."

4) Tim Key: "Drive-Thru McDonalds was more expensive than I thought... once you've hired the car..."

5) Matt Kirshen: "I was playing chess with my friend and he said, 'Let's make this interesting'. So we stopped playing chess."

6) Sarah Millican: "My mother told me, you don't have to put anything in your mouth you don't want to. Then she made me eat broccoli, which felt like double standards."

7) Alan Sharp: "I was in a band which we called The Prevention, because we hoped people would say we were better than The Cure."

8) Mark Watson: "Someone asked me recently - what would I rather give up, food or sex. Neither! I'm not falling for that one again, wife."

9) Andrew Lawrence: "I admire these phone hackers. I think they have a lot of patience. I can't even be bothered to check my OWN voicemails."

10) DeAnne Smith: "My friend died doing what he loved ... Heroin."

'via Blog this'

Grover + Beastie Boys = The Beastie Beasts!

I feel like my video skills are gonna need an upgrade so I can do cool stuff like this.


Sesame Street breaks it down from Wonderful Creative on Vimeo.