See you at the bitter end.

"There's lemons on sale again."

#mondegreen #lifeonmars #ripdavidbowie
Today would have been David Bowie's 70th birthday :(

There is some debate as the whether the real song lyric is Lennon or Lenin. Liner sheets say Lennon.

David Bowie Is - leaving Melbourne soon!

#sketch of #costume at #davidbowieis from his 1979 Saturday Night Live performance of #themanwhosoldtheworld resting on my David Bowie Is catalogue. There are worse 24 hour earworms to have - I'll have to buy the album to scratch that itch!
#drawing #drawingfromlife #davidbowie #acmimember #avantgarde #avantgardefashion — at ACMI.

For those interested, you can see my other drawings from David Bowie Is, as well as my other creative output, on my instagram here. I don't always do Follow for Follows but I try to make the time to Like for Likes :)

You can download a free David Bowie album from a selection of about 6 with your ACMI​ David Bowie Is card. Okay. I should have expected that I couldn't fill some of the gaps in my collection with a free download of The Man Who Sold the World, Lodger etc. You want me to buy those Bowie? That is fine! I completely understand. I've been twice and a nice couple - who said they have all of his albums - gave me theirs so I had four to redeem.

Or so I thought.

You can only redeem one album this way per Google Play account. Oops. I chose Earthling. Well played, sir. The promotion cards claim that 'David Bowie is all yours' but clearly he isn't! It's more accurately 'David Bowie is pimping his new album and bumping his less popular works up the Google Play charts' or more simply 'David Bowie is savvy'.

'I'm Afraid of Americans' is an epic song. It's in my top ten of favourite Bowie songs. I friggin' LOVE it. I saw the clip for the first time on Monday and thought that was clever too. A pity about the rest of that album - I am not a fan of drum-and-bass, it sounds a bit samey after a few songs IMHO - but maybe I'll grow to like it!




As for the exhibition itself:

No photography permitted, is not just signed but verbally instructed to every visitor. I have seen some sneaky mobile phone images online because some take this as a challenge to rise to rather than respecting Bowie's wishes. Why take a crappy pic on your phone to share on social  media when the catalogue is filled with beautifully shot images of all the artifacts (and a very interesting collection of essays to boot)? Why not just enjoy the experience rather than have proof you were there in a selfie? If it means that much to you, buy the book/postcard.

It took me all afternoon to visit the show on my first visit and I had _no_ intention of drawing that time! As you can see above I did do some drawing as an artistic challenge on my second visit. I read every label, listened to everything sound bite, watched almost every clip! Luckily that was on a Wednesday a couple of weeks after it first opened with few other people. On Monday there was quite a few people, with lines to view artifacts, so I didn't worry about consuming everything. I had to be considerate about where I placed myself to draw. What I love about drawing is that it makes you really look at things. You appreciate the form and detail of a thing to a level you would not absorb if you merely looked at it. I thought I knew his face but it was only after drawing from one of his life cast masks - they are dotted on seemingly random mannequins throughout the exhibition - that I knew it best.

It was wonderful to see so many iconic, unique costumes and finely designed outfits in the fibre. To think the great man himself once wore these and defined a moment in time was awesome... 

I had no idea he was such a talented mime, that he was so involved in all parts of his output, such a diligent, organised individual. I love that he kept all of these things, because either he's an organised hoarder or he knew that one day they would be of interest to other people. Probably both! It was a special treat to see the creative process in the material form of Bowie's song writing, on all sorts of paper with corrections and ch, ch, changes.

With almost constant sound and vision - I turned the sound down, took my head phones off or unplugged them because it was sometimes too much - it was an intense experience and I needed a nap after both visits!

Thank you to David Bowie for having the foresight to keep all of these things carefully, the wisdom to engage a collection curator to catalogue them, and the professionalism to approach the V&A Museum with said catalogue and offer free reign to tell your story in the best possible way through The David Bowie Archive. It was not wanting in detail or breadth!

Sometimes a misheard lyric still makes sense.

My housemate slightly amused and incredulous to me as we're listening to David Bowie's Secret Life of Arabia, from the rather excellent Heroes.
"Did he just say 'the secret life of a labia?'"

More Band Names

Continuing on from my previous post of band names:
Nematode (explaining a home crop issue to J)
Anal Plate (flipping through a field guide of Australian butterflies. I think it describes part of a caterpillar)
Dirty Measure (housemate talking about reusing a measuring cup)
Pissweak Paperweight (an observation made about an antique acquisition of my father's)
Sticky Spud (~can't remember~)
Spank the Colander (action taken to remove droplets caught in apertures of colander to ensure it dries in dish rack)

Blurred Lines aka 'What rhymes with "hug me"?' - both nonsensical notions.

I know I'm late to the table on this one but my favourite dancer in my favourite performance from SYTYCD danced to 'Blurred Lines' by Robin Thicke. Upon looking into the track I read much controversy over both the lyrics and the clip (PG and a M+ version unsuitable for YouTube).

Having read the lyrics and watched all I could stand of both versions of the clips, as well as various parodies my conclusion is thus: you can get away with singing anything you want if you sing it in falsetto and he is a f*** wit with a good voice. The 'we're married with kids, this is tongue in cheek, have you no sense of humour?' line is bull$#!+

Just be honest Thicke: sex sells and if it's explicit you can rake in the $$$$$. You said it was a pleasure to degrade women in this clip becuse you usually respect women such as your wife. Respect of women is different to respecting a woman's authority. Also you mention that the British don't understand the humour of the clip yet you say it was inspired by Benny Hill. You do know he was English right? I think the reason they and the rest of us don't find it funny is because your clip isn't funny. Having topless women and a goat doesn't make a clip instantly funny. Then again I never thought Benny Hill was funny either but that's just me and my feminist ways (felt even before I understood what feminism is).

Thicke, in answer to
'You wanna hug me.
What rhymes with "hug me"?'
it isn't 'f*** me' unless you mispronounce f*** or hug. Whilst that works when composing couplets for a song because you control how it is pronounced, asking the listener to do so is onerous and clumsy. Suggested answers to your query are;
Bug me
Lug me
Jug me
Pug me
Rug me
Thug me
Snug me
Plug me
Drug me
Mug me
Tug me - is that what you're getting at? If so then okay, as you were.

I don't believe that the song endorses non-consensual sex but it's certainly not a healthy outlook and it does make arrogant assumptions. This is nothing new. The non-explicit lyrics are on the whole not much creepier/sexist than some of these other older song examples off the top of my head:
5ive
Depeche Mode
Billy Ocean
Sting and The Police
The difference? The clips and the lyrics are suggestive rather than outright pornographic or explicit. In the case of The Police this was so well done that most people think it's a love song and not about a controlling, manipulative stalker.

The explicit lyrics are unnecessarily disgusting and I can't believe this man is happily married ... yech. Then again he claims his wife is the one who told him to put out the explicit clip after he had misgivings about it.

Had Thicke not put out explicit versions of the clip and song it may have done just as well as it has and we wouldn't be having this discussion. I actually like the catchy melody with its 1970s funky flavour pseudo early Michael Jackson feel, the PG clip is inoffensive, but now knowing the lyrics and the attitude of the performer there is no way I would buy it.

Word Salad / Band Names

Throughout and beyond my relationship with J we have enjoyed playing with words, learning new ones, and recombining common phrases or ideas into sources of amusement. One of the things he taught me was band names ie. curious phrase, word combination results in "That would be a good name for a band" - either because it sounds cool, or it's so silly/funny it could work for the right act. Since I got J's old i-phone 4 I've been taking note of them for posterity to share here. I know this concept isn't unique to us. If I bothered to Google* it maybe there's a whole site/community/twitter feed dedicated to it. No matter. You're welcome :)
I've also added how the origin/context of the phrase if it isn't self explanatory and I can remember it.

Ox Blood Goat (trying to recall the word for the colour, misfiring it as ox gall and being misheard as goat)
Left Curve (road sign)
Arm Fart 
Random Kebab (comment after seeing many kebab caravans in an area)
Oozy Crumpet (with honey and butter)
Joffrey and the Oozy Crumpets (had been watching GoT)
Plush Tuxedo (my description of Fonzie the Cardigan Corgi's coat/markings)
Death Burp (discussion about preserving olives)
Death Fart
Smurf Jerky (may have followed a discussion about the crapness of Avatar and how it ends?)
Decaf Goon. (was talking about coffee...)
Fridge Funk (J's shared fridge emanates a stink) 
Segregated Pumpkin (J roasted some organic and not-organically grown pumpkin on seperate trays)

Feel free to use any of them - let me know and send me a link if you do!

*I would get this sort of thing.

We built this sausage.

[singing to the tune of Starship's We Built This City]

We built this sausage!
We built this sausage.
We built this sausage in a sauuusaaage roooooOOOooll.

Someone's always playing delicatesan games.
Who cares they're always changing delicatesan names.
We just want some small goods. Someone cut the line.
Why can't they take a number - just like everyone else?!


I'm gonna place my order, so listen here deariooo.
I'd like a kilo, of chorizo, please oh

Cookie Monster and Tom Waits mashed up.

This is very clever. He/she must have watched a LOT of footage to get the perfect clips. I love the way they've used Cookie's characteristic finger in the air and face palm to convey the importance of his words, and feeling of helplessness in the context of the song. Cookie Monster never seemed more profound. I hadn't fully appreciated his ability to emote until now.

Kudos to Henson and Oz for creating a character that connects so well with people of all ages. He is my favourite SS character.

Enjoying the silence?

[to the tune of Sound of Silence, by Simon and Garfunkel]
Hello insomnia my old 'friend'.
You've come to taunt me yet again?
I will fight you off with myyyy red wine,
And surf the web just oooone more time.
As my vision, it grows blurryyyy with fatigue,
Longing for sleep,
And the rooooad outside ... grows silent.

Pushed too far, one fine day: RIP James Freud

RIP James Freud

Ramalama Gaga Gogo

Listening to: Ramalama Gaga Gogo*, on my i-Pod

Ramalama (Bang Bang) by Roisin Murphy
Enjoy the Silence 04(Mike Shinoda Remix) by Depeche Mode
Strict Machine by Goldfrapp
Silent Shout by The Knife
Are You the One? by The Presets
This Must be It by Röyksopp
Destroy Everything You Touch by Ladytron
Anarchy by KMFDM
Fascination Street by The Cure
Coloured Bedspread by Annie Lennox
Paninaro by The Pet Shop Boys
Girls and Boys by Blur
Oh La La by Goldfrapp
Mr Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont’s Thin White Duke Remix) by The Killers
Zero by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Hey Boy. Hey Girl. by The Chemical Brothers
World in My Eyes (Cicada Remix) by Depeche Mode
Bad Ego (Michael Jackson vs. Alter Ego) DJ Earworm mashup
The Men by Covenant
Nirgaga (Nirvana vs. Lady Gaga) DJ Lobsterdust mashup
Rush by Depeche Mode
Precious by Depeche Mode
Shine by Cyndi Lauper
Always by Erasure
Telephone by Lady Gaga
Ladykiller by Alice in Videoland
All I ever Wanted by The Human League
Damned don’t Cry by Visage
Dance in the Dark by Lady Gaga
Here Comes the Rain by The Eurythmics
Pitbull Dream by What's
Wrong by Depeche Mode
Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
Love is a Fool by Primary
Night on Fire by VHS or Beta
To Cut a Long Story Short by Spandau Ballet
The Way I Are by Timbaland
Neutraface by DD40
It’s a Sin by The Pet Shop Boys

*i-Tunes playlist I composed using two of my most recent On the Go lists. Click on the titles in italic for the best clips out of those found.

Here Comes the Hook Again

Telephone call for Lady Gaga:
[Hello, hello baby you called I can't here a thing]*
It's Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox.
[I have got no service at the club you say, say]
They want their hook back from Here Comes the Rain Again.
[Wha, wha, what did you say? Huh? You're breaking up on me]
You used it in Dance in the Dark, yeah?
[Sorry I can not hear you. I'm kinda busy]
Cheers!


*All small print, lyrics from Telephone by Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster.

Franz Ferdinand and moshing

Franz Ferdinand at The Forum wasn't as exciting as I hoped. Perhaps I built them up too much.

A while back I read that Franz Ferdinand got together to create music to make girls dance and not have just have a bunch of guys moshing. The area closest to the stage was not a lady friendly zone - it was a mosh pit. I saw other women with slightly anxious looks on their faces as the guy/s closest to them bounced fiercely up and down like demented Masai warriors. I saw women back away and others try to make their partners stop moshing.

I don't mosh. It's intimidating being in the middle of it. Guys think it's alright to keep bumping into you. When I told one guy "Get off me!" because he sort of leaned and draped over me, he told me "Relax, it's a concert". His friends were pushy pricks too.

Saying that it reads like other fans spoiled FF for me doesn't it? Well they did. It went against what I had expected from such a gig. I think I would have had 100% fun if I could have gotten closer without being jumped on.

Childhood favourite Sesame Street segments

Still my favourites as well :)


The Yip Yip Martians meet a telephone (blue Martian puppeteered by Jim Henson)


Grover's Health Minute - Teeth


Grover the Waiter - Big Hamburger


Born to Add


The Beetles, Letter B

Most memorable animations:


Me and My M.


The Ladybugs' Picnic


Number 12 from the Pinball counting song, sung by The Pointer Sisters

I could go surfing You tube all day looking for more but I'll leave it at that!

Heads Will Roll

Listening to: Lucid Dreams by Franz Ferdinand from Tonight.

I saw this clip for the first time this morning and I couldn't take my eyes off it. I like the homage to MJ with an edge and especially the use of red confetti. It's a really catchy tune as well. I shall have to check out more of the YYYs because I liked the last clip* of theirs I saw on TV and am unsure as to how much of their stuff I have actually already heard!


I'm loving...
...Franz Ferdinand's Lucid Dreams from Tonight.
The outstanding, punchy, bass heavy synth arrangement, particularly in the instrumental at the end of the album track really does it for me. I found a live version on You Tube but it lacks the synth [pout]...

...Ladytron's Runaway from Velocifero
Quite a contrast to the YYYs' clip for its lack of colour. It's funny how geometric black lines can still resemble the slow flow of blood.



*Zero which is also from It's Blitz!

An Honest Mistake

Listening to: Human by The Killers on You Tube

The Bravery's, An Honest Mistake video features a complex Rube Goldberg machine. It's a well written, catchy, dancable song* and the punchline at the end made me chuckle. What more do you need?


*IMHO their best song!

She sells sanctuary by the seashore

Listening to: She Sells Sanctuary by Pure Cult

A few months ago it occurred to me that, after almost ten years of frequenting goth clubs where this used to be a dance floor filling staple and hearing this song so many times, I still had no idea what most of the lyrics are. Do you? Tonight I finally looked them up and read them while listening to the song. Then I giggled at what I was fudging/pretending them to be in my head* This isn't what I actually heard but if forced to sing it I would have sung it like that** . The real lyrics don't make much more sense in my opinion ;)


* Involved slurred, snarly words and paper backs being burned.

**Actually I would more likely make something up to the tune of it. I have a gift for making partial songs up on the spot to the tune of other songs. It's a source of much amusement [grin].
example: While at an international airport a few years ago I came up with this,
sung to the tune of John the Revelator by Depeche Mode:
Get on the travelator
Get there sooner and not later
Get you to your plane on time

Hot production by Timbaland on Red Carpet Massacre

How good are the Timbaland produced tracks on Duran Duran's Red Carpet Massacre? I was driving along listening to the album for the first time thinking, 'meh' when along comes Nite Runner, then I'm like 'Yeaaaah this is HOT stuff!' and chillin' while I flew along the freeway. I don't care for much of the rest of the album although I think the second half is better than the first.

Zoom In (DD/Timbaland/Nate Hills) reminds me a bit of Ladytron a little - not that it's a bad thing.
Right now I'm a bit/totally addicted to;
Nite Runner (DD/Timbaland/Nate Hills/Justin Timberlake),
Skin Divers (DD/Timbaland/Nate Hills),and
Tempted (DD/Nate Hills/Jimmy Douglass).
I reckon with a bit of persistance from a DJ any of these could really fill a dance floor. Gotta love that throbbing, grinding bass and the popping electronic punctuation. I hope DD keep going in this direction.

Oh yeah and kudos to The HorseMuseum for playing Kingdom, one of Dave Gahan's new solo songs at Blitz. I was the only one dancing but those other punters just didn't know what they were missing. :)

Music to Drive to

Going by my list of favourite tracks to drive to, good driving music is often good dancing music. Here's some of what I had on my On-the-Go list on my i-Pod.

For a sunny day, especially past trees and greenery
My Baby Just Cares for Me - Nina Simone
Girls and Boys - Blur
Ticket to Ride - The Beatles
Day Tripper - The Beatles

Through undulating urban streets, or on the freeway
An Honest Mistake - The Bravery
Train of Thought - The Sharp
All I ever Wanted - The Human League
Strict Machine - Goldfrapp
Pulse - Covenant
Relativity - Grafton Primary
Dance Little Sister - Terence Trent D'Arby

With the windows down, sweeping past traffic going the other way which adds a sound effect, complementing the track
Peek-a-boo - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Horror Show - Birthday Massacre
Suffer Well - Depeche Mode

Cruisin' in mah vee-hic-cal
It's Like That - Run DMC Vs Jason X
It's My Prerogative - Bobby Brown
World in My Eyes - Depeche Mode (Cicada Remix)
Fame - David Bowie
Fashion - David Bowie
The Way I are - Timbaland

That said, something by Vivaldi can be nice and calming as well, aiding concentration.

Keane - Under the Iron Sea: Reviewed

Veteran readers of the previous incarnation of this blog will know that I enjoyed Keane’s debut album, Hopes and Fears. Fortunately it did well enough for them to have a second album, Under the Iron Sea.

The cover art - by Finnish artist Sanna Annukka - is cute and funky. You will have to buy the CD to fully appreciate it since it folds out to 6 panels in total. Starting at the surface of the iron sea is a mixture of good and bad equine waves. Underneath is a fairytale seascape featuring among other creatures a giant octopus, a whale, and a squirrel! Visit their website or Annukka's to get a taste of it.

Atlantic sets the tone, evoking the wash and rhythm of the sea with soaring, sweeping vocals and piano. Beautiful, it’s my favourite track.
Is it any wonder? opens with a heavy, U2esque bass before mellowing into piano. This album overall has a greater emphasis on the bass. Compared with their self-titled debut album, which was built around the piano/synth, this has a more of a rock feel to it.
Nothing in my way, is a piano based ballad. Lead vocalist Tom Chaplin has either improved his breathing technique or his gasps for air at the end of each line have been produced out – or a combination of both. His breathing was clearly audible on the softer or more passionately sung tracks from the previous album.
Leaving so soon? and A bad dream both feature longer notes yet they contrast nicely with each other. The first is a strong song of defiance and independence while the latter is a ballad about exactly the opposite sentiment. A bad dream has particularly lovely soaring and layering.
Hamburg song has an organ rather than a piano sound and feels more like a hymm. It isn’t clear why it has this title. Soulful, but depressing if you’re already sad, it’s feelings laid bare.
Track 7, Put it behind you ends at about 3:30, as a song but appears to have a secret piece within it. An atmospheric bass, synth and strings instrumental sweeps in then fades out 3 minutes later - another favourite for me.
Crystal Ball is an upbeat track though lyrically or musically not one of their strongest. The album title is derived from a line in this song.

There are other tracks. The first album was less than 50 minutes and this is another shorty at just over 50 minutes. Quality not quantity. I have not felt the compulsion to skip any tracks except Hamburg song and only when I was feeling blue.

Overall there’s a nice balance of light and shade, ballads and upbeat tracks. The heavier use of bass, more complex vocals, and stronger, tighter production works well. It took a few listens but it has grown on me. I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed their first album.




Websites of the Day
Keane's Official Website
Sanna Annukka's portfolio, which includes beautiful art for all the the singles from Under the Iron Sea