Court Room (Surreal O')Drama

Big up to the jury at the Scooter Libby trial for bringing a pinch of dreaminess to the court room earlier this month. Here's what the New York Times had to say about it.

Before the jurors departed on Wednesday afternoon, they filed into the courtroom, all but one wearing bright red T-shirts with a white valentine heart over their clothes, to the uncertain laughter of many in the courtroom.

But as one juror, a retired North Carolina schoolteacher, rose to speak, Judge Walton became visibly anxious that the juror might say something inappropriate that could threaten the trial. Jurors are not supposed to speak and are supposed to make any concerns known through notes to the bench.

The juror said they were wearing the shirts to express their fondness for the judge and the court staff on Valentine's Day. He then added, to the judge's growing discomfort, that they were unanimous in this sentiment, but they would all be independent in judging the evidence in the Libby case.

The sole juror who apparently declined to wear the shirt was a woman who had been a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ghost Before Breakfast

Meet the Judges

Here they are, the intrepid men who will be reviewing your lyrics!

Seth Falkner
Urban Coffee Podcast

Seth, along with his friend Dave, host the extremely popular Urban Coffee Podcast. Their witty insights on politics, technology, and music provide the listener with a truly interesting hour+ program. The way that they relate to one another is truly entertaining, a modern take on the classic comedy team which includes the straight man (Dave) and his whacky counterpart (Seth). What makes it work so well, is that they fill these roles naturally. There is no acting involved and the comedic effect is never contrived.

Seth, who is a recording engineer when not hosting the cast, presents a special segment on each episode known as "Seth's Music Cafe" in which he highlights notable artists. Another semi-regular feature on the show is R&B poetry, which features Dave and Seth reciting lyrics from mainstream R&B acts in an academic style, providing their listeners with a good laugh, and a look at how vulnerable the naked lyric actually is. We can only hope that some of our entries will live up to these standards.

Jad Fair
Jadfair.org


Punk Rock, New Wave, Indie Rock, Alternative, what have you, Jad Fair either invented, helped define, or at the very least was a pioneer of all these things. He is most famous for his work with Half Japanese, the band that he formed with his brother in 1975. He has also released a plethora of solo albums, and has collaborated with artists such as Daniel Johnston, Yo La Tengo, Kramer and Teenage Fanclub. Jad is the perfect judge for a song poem contest, not only because he has extensive knowledge of the genre, but simply because the songs that he writes are so poetic. As the band wails in any number of directions, Jad will release streams of imagery about love, sea monsters, wishes, love, and love. If you ever find yourself feeling apathetic towards your pursuit of music listening, or feeling like you're tired of it all, put on a Half Japanese record, or cassette, or even an mp3, and float on it, for days.

Franklin Bruno
Franklin Bruno on Wikipedia

Franklin Bruno is a Philosophy professor, songwriter, music critic, and a pretty damned amazing guitarist as well. He's been releasing solo projects since the cassette only days and has worked in a number of bands including Nothing Painted Blue, The Extra Glenns (with John Darnelle of the Mountain Goats), and most recently The Human Hearts. He has also worked with such indie rock heavy hitters as Beck, Guided by Voices and The Gobetweens. Jenny Toomey (from the band Tsunami) along with Calexico released an entire album of Franklin Bruno covers.

One of the things that I like most about Franklin's lyrics is that they are not only intelligent, but make me feel smart for understanding them. They manage to fare the slippery slope of being lofty in content yet clear in meaning. His classic song "Levitate" (later released under the title Masonic Eye) is one of my favorites of all time.

In addition to all his talents as a musician, Franklin also writes music criticism for The Village Voice, Time Out New York, and Salon.com.

More Human Hearts Songs on Large Hearted Boy

David Gutowski

Large Hearted Boy
Large Hearted Boy is a fantastic piece of internet pop culture. David Gutowski mines the web and presents his readers with snippets from (and links to) all sorts of articles relating to music and literature. You can find out what Lemony Snickett is listening to, learn about John Waters' latest compilation album, get the scoop on the forthcoming Silver Jews movie and more. All of these things are found in the "Shorties" section of his blog, which is only one portion of what he presents to us daily. In addition, we also get the "Bittorrent Brunch" which gives us links to download live performances from some of indie rock's finest. And of course there are "Daily Downloads", legal mp3s that form a virtual feast for the ears. Hours and hours and hours can be spent on Large Hearted Boy, and it's hard to believe that David also maintains a 24 hour streaming Guided by Voices radiostation and a food blog ( Too Much Pork).

Pisces Parade

A Surreal O'Rama Salute in the form of a postcard to fabulous fish past and present.

Images Provided by Topical Postcards.com

Dairy Drama

CLICK HERE FOR AN AUDIO PRESENTATION OF THIS POST

You may have noticed that I have not been posting much about my illustrious musical career as of late. The reason for this is simple. Evil Wiener, my band of so many years, was recently purchased by Baskin Robbins.

You see, a few days ago I visited one of Basin Robbins’ many conveniently located parlors and was overtaken by the hypnotic reveries of a mixed Love Potion # 31 Pink Bubble Gum milkshake . Whilst deep in the blissful throes of frozen dairy wonder I was approached by a man in a pink leisure suit, and to make a long story short Evil Wiener was traded for another milkshake. It seemed like a good deal at the time, but when Chuck was informed that from this day forth he would be playing drums with waffle cones he was none too pleased. Nor was groves when he was handed a bass that resembled a giant pink spoon.

They locked the three of us in a very cold room together, and told Chuck and Groves to practice. I was given the responsibility of composing jingles for all 31 flavors, and was just settling into my task when the walls trembled and a portly man in a tie-dyed shirt burst through the sheet metal surface which, as it turned out, was all that separated us from the outside world.

“Hello, my name is Ben” he said “I’m sorry Jerry couldn’t make it, but he got a little crazy with some reverse chocolate chunk last night.”

Ben then opened a container of Turtle Cheesecake, sampled a bit, snapped a photograph, and jotted down a few words in a note pad. He repeated these actions 30 times. Within three minutes he had finished, and he motioned for us to follow him through the hole he’d made in the wall. Soon, we were outside again on a sunny street that we now call freedom.

Evil Wiener is safe for the moment, but negotiations with Baskin Robbins are still underway. All I can say is that I hope our next gig will not be in a freezer.


Today's images supplied by Scott Moon of scottmoon.net. Do visit his site. It is wonderful!

Bee Ball Bazaar

Ignus Fatuus For Home Viewing

Vision Researcher Michael Bach can take your eyes on a brain gem rollercoaster ride of sights and knowledge in this wonderful Optical Illusion Tour.

Zero Gravity Art provides us with some more optical trickery, and can put your favorite illusion on a clock, journal, mouse pad, coffe cup or t-shirt!

But what about your ears?

Yoshitaka Nakajima, Takayuki Sasaki, & Gert ten Hoopen can demonstrate a whole host of auditory illusions, such as the incredible


Melody of Silences


or the Discontinuous Change of Time Perception Caused by Time-shrinking.

You don't have to be Axl Rose to use these illusions!!!

Poultry

Each time you click on a cluck, you will be transported to a new and differnt world
of feathery fun featuring those beloved barnyard birds known as chickens.
CLUCK
cluck
bawk

bock

Bgaaaawk!!!

squaawk

cock

A
doodle

doo





Big thanks to Mark Klotz for providing today's picture.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Today, February 5, is my birthday, so it's all about ME ME ME!

Happy Birthday Mareva Galanter

Today is the birthday of former Ms. Tahiti/current French underground pop sensation Mareva Galanter. Here she is with a stunning video for "On roule à 160". Tomorrow is MY birthday.



Visit Mareva's Flashtastic Website