Fun fact of the day.

Did you know that Francis Ford Coppola wrote and directed Captain EO, once the best thing at the EPCOT Center? And is that more or less surprising than that he directed this? And are either of those truly lesser cinema than this?

The Sample and the Source vol. 2

Dear Cameron Leader-Picone,

As per our bet last night, I was right about the connection between these two songs. You were wrong in implicating the Yellow Magic Orchestra had anything to do with this shit. I look forward to a six-pack you will pay for. Which is at least some sort of payback for the constant bleeding eardrums I seem to have received from listening to even five seconds of ABBA. Now let us never speak of this again.

Yours in whupping that ass,
Josh

"For You" (Bilal, First Born 2nd)

Believe it or not, while I'm not posting excessive YouTube clips, obsessively checking Red Sox rumors, and committing petty thievery, I do, in fact, write plays. Yeah, EMWI's description isn't a complete lie. (The Patriot thing depends on your definition of that term, although I'm not really putting that down ironically either.)

And I found out today that my third full-length, For You, is going to be my second produced play, as part of the Manhattan Repertory Theatre's WinterFest. We've got three shows in a theater with, gasp, an actual working lightboard, February 7th, 8th, and 9th, otherwise known as that time of year when you'll have absolutely nothing better to do other than freezing your asses off. (And at the rate this "winter" is coming in, there'll be nothing but cold, cold February rain.) So yeah, that's the news. I'm too busy in a celebratory dance to "Rydeen" for the rest of the day to post anything more today.

"Small Axe" (Bob Marley and the Wailers, African Herbsman)

I love haikux. So small, so potentially sharp if you avoid bad Zen bullshit poetry. Then again, there's so much potential in the intentionally bad forms of 5-7-5.

So here's a few I spun up in seven minutes at Cafe Grumpy. (Home of the greatest espresso and cappuccino in the city, by the way.)

"For That Guy On Full Tilt Who Called With A 5-3 And Got A Lucky Gutshot"

Time passes slowly
Waiting, making little cash.
You are a douchebag.

"Yeungling"

Village Bar: Five bucks.
Corner Store: Buck twenty-five.
Right. I'll drink at home.

"Wild Irish Rose"

Comes now with ginseng.
Why? Buck-tooth lady passed out.
Wino, you don't learn.

"How To Ball On A Budget"

Comb thrift stores with care.
Eat two dollar Western plates.
Petty thievery.

"Daydreaming" (Kurtis Blow)

The Boston Media seems to have changed its tone entirely: now the J.D. Drew deal is a sign Manny Ramirez is to stay? I'll believe it when it manages to stick--could just as easily be a part of a ploy to get teams to up their antes on acquiring the future Hall Of Famer--but I'm getting more optimistic. Keep Manny indeed.

"A Dream Goes On Forever" (Todd Rundgren, Todd)

This line-up isn't sticking. We're trading the middle of it, and the SS will probably suck at defense. But let me imagine that the Boston Red Sox'll have this lineup intact, and Daisuke Matsuzaka at a reasonable price, and that the Yankees' pitching staff will suck as badly as it does now. Let me dream.

"He's A Friend" (Eddie Kendricks, He's A Friend)

The cover above, funny story, was actually nearly pulled by Motown for being a little too homoerotic for the execs. A tight handshake was too homoerotic! And the song "He's A Friend," which is attached below in the 12" form, was about Jesus! (Definitely one of my favorite songs about one of the many forms of God I don't believe in, by the way, up there with "Help Is On The Way" by the Whatnauts.)

Then again, one of the most masculine forms of giving dap, the high five, was invented by Glenn Burke, a former Oakland A who later came out. So, yes, men everywhere, you're all gay. Better stick to the wiggle non-touch handshake from Demolition Man.

Berry Gordy made a lot of near awful decisions in the late 1960s-70s though. One of which was nearly not releasing THIS record, believe it or not.

And then there were the 1980s, which brought you brilliant bad cinema, crack cocaine, and the near death of actual instruments. Sho nuff.

Eddie Kendricks- He's A Friend (long version)
The Whatnauts- Help Is On The Way