Jack Smith was a '60s underground legend. Before he was 30, this gay, Jewish, cross-dressing filmmaker had made one of the most influential films of all time, the 1963 avant-garde classic, "Flaming Creatures".

Though eventually banned in the state of New York for its array of bare breasts and flaccid penises, many bright lights of the New York underground hailed it as a masterpiece.

Purportedly made for just $300, Flaming Creatures features exotically dressed transvestites, a rape and enough bare-bones spectacle to make it the fringe cinema's answer to the exotic adventures like Arabian Nights (1942) that so enchanted Smith in his youth.

Avant-garde film enthusiast Andy Ditzler, who almost single-handedly has been keeping film culture alive in Atlanta, will man his blessedly creaky film projector to feature a 16mm print of Flaming Creatures in a one-night homage to some of the pioneers of American underground cinema, Carnivals of Ecstasy, at Eyedrum Gallery in Atlanta. The evening also features a new Ira Cohen work, "Brain Damage", as well as his new expanded "Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda".

The screening is part of Table of the Elements Festival No. 4: Bohrium, which presents five days of music (John Cale, Rhys Chatham, Captain Beefheart, ) and film that shuns the ivory tower for something that more closely resembles punk rock's outsider ethos and anti-establishment buck.

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Re-Blogging

* John Lennon Day Dec 8 - 25th anniversary of his death.

* Captain Beefheart and his mother, an elf or a freak, and the plastic, horned devil.

* Tea Time and more to come soon from Lightning Is My Girl

* For a sleepy beach town known for having more white people with dreadlocks than any other place in the nation, Santa Cruz is a Mecca for the self-proclaimed ideological liberal. [More »]

* Students send chocolate vagina to douchebag Rush Limbaugh. [via]

* Happy Dreams Can Become Reality. So what are you all waiting for? Didn't you hear? You can make the choice, right now, this moment sitting in your chair reading this, to maximize your level of happiness for all time. And if it is my permission you are looking for, then yes, go for it!! Follow your bliss, be happy, and the universe will take care of you. Because that is what the universe wants more than anything else, for you to be truly and deeply happy for all eternity. [via]

Most definitely. We can choose to be miserable or choose to be happy. Totally up to you.

* Peace On Earth is a nice outdoor setup, if a wee bit chilly.

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Happy Friday the 13th!

Wanna play? Fire up your media player, set to random/shuffle, and list the first ten songs that come up. (Idea from Feministe)

1. Gary Wilson - Chromium Bitch
2. Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Lovin' You
3. Fripp/Eno - The Heavenly Music Corporation
4. Melvins & Jello Biafra - The Lighter Side of Global Terror
5. Alice In Chains - I Stay Away
6. Big Eyed Beans From Venus - Captain Beefheart
7. Animal Collective - Leaf House
8. Robert Johnson - (I Believe I'll) Dust My Broom
9. Alvin Lee - I'm Going Home
10. Patti Smith = Because The Night


If you're into this sort of thing, the Acid Archives of Underground Sounds 1965-1982 are ready for cruising, if somewhat clumsily through the dinosaur navigation setup.
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Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday

Visit The King Center site.







"I have a dream...

I have a dream that one day little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

~Martin Luther King, Jr.



"The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today [is] my own government. ...[F]or the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent."

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.




Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil-hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars-must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

~Martin Luther King, Jr.
I remember how distraught the country was as we watched this great man lose his biggest fight of all to racial ignorance. I had thought some progress with racial harmony had been made until Dr King got shot, only to realize we hadn't even begun to fight against the ugly stain of racial injustice.



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This is how we cut and paste

Are too many children on psychiatric drugs? Ritalin, or even Prozac, etc. A recent AOL poll says 70% of people surveyed believe they are. There's so many children experiencing ADD/ADHD symptoms. How do you know if it affects your child or even you? Here's an ADD Overview Guide or checklist for you that many physicians use.



Happy Birthday to Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart today. I had given him mention on Jan 10th post about being a new father.



Ten Years After Regroup - without Alvin Lee.

Tired of waiting for singer/guitarist Alvin Lee to rejoin them, the other three original members of Ten Years After have re-formed the band with 25-year-old guitar discovery Joe Gooch. "Alvin doesn't want to play with us," drummer Ric Lee (no relation) said. "We've asked him several times over the last year...but he has always declined." The new-look TYA are curently recording an album and are planning British dates in May.



Visions of siliconed gum-snapping heavily eyelinered hell. So this is New Jersey? I don't think so. Another small-minded pseudo-humorous attempt. I don't believe guidos respresent NJ anymore than hillbillies represent North Carolina.



Everyone's talking about GeoUrl. Kim and Bea have liked the idea. So I finally signed up with them. It keeps track of your location so you can find other webloggers in your area.



"It's not just a hairstyle, it's a lifestyle," the liner notes proclaim. In homage to one of America's most revered hairstyles, Epic/Legacy will merge 35 hard stomping classics for "Mullets Rock!," a two-CD set due March 4. Endorsing the slogan, "Play it loud, wear it proud," the collection touts 1970s and '80s rock classics from the likes of Foghat ("Slow Ride"), Molly Hatchet ("Flirtin' With Disaster"), Quiet Riot ("Metal Health"), and Alice Cooper ("School's Out.") Here is the track list for "Mullets Rock!" Must fire up the El Camino and breeze it down to the store for that slamming eight track real soon.

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»I am still SO disgusted about this family having their dog shot at a highway stop by Tennessee State Troopers. I gave the troopers my "Dickhead" award Jan 5. That post can be found if you scroll down below. Also on CNN. I hope this story doesn't die until everyone else is as disgusted as I am and the troopers are held accountable for their fuck-up. Good Morning America and the Today Show had this family on today. [They live about 20 miles from me in Saluda, NC]



»The music industry STILL owes you $20! Every US resident who bought a CD in the US between 1995 and 2000 is entitled to up to $20 from the music cartel as part of a court-mandated settlement over the labels' illegal price-fixing, which is one way that the music industry has ripped off the public. All you need to do is sign up at this site, and the RIAA will mail you a check. If so many people sign up that the settlement ends up getting spread too thin, the RIAA will mail charitable organizations the checks instead. You can't lose! Unless you don't sign up.

[via: under-cover]



»Anyone remember Captain Beefheart? They were a strange band in the seventies that were in the same humorous intellectual vein as Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. A 1970 album, Trout Mask Replica, is a record that repeatedly makes it onto critics' lists under headings like "Most Important Recordings Ever Made" and "Albums That Make You a Music Loser If You Don't Own Them." He runs a few businesses now. Online is Clamazon, a Web site for rare and weird new and collectible music you can buy or sell if that's your thing.



»The Rolling Stones will be doing their first live concert event on HBO on Jan. 18 from Madison Square Garden. And let us see. This emailing list is good if you like all things Stones. Clothes, pics, obscure interviews, etc. These folks are serious Stones fans. They follow them to concerts and attend the after parties with Mick and Keith. And now there's a blog about inner Stones info called Under-Cover.



Just Blog It!

Shirl has written her perspective on the color "lilac". From lilac's point of view. Part of the weekly assignment from Wednesday Wonder, by Hestia. Kathryn has filled in the gap of other Wednesday memes that have dropped off the planet. Stop by and bring your thinking cap. Kane, in Hawaii, mentions that it's Aloha Friday today and has added some nice pics to his Visuals section. My other Hawaii pal, from Louisana, Ailina, sounds off on bad manners today. Jenny from Texas glad she's made it through a 5 day work week. Alexandra has a loving tribute to her Mother today. Maggie is having problems with noisy neighbors. Arghhh! Brenda is wondering about the connection between Turkey's reluctance to comply with the US on their airspace and their recent plane crashes. Rhonda is going in to work despite still feeling sick. Does everybody have that damn flu? (((Sending healing vibes to you.)))



Thanks so much for all the kind words and well wishes on my new home here. I'm very touched by your sentiments. Now, go out and have a BLAST today/tonight!

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