FDR Beyond the Grave...

I grew up in a household where FDR was a saint. A hero of the working man. He lived a long time ago...

FDR Speaks: "We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob."

Oscar Wilde - Pop Star

I'm currently reading a biography of Oscar Wilde...

So Oscar Wilde toured the U.S. in 1870's dressed up like a strutting peacock - knee breeches, silk stockings, funny hats, frilly shirts. He gave lectures on "beauty." He caused quite a stir in the press and the public.

I just recently finished Stanley Booth's "The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones," one of the great rock & roll books. Dare I say "rock literature" of a high order.

Mick Jagger toured the U.S. in the early 1970's (okay 1969) dressed up like a strutting peacock - knee breeches, silk stockings, funny hats, frilly shirts. He sang "Sympathy for the Devil," and "Stray Cat Blues." He caused quite a stir in the press and the public.

It dawns on me that if Oscar Wilde had been born in our era, he almost assuredly would have been a Pop star. Think Bowie, or Morrissey, or Brian Jones. Although, who knows if he could have carried a tune. Still it hasn't stopped anyone else.

In his time Oscar was celebrated and crucified. Probably would have been the same in this time. Maybe for different reasons, but what I like about Wilde, he was not shy about challenging the powers that be. Although this time around Oscar probably would have made a shit-load more money.

Spider-like

Just like a spider

Hanging by a thread is okay.

As long as you hang

With style.

You must always hang with style.

Stuck in the Middle with Oscar

Very cold.

And a big winter storm coming.

I'm counting on Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde to entertain me.

So far he is doing a wonderful job.

What an amazing, improbable life.

I'm halfway through the Ellmann biography.

It is very inspiring, funny, eye-opening.

I realize I love a dead guy.

"The secret of life is ART!"

Can't Beat the Table of Meat

Saturday the Lovely Carla and I played the open mic at our favorite coffeehouse, and well, I think it's safe to say we "tore the house down." One of our best shows. Two songs with our new drummer. The audience just absolutely loved it.

Then Sunday it was off to the Mutiny with the Telepaths. Final Bear game of the season. The Mutiny is one of those classic Chicago bars, a great place to see a football game. A place where football matters. Good thing the Bears won.

Then it was the Telepaths - stripped - just me on guitar, the Professor on bass and "The Ego Maniac" on vocals. This photo (dark and fuzzy - just like us) kind of captures the whole scene in one snap. Something sort of ridiculous and sublime simultaneously.

We were competing with the famed "Table of Meat" - ribs, chicken, brats. We gave it our best. But in the final analysis - the Table of Meat just can't be beat...

Still as they say, a good time was had by all!

A Cartoon Existence

Some days you are Wily Coyote.

Making plans, making contraptions, scheming - so hungry, on the chase.

Some days you are Road Runner.

Beeping. Flying. Leaving all comers in the dust.

Coyote days usually go wrong. Anvils on the head. Tumbling off cliffs.

Road Runner days are all about smiling. Speeding down the road. One step ahead of death.

Ashes of American Flags

One advantage of being left out of the grab-bag on Xmas eve was that I got to buy a grab-bag gift for myself. It was all so self-reverential and hermetic of me.

So I got exactly what I wanted.

And what I got was an exquisitely well-made DVD of Wilco called "Ashes of American Flags." It's a film by Brendan Canty and Christopher Green. Really nice work.

It captures a band at their best. Filmed so beautifully. The sound is superb and if you like Wilco, like I like Wilco, well it's just such a great document of a hard-working band playing some really cool rooms around the country - Tipitina's in New Orleans, Ryman Auditorium in Nashvile, Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa.

You realize it's a good thing these guys aren't so big that they play stadiums. Good for them and the audience. You spend a little time on the road with them too, in their big tour bus.

They come across as really professional, committed musicians. Artists. So inspiring. Plus of course, they rock. Highly recommended.

Black Forest Space - A really cool living room

It's 2010 so it's time to unveil our new Black Forest Space.

As someone said, "it's like a really cool living room."

It's a little storefront space.

A dream space. Where anything can happen.

If you want to know what happens inside, you have to open the door.

"I ain't gonna be your dog." - Howling Wolf

We had a little New Year's Eve get together at the Black Forest Space last night. It was a great way to kiss one year goodbye and welcome another.

The space looked great, we spruced it up and added some soft lighting - blues and greens. One of our friends said it was like "a really cool living room."

We had videos playing on a white screen - Buster Keaton, Nosferatu and the incomparable Matthew Barney. I think Mr. Barney was the hit of the evening - dressed in a kilt with a bloody rag in his mouth, surrounded by beautiful, almost naked women, scaling the inside of the Guggenheim and discovering strange and wonderous things at each level. One of those unique Matthew Barney experiences that can't be summed up or put in a box. Sublime.

We played music - people brought their iPods and we plugged them into the sound system and we had all kinds of dance music going. My favorite stuff actually came from my own collection - Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, the Kinks and Howling Wolf.

Howling Wolf set the tone for me. Outside a big full moon was raging. It was incredibly cold. Inside Howling Wolf proclaimed "I ain't gonna be your dog." Those old Chess cuts were like from another world - but so appropriate to our precarious circumstances.

As the Lovely Carla put it: "We're out front, free-falling" into a new year, a new decade. We feel we are ahead of the curve. Maybe this is the year everything falls apart. And everything gets re-made. We're ready.

As one of my dear friends put it: "Drive fast. Take chances." Sounds like a plan!

"Still Standing!" - Jake La Motta

I find that for my own sanity, (such as it is) that it's usually best to think moment to moment. To not look too far ahead or too far behind.

I mean, I do like to study history and read about people who lived long ago, in places lost in shadow, but usually I'm in the moment to moment of discovery and usually relating what I'm reading to my ever always now.

Still, human beings seem to have this weird propensity to count things. Days, years, decades. I must say that these last 10 years have been quite strange. Much of it is a blur. It's weird what we remember and what we forget.

I'm pretty sure we tend to forget the really important stuff. And what we remember is pretty sparse and lame. Oh yeah, that's my life we're talking about.

There was a lot of smoke and thunder. And people I know and love, died. Some things happened that can't be changed or erased. I guess that's how it works...

And well, finally, left in the corner of the ever present moment, "still standing!"

The Importance of Being Oscar

"The soul is born old, but grows young.

That is the comedy of life.

The body is born young and grows old.

That is life's tragedy."

Oscar Wilde

Crazy Mixed Up Kids

You know, maybe there is a whole community of Gods.

Just like the Greeks imagined.

And maybe really they are just a bunch of crazy, mixed-up kids.

Kind of like high-school on steroids.

That would explain certain things.

"I've rolled in the dirt." - Tom Waits

This morning, while I brewed up a pot of coffee, Tom Waits' voice was riding the radio waves. He was hawking the latest Terry Gilliam movie in which he (Waits) plays the Devil. Talk about type-casting!

Of course, it sounds like a must-see film. Another Quixotic, snake-bit production from the over-heated cortex of Mr. Gilliam. Heath Ledger was to star but during production he drifted off into the sunset riding on 8 prescription drugs. Got to love our medicated mafia. Yee haw!

So Gilliam improvised a solution, multiple actors (including Jude Law and Johnny Depp) pitching in and finishing the film. This kind of stuff always happens to Terry Gilliam.

Anyway, here's my favorite line from Waits this morning: "A shadow of a shadow is light."

World's Greatest Dad - Movie Magic

I totally agree with this little write-up about the soundtrack to Bobcat's "World's Greatest Dad."

One of the essential elements for me for an "all time favorite film" is the soundtrack. It's what can make a scene transcendent, indelible. It's what can get me to see a movie over and over.

And maybe my two favorite songs of this great soundtrack are "Love is Simple" and "Don't be Afraid You're Already Dead," by Akon/Family. Perfect marriage of image and sound. Now that's movie magic!

Don't need no stinking CGI! Just a great script, superb acting, committed work with absolute heart. Thank you Bobcat!

The Genius of Bobcat Goldthwait

We had a nice Christmas day. We went to a Vietnamese place Pho Xe Tang -- Tank Noodle Restaurant on Broadway in Chicago. A really "authentic" place. A nice clean, well-lighted room. It was really bustling when we got there. The food was fresh - I had the Ginger Chicken. The menu is chock full of stuff. Loved it!

Then we watched a great little gem of a movie. It's called "World's Greatest Dad." It has to be one of the best movies released in 2009. I'm putting it on my all time favorites list which includes little movies like Rushmore, Donnie Darko, The Big Lebowski, 24 Hour Party People.

It doesn't sound very promising - Robin Williams playing a dad. But guess what? It's beautiful, very funny, and heartbreakingly sad. Probably not in that order. I mean it's both corrosively and endearingly funny. Robin Williams gives it all he's worth. You've never seen him give a better performance. The movie was written and directed by Bobcat Goldtwaith and I just love what he did - a fully realized vision.

A classic line from Goldthwait: "I am what I hate."

I have been told that I must seek out his other controversial movie "Shakes the Clown" which has been called “the Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies.”

I figure it is a must see.

I Knew

My grip sort of loosens.

I can feel life sort of rushing out from between my fingers.

I have no desire to hold too tight.

This is a new development.

I observe myself and others.

It's like I'm watching life go on without me, although, I'm in it too.

There's a new disassociation, a disorientation.

It's neither agreeable nor disagreeable.

"Ever since I was a little ball of golden light, I knew what I wanted to be."

Little Pieces of Light

We showed a Black Forest highlight reel to a small group of folks last night.

A few minutes of color and flash.

Kind of a butterfly glimpse of the theater work we've done over the last 10 years.

That's how it goes.

The smoke clears and you're left with little pieces of light.

"What we got to have in this world is more love...or more slack." - Gram Parsons

Hold That Tiger!

This cheery holiday card came to me via e-mail. Armed with a computer and Photoshop and the world is your oyster.

It's hard to not be totally amused by Tiger's predicament. To go from the perfect image of the determined, focused, hard-nosed golf pro to the ultimate "player" is kind of dizzying.

One minute you are the ultimate brand spokesman, the next you are some kind of global laughing-stock. It's hard to feel sorry for the guy and at the same time you fear for his sanity. He went from totally boring golfing dude, to some kind of Turbo-Casanova. Wow.

Now if his pretty wife actually did go after him with a nine-iron, well it's almost like an O. Henry story. And if she didn't, well can we just say she did?

An Empty Void...

The Lovely Carla and I worked on our little storefront space yesterday. It's been slow going, but we are making progress. Our goal, as per Papa Hemingway - "a clean, well-lighted place."

We put up curtains, we painted, we moved stuff around. Listened to tunes while we worked - The Flying Burrito Brothers, Marianne Faithful, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (their new disc of movie soundtrack music is moody and haunting!) and Neil Young.

We are working towards a little "art sanctuary." A little space where anything can happen. You must create a void to fill a void.