We Saw a Chicken …

Category: goatee-stroking musing, or something

  • I’m not so sure

    I got the feeling that quite a few people at the Daniel Johnston gig last night weren’t there for the music, but were just there to see what he’d do.

    I quite like his music (I was more there to hear McCa) and I’m glad he’s making a living from it, but he’s clearly not doing too well on stage. Random playing, forgetting the words or tune, massive tremor while he was singing, complaining of being tired — he’s not well. I felt particularly sorry for him when his keyboard mic kept slipping lower and lower, and he had to hunch down to sing into it; no stage crew came out to help him.

    I had to leave early. Too many of the crowd were there to laugh at him, I felt.

  • mystery profile

    On a windowsill towards the rear of TTC streetcar #4106, there is a paint chip in exactly the profile of Afrika Bambaataa circa ‘Planet Rock’. You may begin to worship …

  • my favourite sign slogan

    slippery trip hazard

    Sign at Riverdale Library: Slippery trip hazard.

  • no wonder it didn’t drain

    Witness this opened-up downpipe I hacked out the weekend:

    downpipe

     That’s a solid plug of roots that had grown about 20cm up. There was also no discernible drain at the bottom of the pipe, so it was basically just dumping into the flowerbed.

  • strange seminar thoughts

    Questions at this seminar are being taken on index cards. I’m just waiting for a moderator to say: “… and our next question is – a very nice little drawing of a cat” (holds up card, delegates go awww).

  • it’s a beautiful sunny day …

    … And I have no Polyphonic Spree on my player, alas.

  • captcha that would’ve been quite trendy in the 80s

    croufraj - the new sense of now

  • Aye, but ah kent yir faither …

    Craig Ferguson’s Between the Bridge & the River is better than I expected. It’s a long way from live at the Tron, eh?

  • happy easter, with apologies to Irving Berlin

    In Your Easter Vomit
    by Peter Stampfel & Antonia, circa 1970s

    in your easter vomit with all the flies upon it
    you’ll be the drunkest wino in the easter parade
    you’ll be all hung over and when they roll you over
    you’ll be the rankest wino in the easter parade

    on the avenue tenth avenue the
    photographer will snap us and he’ll say that
    you’re like a pile of manure

    fifty pounds of comet
    could not remove the vomit
    and all the flies you’re wearing
    to the easter parade

    Happy Easter … and remember, don’t eat the little “eggs” the bunny leaves on the lawn.

  • yum

    grill sign from freshwood

    I think that the Freshwood Grill (293 Roncesvalles – freshwoodgrill.com) could just be my new favourite restaurant.

  • dove on the line

    A mourning dove sits on the CN rail. It watches me. I watch it. We have an understanding.

  • a poem I’ve been trying to memorize for years

    When tiger-men sat their mercurial coursers,
    Hauled into shuddering arches the proud fibre
    Of head and throat, sank spurs, and trod on air—
        I was not there. …

    When clamorous centaurs thundered to the rain-pools,
    Shattered with their fierce hooves the silent mirrors,
    When glittering drops clung to their beards and hair—
        I was not there. …

    When through a blood-dark dawn a man with antlers
    Cried, and throughout the day the echoes suffered
    His agony and died in evening air—
        I was not there. …

     â€” Mervyn Peake

  • syndactyls, revolt!

    I used to be devoted to Vibram soles on my boots, but now I’m not so sure. Vibram fivefingers are an affront to my people, the syndactyls.

  • that would be wonderful

    In my Ephemera gallery, I have this image:

    World Full of Weirdos

    I scanned it years ago from the magazine Strange Things Are Happening, which was a short-lived publication from Phil Smee’s insanely great Bam Caruso record label. It was attached to an article about early SoCal punks The Weirdos. It never actually said if it was one of their flyers or posters.

    Since Francky, Ellen and Linda want a better quality version of it, there’s the 300 dpi PNG linked above, plus a couple of vectorized versions I produced: World Full of Weirdos (PDF), World Full of Weirdos (EPS).

  • Ephemera

    Ephemera – images I’ve found along the way. Some are copyright, some offensive, but for some reason, I kept ’em.

  • acned, yet inscrutable

    acned yet inscrutable

    (it’s actually the USB connector from my Kingmax Super Stick …)

  • my half-baked idea

    Smart Microwave: Microwave turntable remembers start position, and either adjusts rotation speed so it ends up where it started, or continues turning after the cooking stops, so it ends up where it started.

    Anyone who’s ever reheated a beverage, and pawed frantically at the superheated vessel to try and get the handle in a reachable position – this one’s for you.

  • go jump over the fire!

    Happy Norooz!

    Norooz, Persian New Year
    Year of 2566 (1386)

    In harmony with rebirth of nature, the Persian New Year Celebration, or Norooz, always begins on the first day of spring, March 20th of each year. Norooz ceremonies are symbolic representations of two ancient concepts – the End and Rebirth. About 3000 years ago Persian’s major religion was Zoroastrianism, named in honor of its founder Zoroaster, and arguably the world’s first monotheistic religion. Zoroastrians had a festival called “Farvardgan” which lasted ten days, and took place at the end of the solar year. It appears that this was a festival of sorrow and mourning , signifying the end of life while the festival of Norooz, at the beginning of spring signified rebirth, and was a time of great joy and celebration. Norooz was officially acknowledged and named “Norooz” by mythical Persian emperor, Shah Jamshid, from Achaemenid Dynasty (500 BC). Ashaemenied created the first major empire in the region and built Persepolis complex (Takhte Jamshid) in the city of Shiraz. Norooz in Persian means “New Day” and brings hope, peace and prosperity to the world and has been celebrated among people regardless of ethnic background, political views or religion in many countries around the globe such as Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Georgia, Iraq, Tajikistan, Syria, Armenia and India. Some of the activities during Norooz are Spring cleaning, buying new clothes, painting eggs, family reunion, giving presents, visiting neighbors and friends and celebrating by having a picnic on the 13th day of Spring. Happy Norooz!

    (more…)

  • for a reason

    I walked past a store in the PATH that advertised “Hard To Find Fragrances”. I’m guessing they stock such classics as Mulch de Chanel, Calvin Klein GOAT, and Balmain’s Haleine d’Ail.

  • not even enough for a haiku

    A single swan on the Don