jiri mucha

i think i've been neglecting the great alphonse mucha disgracefully. its hard to find someone who doesn't recognize his work. some purists may dismiss him as 'candy' because his art has fallen into that 21st century money-making slot of calendars, bookmarks, and greeting cards. i however, think this speaks to his genius. he was largely employed in his day as a commercial artist. one of his most famous works, the dreamy 'JOB' poster was an advertisement for cigarette papers. he also contributed to contemporary magazine covers and posters for art exhibitions. later in his life, he was able to paint what he wanted. his massive works known as 'the slav epic' are large in scale, and breathtaking in overall skill and beauty. this portrait is of jiri mucha, which i believe was his daughter.

duran duran : new moon on monday - video

the classic fun video from the 'seven and the ragged tiger' album. enjoy. (note: stay with it for at leat 50 seconds; the french guy stops talking and the music starts.) i love it.

courtship

yes, its Spring and the cats are climbing the walls... still, i am left underwhelmed by the available male stock. perhaps my florid imagination makes it harder for me. there aren't too many guys in this misty tourist town qualified to take on the intricate and somewhat telepathic task of doing what it takes to get my head on the pillow. so... that being the case, i'll be content with my paper dolls. they haven't let me down yet.

rick

...or rather, richard III. this is a shot of my darling ian holm portraying the afflicted monarch on stage sometime in the mid-to-late 60's. he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. and he was incurably gorgeous. it seems almost a sin that stage productions are most often never recorded. it seems like there should have been some organization in place to ensure american and british stage productions were filmed... and expertly filmed, if even for only archival purposes. think of all the treasures we've lost... all those gems fallen to the shrinking, deepening, blackend abyss of frail human memory. its a real shame.

magick

here is a shard of a notebook illustration i think jean-luc was largely responisble for. i think i spot john lennon from 'magical mystery tour,' but apart from that, it looks like the rest is mostly paint. but it works. and its lovely. i don't know if its just something about paper grain, but the more its cut and copied and pasted, it seems to take on a lovely deft watercolor quality. its all painting, after all.

la cigarra

tonight's featured smoker probably doesn't really smoke at all. well, if he does, he's done a good job of keeping it out of the public eye. it is, of course, morrissey. this picture of him with a big gaudy cigar in his mouth was taken sometime in late 2007, on tour. i don't know the city. but i love the picture for many reasons. he's really grown into his looks. what a man. woof. please seek out his stuff, it rarely disappoints.

tame jane

ahhh, miss jane fonda. i love seeing shots of jane that i'm pretty sure i've never seen before. this is one of those shots. i love jane. she's super-cool in my book. i know this might not fall in line with her feminist

'message' or whatever, but i think she was a terriffic model as well as a great actress. i just found this shot last night, and had to airbrush some weird palm tree out of the background. but i just love the mod ponytail 'do.' she made some bizarre movie in the late 60's called 'the chapman report,' which was obviously cashing-in-on... and-somewhat-obviously-based on, the controversial 'kinsey report,' ...also known as the big deal 'sex' report, that shed light on the intimate practices of the post-war American public. (that's WWII.) its the schlockiest-melodramatic most. i wish they'd release it on DVD. her performance as a frigid housewife trying to 'come to terms' with her inability to experiecne 'fireworks,' to put it delicately, is great fun. if you can find it, dig on it.

debbie

officially, i'm straight. like, at least 80% straight. but i'm secure enough to admire chicks and even admit it when they fall into that 20% threshold of ...maybe? i refer to this 20% as 'the slumber party.' and one chick who's definitely invited to 'the slumber party?' a 'singin' in the rain'-era debbie reynolds. she's like a cocker spaniel with her bright eyes as cute round forehead. and i am NOT calling her a dog. she's just adorable, you know? her flapper number from 'singin' in the rain' where she jumps out of the cake is irresistible. she had the silkiest, cutest underarms in the business. (mmm, i'm gonna hear about that, i assure you.) i urge anyone who digs 'singin' in the rain' to seek out and find a lesser-known musical, 'i love melvin.' it stars debbie and the imcomparable donald o'connor... more about him later. in the meantime, kiss debbie hello.

bed

'your eyes are droopy, darling daughter and you're dizzy in the head, the toads are eating dinner, so its time to go to bed.'
sweet dreams.

one hundred years of hard work

here is a sublime film compiled by the great chuck workman. it is as educational as it is ticklish fun.
who needs a roller coaster whilst chuck workman and his crew are like, working? i dare any aficionados to name every film represented. when the film starts cutting around 1975, good luck. still, its a dazzling film, and i fully recommend it as a lesson in timing, cutting, and tone. and god bless chuck workman. (for those of you with slower connections, please... start it, pause it, and then go do something like take out the trash for ten minutes or so before you roll it... it really needs to slide in uninterrupted.)

the silver ball

...ever since i was a young boy... etc. i only tricked this one minimally. i don't think i airbrushed anything. in other words, i kept as much detail as i could. and wow... pinball has come a long way. private pinball, that is. like, i wonder what it says about human american psychology that pinball comes 'included' on most personal computers. is it really that universal a diversion? i suppose it is. i mean, it seems like its like... sugar. they might as well give us a whole lot of it, because we'll find a way to get as much as we can anyway. or maybe it just means that 'pinball' is, luckily, very cheap to mass-produce in the 'cyber world,' and therefore, they can staple in onto anything to lure us into the buying the bigger package. its like, the air conditioning of computer games. solitaire is more like, the heating.

laurie, smoking hot

i don't think i've featured a smoker in the last few days, so here's a good one. the gloriously sexy mr. hugh laurie, ladies and gentlemen. as a reporter, i realize i should know what film this is from, but hey, i can't remember it right now. so just enjoy this shot of him, dragging hard. i will probably go to my grave wondering what is it about mr. laurie i find so ticklish and irresistible. he's not even my type. (mmm, i guess i don't really have a 'type,' do i?) i mean, he's tall, and i like short guys... i almost never go for guys with curly hair, (with two exceptions), and his teeth aren't that great. but what talent! i think, once i saw him play piano, i was smitten. ahhh, who am i kidding? i was smitten long before that. i just love him. and i guess it doesn't matter why, does it? ahhh, he's so taken. taken-by-some-girl-i-don't-know.

kiss the frog

come to think of it, the fable of the girl kissing a frog and having him turn into a prince may have left a deeper impression on me than i suspected. perhaps the sturdy roots behind my 'ugly is the new cute' movement stemmed from such a story. i don't mind kissing frogs. to put it bluntly, they know how to use their tongues. they keep the air clear of flies and sometimes secrete intoxicating fluids. so here's to all the frogs, and the chivarlous princes within. (and very often i forget where my imagery comes from, but in this case, i know the artist is mr. michael parkes, and the work is called, 'that daring young frog.' if you dig this piece, please google around for more. he's a modern dali-klimt with a bit of maxfield parrish. well worth it.)

tongue in cheek

it seems like science officer ash knows something the rest of the crew doesn't know. man, i love this movie. there's only one thing its missing: more hot close-ups of ian holm. woof! what a fox he is. it so sexy, i've got like, three inches of height on him in my flat feet. i don't think i've posted this particular shot yet. i wonder what cologne or shampoo he was using around 1979. i'd give anything to know what he smelled like. as far as i know, ian doesn't smoke. i mean, i saw him drag on some 'shire' pipe in LOTR, but hell, that could've been 100% completely CGI for all we know these days. yeah, i'm thinking... i don't think he smokes in 'Brazil,' or 'Big Night.' i think he had a cigar in his mouth in 'Chariots of Fire,' but as far as i know he doesn't smoke. hey, i just remembered, i think he's in the Bo Derek 'Tarzan.' No wait, he's in 'Greystoke,' i think. (mmm, like i can't check; imbd.) yeah, it was 'Greystoke.' well, wherever Ian is tonight, i send him a kiss.

biscuits

this one is kind of for my mother. she made the best homemade biscuits i've ever had. we used to watch as she'd create the dough out of what sort of seemed like thin air, only vaguely consulting a recipe. there was flour and milk and buttermilk and shortening out. she'd knead the dough with her elegant long hands, flatten it on with a wooden rolling pin on a ceramic cutting board decorated with wispy brown seashells, then cut the plump circles with the floured end of a glass. she never... and i mean never, screwed them up. the lovely girl in this vintage ad even looks a bit like her. she could be so wonderful... like cinderella. miss america. i love her so much.

guilloutine

jesus, i hope i spelled that right. i don't feel like my slot car is exactly in its groove tonight, but i don't want to disappoint my legions of loyal fans... (mmm, delusions of grandeur) ...so i feel like i should post something.

so here's a recent live shot of morrissey, giving it all for the Cause. the way the microphone stand neatly bissects his neck reminded me of someone about to be beheaded. something tells me such an image of dramatic sacrifice might not displease saint morrissey. i'd credit the photographer if i knew who it is... was, but since i don't, just dig on this very recent shot of steven doubled over on stage, no doubt killing the people. (he gets bigger if you click him.)

im so tired

yes, yes i am. i just had this shot of the saintly johnny depp fall into my lap. in my opinion, he's the only star so far that has managed to eclipse marilyn monroe. in fact, i think he's the closest thing america has to her right now. if i were in charge, i'd guard this man like the Last Sapphire. i'd swiftly knight the darling. he is a national treasure. he glints and dares to play for smiles. everytime he does 'his thing' on film, it is as if his skirt blows up and we're all privy to a glimpse of his panties. call him camp, call him kitsch, call him a hack, but i defend every one of his thousand 'acting' moves. what he has, and what he is, is rare. i haven't been talked out of him yet. sweet dreams, johnny.

color slide

here is a very groovy-and-lightly-tricked still from nicholas roeg's suspenseful 1973 masterpiece 'don't look now,' based on a work of daphne de maurier; starring julie 'delicious' christie and donald sutherland. i'm a little too tired to weave any poetic words about it. but the image doesn't really need much more than a pair of human eyes to dig on it, you know?

silk tie

morrissey gets a nightly kiss. this is a recent pictue, like in the last two years. he's just gorgeous and cocky and smart and all that stuff i don't even try to resist. below, morrissey will sing a cool, languid song. i chose it specifically for those of you who don't know his stuff yet. i like more of his harder and stranger stuff, but this track is very pretty, easy on the ears of new listeners, yet still true to his message and his sound.

morrissey : why don't you find out for yourself? - video

please enjoy.

cream

this vibrant poster for the band 'cream' has followed me, in some form or another, all over the last wild decade of my travels. i love it. i almost always adds a touch of frosting and flame wherever i put it. so, since i'm real tired, i'm just going to stick it on and see if it adds that zing i can 'psychedelia' -depend on.

whistler

i feel a little wrung out from moving all week... like, i'm so exhausted i don't feel like getting too flowery with this tonight. in any case, i felt drawn to a familiar face, and here it is. the highly sexy mr. david strathairn. this is a shot from 'sneakers,' which i recommend if you don't mind listening to like, actual thoughtful dialogue. he would've looked great on the Nostromo. i don't think i've ever seen him look bad. ever.

sleeping princess

hey, i think its about time for me to lay down the royal brunette head. i love serving you all, but its been a long day, and the princess is exhausted. so good night, my sweet and chivalrous princes, good night... i kiss you all and thank you sincerely for your boundless service.

bob dylan (and his rolling thunder revue) : isis - video

be patient. its black and silent for nine seconds, then bob comes on like a glam and florid hard and urgent locomotive. devastating.

pop lips

patrick nagel, ladies and gentlemen. 'playboy: after dark' man, i really don't feel like much comment is needed for this one. so stark, so sexy, so efficient, so effective. so dig it.

window : one

here is a collage i made well over ten years ago. there were absolutely no computers used. there was only scissors, elmer's glue, imagination, and a stack of old magazines. needless to say, the radio was always on. i don't have any memory where the coy chick came from, but i think i found the window in an old national geographic. and, at the risk of bragging, i think it still looks pretty damn cool. it was tricky, cutting her out like that, looking in the mirror. i hope you think its as groovy now as it was then. (please, click-to-enlarge... you can see the hand-cut edges.)

the doctor is in

linus provides a keen observation of yours truly.

dollface : book

i'm not sure why, but i just felt moved to post this book cover. i used to spend endless time browsing over books, most often in the 'young adult' section of the public library. it seemed books from that genre had the most varied, artistic, and overall, the most interesting covers. everything from 'true tarheel ghosts' to 'sweet valley high.' i don't remember ever seeing this particular book before, but i like the way it was scanned, ripped near the top, as-is.

witches

here is a still from one of my favorite films, roman polanski's

'rosemary's baby.'

i can't remember a time when i didn't know about this film. and i think its safe to say that my first exposure to it was from the MAD magazine parody by the insanely talented Mort Drucker. i didn't see the film until years later, but Mort and whoever wrote it with him were very astute and dead-on, not only in the artistic rendering, but in a biting take on the subject matter... which i imagine must've caused quite a cultural stir at the time. here are rosemary and guy woodhouse, (john cassavetes and mia farrow) enjoying their first night alone in their new apartment. man, it makes me want to like, roll it, you know?

edifice

here is a cool and tangerine-flavored notebook detail made a long time ago by jean-lucien. i suppose i should say it was 'orange' -flavored. like, the bloke on the bottom is malcolm macdowall from 'a clockwork orange,' and the bloke on the top is none other than nick rhodes. it works well. i think its glinting and lovely.

presumed hot

i want to say a heartfelt happy birthday to the lovely miss bonnie bedelia. you all know her. she played bruce willis's wife in 'die hard' and harrison ford's devious wife in the courtroom drama 'presumed innocent.' i've had a crush on her since i saw glimpses of her in the early 80's film 'heart like a wheel,' where she portrayed female car racer shirley muldowney. (i hope i spelled that right.) so, happy birthday bonnie... you are more than welcome to The Sleepover.

don't you agree?

hey girls! how many of you out there can still smell this stuff just from looking at the picture? like, why did they stop making this stuff...?? i mean, it wasn't the best shampoo in the world, i mean, it stripped out any all oil from the hair, even the 'good' oil, but man... the scent! it was like deep green jungle heaven! i remember smelling this wild stuff wafting around the steamy stone shower cubicles of the high point YMCA. (we used to swim there.) mmm, i can still remember how my brain just swooned at the perfume of this cheap emerald fluid. i know there must be thousands of girls out there whose senses miss it like slumber parties. sigh.

smirking morrissey

yeah, i was talking to my friend belinda today, and mentioned to her that i've been neglecting morrissey disgracefully on this valiant report. so, starting tonight, he's going to be featured more often. he deserves it. he works damn hard and turns out a conisistently excellent product. he manages to retain his intelligence and literary worth, whilst still creating music that tastes damn good to the hungry, discerning ear. its like, lindt chocolate... it may be sometimes costly, but it almost never disappoints. so, here's tonight's dose of steven patrick morrissey. hey, i think he's got a birthday coming up! so, enjoy this recent shot of the enigmatic romantic morrissey. trust me, he wants you to love him. (he gets bigger if you click him.)

epic birthday

today would have been director david lean's 100th birthday. he, of course, gave us such stunning films as 'dr. zhivago,' 'bridge on the river kwai,' and of course, 'lawrence of arabia.' i'm so exhausted from moving all day, so i'm afraid i don't have the energy to give mr. lean as fine a verbal tribute as he deserves, but i felt the need to mark it somehow. i know i already have one 'lawrence' picture on 'the planet,' but hey, what am i gonna post? a 'zhivago' poster...? hey, now that i think about it, that's not such a bad idea. tom courtenay and julie christie are both pretty foxy in that one. and omar sharif isn't exactly like, a dud on the 'mystery date' board game. so, thanks for tuning in, dear planetarians, despite my no doubt evident fatigue.

beck: the new pollution - video

if beck has proven anything to me over the last 12 or so years, he's proven he is no featherweight. he has endless ideas, and produces them according to his own ghost. i think he even managed to influence me without my knowing it. he's a sly fox, beck. it would be so predictable to post 'loser,' but i think with all the chemicals prowling around in our pipes and ducts and public cisterns, i think its duly fitting that i showcase, 'the new pollution.'

i am a bullitt

yes, my mate jean-lucien didn't know that mr. mcqueen's birthday was coming up when he sent me his treatment of this poster for the classic film 'bullit.' i must admit, i don't think iv'e ever seen it, but as poster art goes, its pretty groovy. i love orange. this poster uses it wonderfully. i could say more about how butch and cool and real steve seemed, but i'm realistic enough to know that maybe his idea of a good time was a frozen pizza, a tabby cat, and a pretty girl on the other side of a chess board. i could way off the mark, but steve didn't seem like a big dummy to me. hey, i just realized i've never seen 'papillon,' and i probably should, because i love 70's-80's dustin hoffman.

heatwave

um, i don't think i've posted this one yet. its another lovely slice of notebook art made by my partner jean-lucien with some scraps i think i sent him. it features the sexy ronan vibert in the powdered wig, and the kissers in the middle are michael nesmith (with the sideburns) and some random rafelson actress we affectionately refer to as 'daisy saturday.' it doesn't really 'mean' anything, but its very, very pretty. it makes me cringe when i think of all those millions of plain notebook pages with absolutely nothing on them. its so cool. jean-lucien has an almost effortless affinity for color harmony. i don't know if that comes from all those countless hours with Barbie coloring books and a 64 pack of crayolas, or what... but he's the best at what he does. (click to enlarge)

happy birthday steve

yes, its the birthday of the late, great steve mcqueen. he's my james dean. he first really struck me about eleven years ago when i saw him alongside ali mcgraw in the fast-paced 1972 film 'the getaway,' directed by sam peckinpah. i was struck by how he could be tough, but human. even though the movie was 100% action, steve managed to portray joy, confusion, frustration, anger, fear, and even jubilation. he and ali mcgraw worked so well together. it was a complicated part for her (ali) at that crucial time for women's liberation in america. she sacraficed for him, obeyed him, but yet, was very much in control of her choices, and handled a gun and a muscle car every bit as adeptly as mcqueen. in fact, i think her character Carol McCoy was the one behind the wheel like, 90% of the time, hence steve's oft-uttered refrain, '...punch it, baby!' as he sat in the passenger seat with a shotgun. do yourself a great favor, if you're keen on seeing 'the getaway,' make damn sure you don't pick up the alec baldwin-kim basinger version by mistake. (ecchh) the original is a hell of a movie, i highly recommend it.

rare blow-up

yes, another appearance by the much-praised 'blow-up' poster from the film by michelangelo antonioni. i think this one is supposed to be pretty rare. but i like the red-white-and-blue color scheme. i mean, its just cool all around, you know? and i really don't have much more to say about it other than how cool it is.

sleeping car

here's a piece i made a long time ago... well, at least a year ago. this one really doesn't 'mean' anything. i was trying to come up with something groovy. i actually really like the color brown. i think its a lot more glamorous than most people think. um, let me see, who's featured in this one? the two girls are obviously from some painting, but i can't give you the artist or title. then we've got mr. steven patrick morrissey in the middle, looking sharp. then, there's deano butterworth, in the circle, near the center; a young, long haired michael stipe at the bottom, looking up; then simon le bon, and william s. burroughs. i guess i still like it. but as i said before, it really doesn't 'mean' anything. unless it means that smart girls daydream about interesting, intelligent boys. and we do.

elilhrairah

'...all the world will be your enemy...
prince with a thousand enemies. and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. but first they must catch you...' that is part of the hymn found in richard adams' book, 'watership down.' i continued moving today, and one of the dearest things i relocated was my hardcover edition of the book. i put up high, alone, in the center of one of the bookshelves. not surprisingly, i first learned about the story from the movie version shown on HBO in the 1980's. i don't remember how old we were when we first saw it, but we had to be younger than ten. it enchanted me on a fairytale level, yet was brave enough to show blood and deal with issues of life and death and even reproduction. after all the years since its release, i still think it holds up on every level. a marvelous work.

beagle

i think we can all agree; Snoopy needs no fanfare or formal introduction.

paralax view - the american montage - video

this is the unforgettable slideshow from the film 'the paralax view' by alan j. pakula. i admit, i've never seen the whole thing, but i'd be really surprised if the rest of the movie gets any better or more touching than this. i'll most likely never know who composed the very effective piece of music, or who was responsible for the pacing and cutting of this compilation, but... the brilliance for pacing and timing and emotional impact is faultless. its like kissing america. so dig it.

you think that's power?

here is a notebook illustration jean-lucien made a long time ago. i think the squinting frenchman is the multi-talented jean cocteau. the chick in the headdress with the bow and arrow has been in my 'picture bank' for so long i have absolutely no idea where she came from. if she's still alive now, maybe she'll stumble across this and dig it. its a great little piece, with hot colors and a cool style.

yum-yum

what a gorgeous culture clash. this is the marvelous bulgarian sylvie vartan, dressed in japanese costume, for a french magazine. sylvie vartan should really write her life story. from the little bits i know about it, it seems like such an improbably fortunate tale. i like reading biographies. i would imagine sylvie has some stories to tell. i mean, she opened up for the beatles in the mid-60's on some european leg of their tour. were there some private moments shared with john or george or someone? it still baffles me that i'd never even heard of this girl until the 'internet age.' i mean, she's been pretty big overseas for like, almost 40 years. like, couldn't they have snagged her a shot at the muppet show or something? anyway, she looks great in the costume.

cool wave

this is an older note embellishment made by jean-lucien. the color and the composition are, as usual, faultless. it features a watercolor lip gloss chart in the background... and, as if that weren't cool enough, there's also a short-haired first-season davy jones and an inset of the legendary 'it girl' clara bow. i should make time to sing her praises later. but for now, dig on this. imagine, all the hundreds of thousands of bland and boring notebook pages out there, and my darling jean-lucien takes pains to deocorate almost every single page with color and cutting such as this. soooo cool.

shakespeare, in love

yeah, i was wondering how much love and sex has been inspired like, historically, because of the works of william shakespeare? hey, i know if it wasn't for him, there are quite a few guys i wouldn't have ended up in bed with. man, actors. strange creatures. in the case of this picture from the mid-to-late 1960's, the handsome romeo with his head in some maiden's lap is none other than a young and lovely ian holm. is he sir ian holm yet? i should probably like, check up on that. wow...he was something. this photo kind of makes me like, 'girl-jealous' hate the girl he's posing with. i find myself having high-school-fight thoughts like, 'who does that bitch think she is??' but seriously, as 'fan-strange' as it sounds, i actually had a pretty long and detailed romatic dream about ian when i accidentally fell asleep after supper this evening whilst watching 'cops.' but my point is, i know there's a lot of sex out there that i would never have been had if it hadn't been for shakespeare, the guys who perform it, and the alliances forged amongst a company... not to mention allll those swinging, chemically-enhanced 'after-parties.' so, here's to william shakespeare, helping guys with limited conversational skills get laid since like, 1500-something.

faith

...in our boys, and faith in beautiful girls. well, there's only 6 minutes left of easter sunday. i spent the day at rest. (and sleep) tomorrow i continue moving all my stuff, but tonight, i wanted to close out the holiday with a vision of what i call 'absolute good.' this is, of course, a shot of marilyn monroe entertaining the troops. she was no doubt a pale, angelic, curvaceous, smiling symbol of hope to the soldiers there that day. and i think i've heard it said that she thought of that tour as some of the best times of her short life. i heard it was very cold that day, wherever she was. i also love this shot because i don't think i've ever seen it before. and, if you look closely, you'll see in the distance, near the top right, on the horizon, a single, plain cross.

easter sunday

i solemnly recognize Easter. this may come as a puzzling stance for some that have known me over my wilder years, but i mean it. my recognition of the day has nothing to do with marshmallow canaries or hollow candied chicks. there are no colored eggs, there are no chocolate rabbits. happily, however,
there is Christ. amen.

oliver! - the musical - food, glorious food

on this sacred day in the christian calendar, let us remember those who are suffering. and let us not be blind to the fact that rich men, and poor men alike, suffer. let us remember The Easing of Suffering is possibly the holiest lot in life. such is part of my religion. may God and his only Son bless us all. amen.

gentlemen : xtc

here's a publicity still of xtc... i don't remember what album it was for, but it features the great line up of colin moulding on bass, (top, left) david gregory on lead guitar, (top right) terry chambers on drums, (bottom, left) , and... last, but by no means least, that wild and mercurial genius. on guitar and lead vocals, mr. andy partridge. (bottom, right.) colin moulding wrote about 1/3 to 1/4 of their songs, and on those songs, he almost always sang lead. but andy wrote most of them, and therefore, on most of their songs, was the Primary Voice. there'll be plenty of time for me to sing his praises later... tonight, its the entire band, and my genius andy, who gets the lion's share of the spotlight. (click to enlarge)

xtc: towers of london - video

here is the video for one of xtc's most catchy and well-crafted songs, 'towers of london.' i really fretted over it, when i realized this was going to be the first xtc track i posted on 'planetcool.' but i chose 'towers,' because it's neat, hard, easy, exceptionally well-tuned, lyrically superior, and very representative of what i love about their sound. so, um... to my friend belinda... give it at least 70 seconds, and its more important that you listen instead of look... feel free to look, too... but primarily, dig on the sound. so clean, so tight, so well done. as i've often said, they are better than the beatles. but don't expect them to sound anything like the beatles. slower or more distant connections may have to start it, pause it, let it load for about 7 minutes, then play. so, ladies and gentlemen, (and my dear belinda), dig xtc, and dig the swell sound of 'towers of london.'

big in japan

hey, here's a groovy sea-green scheme 'blow up' poster! man, the posters for 'blow-up' have got to be like, the grooviest thing since individual puddings. and hey, since this very cool japanese poster for a very cool movie is oddly close to the color of instant pistachio pudding, it reminds me of something i've been wondering like, all my life: like, why is it that Jell-O brand pistachio pudding only comes in instant and never, no-matter-how-hard-you-look, never available for 'cook-on-the-stove?' i mean, i really wanna know. don't get me wrong, its like, ambrosia-delicious just the way it is, but it tends to be a little wetter and has, curiously, a plesant undertaste. i've always wondered if it would be any different made 'the good-old-fashioned' way. if anyone knows, like, please pass it on.

books are burning

as i've mentioned in previous posts, i'm in the process of moving. its tricky though... the previous tenant still has to come and get a few stray things out of there before i can finish moving in and 'make it real.' needless to say, i'm finding the uprooting and relocating very stressfull. today i was standing in the place that will soon be mine, and i was feeling so overwhelmed i thought i might cry. i sort of took a deep breath and asked god for a sign that i was making the right desicion. that's when i looked over and saw, left behind on one of the shelves, a dog-eared old paperback copy of Bradbury's classic tale of civil disobedience, daring love ... and books. it was just the kind of 'sign' i was looking for. the cover featured here isn't the one in the cottage, but still... it was a moment of faith i found so striking i wanted to like, commemorate it. god bless ray bradbury. (and if you look close at the top, you'll see this edition was published by 'panther science fiction' ...! like, i didn't even know panthers read books, let alone sci-fi. sigh.)

younger steven

yeah, who wants to look at a sexy guy? hey, we want to look at a sexy guy! yeah, i did a little digging and found this breezy, hazy, sexy picture of morrissey... and i think from the haircut and the weight (or lack thereof) i'm guessing its like, jussst post-Smiths. which i guess would make it around 'suedehead.' but wow, i love the cottony stretch of the shirt and that coy little look on his face. very nice, steven, very nice.