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The Red KrayolaFree Form Freakout
'I was interested in writing, I was interested in film. I was interested in all sorts of things. And we just looked around at what was going on in the arts, and writing continued to be dominated by the modernist, high-modernist school. And then there were the modernist offshoots, like Beckett. So there was an official avant-garde culture and there was a mainstream culture, and one didn’t fit in either place very well. And one wanted to make tokens or “things” without being so precious about it. So, without trying to make the most beautiful bloody painting that had ever been made, not to try to make the most romantic, gorgeous, heart-rending blah, blah, blah. Not to aspire to these ideals, but just to find out if there was anything to say in relation to these forms. And, if anything could be said with these forms, what could that possibly be? So music was an instrumentality that hadn’t been tried by us. Went to Europe in ’65. Came back and was convinced that the only thing for us to do was start a band because the most possibilities were there. So that’s how we started —with the idea that yes, music has got something to do with human spirit and all these [modes] of meaning. Quickly finding out that it doesn’t have much to do with that. That everything has got to do with that, and nothing has to do with that. The process of actually saying something that makes sense to somebody else is fairly complicated.'-- Mayo Thompson, Red Krayola
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Fever TreeUnlock My Door
'The self-titled debut album of this unfairly neglected psychedelic band is an odd mix of slick studio work laced with surprising moments of eclecticism, from soundtrack references to hard rock worthy of the best bands of the time. They open up with a pretty good piece of musical prestidigitation, melding Johann Sebastian Bach and Ennio Morricone into the album's first track, which segues neatly into a hard rock style that's their own on the spaced-out, Ravel-laced "Where Do You Go," which sounds like the Doors and the Jimi Hendrix Experience jamming together. They also roll over "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out," squeezed into a two-song medley, like a proto-metal steamroller while quoting "Norwegian Wood" and "Eleanor Rigby"; then switch gears into a beautifully elegant, gently orchestrated pop/rock rendition of Neil Young's "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" that's worth the price of admission by itself. The harder rocking numbers (especially "San Francisco Girls") are highly diverting artifacts of their time, while the last two songs, "Unlock My Door" and "Come with Me (Rainsong)," show off a totally unexpected and beautifully reflective folk-rock side to their sound that's strongly reminiscent of Phil Ochs' work on Pleasures of the Harbor and Tape from California. The variations in sound and content, plus the fact that the only keyboard player, Rob Landes, made any large contribution to the in-house songwriting (mostly the work of their producers, Scott & Vivian Holtzman), makes it difficult to pin down precisely what Fever Tree was about, beyond the evidence at hand; but taken on its own terms, the album ought to be better known than it is, which is probably also true of the band itself.'-- collaged
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HP LovecraftAt The Mountains Of Madness
'Featuring two strong singers (who often sang dual leads), hauntingly hazy arrangements, and imaginative songwriting that drew from pop and folk influences, H.P. Lovecraft was one of the better psychedelic groups of the late '60s. The band was formed by ex-folky George Edwards in Chicago in 1967. Edwards and keyboardist Dave Michaels, a classically trained singer with a four-octave range, handled the vocals, which echoed Jefferson Airplane's in their depth and blend of high and low parts. Their self-titled 1967 LP was an impressive debut, featuring strong originals and covers of early compositions by Randy Newman and Fred Neil, as well as one of the first underground FM radio favorites, "White Ship." The band moved to California the following year; their second and last album, H.P. Lovecraft II, was a much more sprawling and unfocused work, despite some strong moments. A spin-off group, Lovecraft, released a couple LPs in the '70s that bore little relation to the first incarnation of the band.'-- allmusic
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C.A. QuintetDr. of Philosophy
'The C.A. Quintet’s Trip Thru Hell is one of the most unique LPs from the 60s. It was a small indie pressing of under 500 from the Candy Floss label, making it a very rare 1968/1969 release. Originals will set you back a pretty penny (possibly over $1,000) but are worth it considering the CD version does not faithfully recreate the back side of the LP. Prior to this LP, the Minneapolis-based C.A. Quintet had released a few respectable, though restrained, garage rock singles. Then something tweaked in the mind of Ken Erwin, the mastermind behind the Quintet, and the band’s frat rock would become infused with a dark, weird edge. Trip came housed in a classic, striking jacket and was a truly original acid concept album chronicling the hells of earth. It’s an album that takes you into another world, another mind, and there are some deep, lysergic excursions to behold. The title track is a 9-minute instrumental with a prominent bass groove, angelic and eerie background vocals, shimmering organ, a suprisingly effective phased drum solo, and demented guitar distortions. The track may not sound as demonic as its title implies, but it was unlike anything recorded before or since, and certainly worth the trip. “Cold Spider” has Ken Erwin screaming his lungs out over some nice whacked out raga leads and Hendrix-style feedback. They bust out the brass for “Colorado,” “Sleepy Hollow Lane,” “Smooth As Silk,” “Trip Thru Hell (Part 2)” and “Underground Music,” which are dark oddities and compelling highlights.'-- The Rising Storm
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The Golden DawnStarvation
'The Golden Dawn are an American psychedelic rock band formed in Austin, Texas, in 1966. The band released one album, titled Power Plant, before breaking up soon after the album's release in 1968. The record company, the infamous International Artists label out of Houston, had made a decision that seems to have "shafted" the career of the vibrant Golden Dawn. This is what happened: a few months after the release of the 13th Floor Elevators'Psychedelic Sounds debut, the Dawn had finished Power Plant in mid-1967 and were ready to let it fly; but, by that time, the Elevators were beginning to record their second album, Easter Everywhere, which the record company management thought, for unknown reasons, should come out first, much to the dismay of George Kinney (voc, guitar), Tom Ramsey (lead guitar), Jimmy Bird (rhythm guitar), Bill Hallmark (bass), and Bobby Rector (drums)--collectively, The Golden Dawn. When Power Plant was finally released in 1968, it was largely panned as the work of an Elevators knock-off band and was unjustly snubbed in a way that was big enough to discourage the development of the band. Through the years, Power Plant climbed in "cult" status to the point where recognition of its music drew out George Kinney once again to reform the band in 2002 and perform live all over the States. The Golden Dawn has performed at Austin Psych Fest three times to date, in 2009, 2012 and 2014.'-- collaged
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The BaroquesI Will Not Touch You
'Enter The Baroques: yet another troupe of minor characters from the world of 60s psychedelia. A Milwaukee Wisconsin band, their garage/psych/blues reputation rested on a few accidents of their career. They were signed to Chess for their sole album in 1967, a blues label that needed a token act that would represent a more rock ‘n’ roll sound. A single of theirs, “Mary Jane,” got pegged as a drug song, and was banned. Nothing concrete was uttered to dispel the rumors at the time, allowing The Baroques to claim their place in the misappropriated archives of hazy psychedelia. The Baroques were harbingers not only of gloom itself but of gloomy musical movements to come. Those fuzz guitars are redolent of the innovations of lo-fi folk rockers of the 90s, whose stamp was felt in the sound, not necessarily the structure, of their songs. These were folk songs dipped in a tarry bloom, as if weathered by a less bucolic experience – updated from their origin, but not significantly altered. They were to folk as The Baroques were to 60s pop. Sixties bands were called a lot of wacky and unrepresentative things, so how could Chess have known that their first non-R&B act would dourly set out to do exactly what they had said on the tin and produce singular rock ‘n’ roll: neither fish nor fowl, neither foul, nor fair? The reason that The Baroques remain an interesting listen today is that they manage to bypass a dated sound with a good helping of ornery originality; a palpable curmudgeonliness that is difficult not to enjoy for its own sake.'-- Tiny Mix Tapes
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Eternity's ChildrenMrs. Bluebird
'Eternity's Children were the first production project for the team of Curt Boettcher and Keith Olsen, renowned both together and separately for their work with such artists as Tommy Roe, the Beach Boys, and Fleetwood Mac....the two were also of course members of the legendary Milennium, whose other members feature both as session-men and songwriters. Eternity's Children were also the first project taken on by Gary Paxton's Bakersfield studio, (better known as the birthplace of country-rock) giving the band the opportunity to work with the then-unknown Clarence White and Gene Parsons, mainstays of the latter-day Byrds lineups.… Despite a hit with "Mrs. Bluebird", record company politics caused their second album Timeless to remain unreleased (except briefly in Canada) ... which has resulted in many fans never even having seen it, never mind heard it, and added to its legendary reputation and astronomical asking price. There were two abortive attempts to start on a third album, with Boettcher and Olsen in LA, and with Chips Moman and Tommy Cogsbill at the famous American Studios in Memphis (at that time on a roll with Elvis, Dusty Springfield, and the Boxtops) before the band split.'-- Cherry Red
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The Troll Werewolf and Witchbreath
'An odd and disjointed psychedelic album and a product of the famous Dunwich Productions (see posts of Aorta, American Breed, Coven, H.P. Lovecraft etc.) from a Chicago area band that had formerly had some very minor success with garage rock and British Invasion. It doesn’t gell all that well- it sounds like it was put together rather haphazardly, and the music also seems like it comes from different eras. Some of the tracks have a Beatles/ early Bee Gees flavor, others are in a hard rock vein. The best song is a cut named” Werewolf and Witchbreath, almost a cross between The Stooges, Black Sabbath around the time of their debut record, and early Fleetwood Mac at their loudest- indeed, almost like the three bands had got together and recorded a hard blues/ psychedelic/ heavy metal/ proto- punk theme for a horror flick. The Troll were popular in their immediate area, but failed to make much of an impression elsewhere. The drummer later became Jim Croce’s business manager, and also died in the 1973 plane crash that killed Croce.'-- Red Telephone 66
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The CollectorsHoward Christman's Older
'The Collectors made just two albums in the late 1960s, but those records saw the band cover quite a bit of unusual territory, even by the standards of outfits identified with the psychedelic age. Mixing a good deal of classical influence into the melodies and vocal harmonies, as well as enjoying a considerable bent for improvisation, the group were among many breaking down barriers between rock and other styles that had previously been seldom heard within rock music. On their self-titled 1968 debut album, that would culminate in one of the longest tracks ever placed on a rock LP up to that point, though the side-long "What Love (Suite)" was preceded by a handful of shorter songs that put their swirl of diverse sounds into more compact formats. Enigmatic psychedelic weirdness was supplied by "Howard Christman's Older," though that wasn't nearly as far-out as the 19-minute "What Love (Suite)." The latter cut took up all of side two, at a time when that had rarely been done on a rock LP, navigating passages from serene near-jazz to all-out frenzied freakout.'-- collaged
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The Lollipop ShoppeUnderground Railroad
'So Las Vegas band, The Weeds, got some guy to manage them who thought that they might be more appealing to the younger bubblegum-set, ala 1910 Fruitgum Company and the like, so he got them to change their name to The Lollipop Shoppe in the hopes of cashing in on the craze. Didn’t really work because this band and album will fade into deep obscurity for years, albeit one single track on a Nuggets comp alongside a million other aspiring Stones/Yardbirds wannabes. It’s not even bubblegum in the slightest. Shame really, as I can only imagine (actually, I can’t) what would have become of Fred Cole had reached fame and fourtune as a young man in his early twenties, or at least a well-known ‘one-hit-wonder’ status via 1910 Fruitgum Co. Would he have still met future wife of 42 years, Toody? Would he have still ventured into punk rock with his excellent band, The Rats? Would the institution known as Dead Moon have happened? Who can say. This album has certainly gained a well deserved legendary status in recent years thanks in no small part to Fred’s endurance and ever-growing popularity, but also in part due to the fact that it’s a pretty great album in and of itself. It sounds a lot like Dead Moon in places and a few songs like “You Must Be A Witch” and “Don’t Look Back”, would actually be re-recorded by Dead Moon. Great fuzzy bass playing and the songs are actually somewhat unique in a garage-y, folk- psych kind of way.'-- Red Telephone 66
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FriendsoundLost Angel Proper St.
'Upon leaving Paul Revere & The Raiders, Drake Levin, Phil Volk & Michael Smith formed Brotherhood who released two albums for RCA. In between those two releases, the trio teamed up with a few session musicians as Friendsound, releasing Joyride. A wild batch of instrumental psychedelia — with plenty of avant garde touches thrown in! This is the sort of record that always restores our faith in major labels — and it makes us realize that no matter how many Elvis Presley albums RCA was selling in the 60s, there was also room to put out odd little record like this one. It’s kind of like the band and the engineers took a bucketful of drugs — so many that they got really mellow and dark — then went into the studio to cut a tripped-out album of instrumentals. The whole thing comes across with the same “anything goes” spirit of the NY 60s underground film scene — but with none of the silliness of bands like The Fugs.'-- Red Telephone 66
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The Tiffany ShadeAn Older Man
'Details about the Tiffany Shade recording sessions are sketchy, but member Mike Barnes recollections about the recording sessions were “we were pretty excited. We just had no experience with that sort of thing. We had heard things but never had any experience. We were really babes in the woods. It was a terrific experience looking back on it. It was really a hell of lot fun, we loved the idea of being able to overdub even though we didn’t get to do too much of that, it was still fun. That was pretty high tech in those days, being able to lay down a couple of tracks with your voice. If we’d of had a couple more months to do it could have been one hell of an album.” Robb Murphy felt as though he and the band were “duped into thinking that they would have creative control of the album.” They did not. “On the first day of recording Mike laid down rough or scratch vocals. We figured we would re-do the vocals at a later time. When we showed up on the second day to re-do the vocals they wouldn’t let us. They went with the first takes of the rough vocals. That really soured us on the whole experience. We really could have done a great album if only we were given some time to create and work on it. That is why we ended up setting our copies of the record on fire and throwing them into the air like burning UFO’s. We melted the records and used them for ashtrays.”'-- The Tiffany Shade
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SRC Daystar
'Detroit band SRC had their own distinct sound and unique vision- heavy psychedelic rock mixed with hard rock overtones with Quackenbush's lead guitar style really contributing to their overall sonics. Quackenbush's technique was incredible, especially the way he used feedback and incorporated it into searing solos that are so expressive and can range from melodic to chaotic in a matter of seconds in the same song. This made the band stand out, although the other band members shouldn't be underestimated since it's when they all got together that the songs took form. Their music is the kind you get lost in, you forget yourself and your surroundings just melt away. Their sound reflected influences like Cream, The Pretty Things, The Who and The Yardbirds and other British bands. They mixed that influence with the sound of peers from the local music scene (the Stooges,MC5 and the Amboy Dukes) to come up with something very unique and creative. SRC's self-titled debut record (1968) is a classic of first rate psychedelic music and should be put alongside other classic from that era. The album is filled with great melodies and harmonies, outbreaks of raw noise and incredible ripping guitar solos that make you stretch your head back in amazement. The guitar sounds like it has a personality of its own throughout the record.'-- Perfect Sound Forever
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The Blue ThingsThe Orange Rooftop Of Your Mind
'While Kansas psychedelic band The Blue Things' late-1966 single "Orange Rooftop of Your Mind" was not a hit, and has remained obscure to almost all listeners aside from collectors, it was one of the most innovative early psychedelic rock singles. Prior to this single, the Blue Things had (over the course of one album and a few 45s) been a folk-rock group. As an acoustic demo of the song titled "The Coney Island of Your Mind" (released on the 1987 compilation The Bluethings Story Vol. 3) reveals, it did actually start out as a folky song of sorts. By the time it was recorded, however, it had been transformed into a psychedelic tour de force. The song is introduced by grinding, ominous fuzz riffs, before going into a verse with martial beats and Asiatic violin-like squalls from the guitar. Weirdest of all, by the standards of late 1966, is the mind-spinning lyrical confusion of the lyrics, which bassist Richard Scott summarized as follows in the group's fan booklet: "It is about a girl caught up in the rat race of today, she is trying to be like and do like everyone else and can't take the pressure so her mind is slowly snapping." The group pulled out all the stops for the unearthly instrumental break, in which the harem-on-acid organ was played by session man Ray Stevens while the group sang-moaned wordlessly in similarly raga-influenced fashion. A downwards scrape of the guitar was followed by a simulated nuclear explosion, moving seamlessly into the final verse. If there's any flaw to "Orange Rooftop of Your Mind," it's that the fadeout is too long and repetitive, though there are some interesting guitar squiggles toward the end. It's actually a catchy song too, but probably too complex and lyrically obscure to have stood a chance of becoming a hit single when it was originally released.'-- allmusic
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13th Floor Elevators Earthquake
'Released in November 1967, Easter Everywhere remains to this day an astonishing achievement. Most Elevators fans regard it their masterpiece, and Tommy Hall has referred to it as "our special purpose". The unique soundscape from the first LP has been broadened and elements of folk, Indian music and west coast acidrock have been added. The new rhythm section, featuring bass player Dan Galindo and drummer Danny Thomas, bring a loose, jazz-flavored groove to the tracks. The result is a rich, eclectic tapestry of psychedelia held together by Roky Erickson's intense vocals reciting Tommy Hall's lyrics. Some say the musical sounds remind them of listening to a Mexican tambora on many Cancun vacations. Chugging along on top of a raga-influenced guitar riff invented by Roky Erickson, the music is pushed through a series of metamorphoses by Thomas' recurring hi hat-kicks and Galindo's insistent bass lines. Halfway through the song Stacy Sutherland enters with a beautiful, lyric guitar solo. The song's complex, asymmetric structure (AABACDAABAABCDA) seems to be patterned on Bob Dylan's epic "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)", where long skillfully rhymed verses are interspersed with shorter refrain-like passages. The ending of each verse with a recurring phrase -- the song title -- is reckognizable from Dylan's "Gates Of Eden" and "Desolation Row", or indeed any number of songs from the folk tradition. The structural influence aside, Tommy Hall's lyrics owe little to Dylan in terms of content and imagery. The whole attitude is different from Dylan's surreal street-poetry which mixes high and low in a tradition of Whitman-Williams-Ginsberg, throwing in a bit of amphetamine-driven namedropping and wordplay as well. Hall's poetry is solemn, visionary and controlled. Examing the Anglo-Saxon literary tradition, it is in fact hard to pin down Hall's sources of inspiration. One has to reach far back, beyond modernism and symbolism to the Romantics and Victorians. It is here, in the final incarnations of poetical Classicism.'-- Patrick Lundborg
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p.s. Hey. So, here's the blog's immediate future. I go to Halle, Germany today to work on Gisele Vienne's and my new theater piece. I'll be there through Saturday, and you'll get rerun posts and no p.s.es other than brief, pre-set hellos and post intros during that time. Then I go to Berlin, and I will be there doing the post-production on Zac's and my film for at least a week and probably longer, I'm not sure yet. During that time, you'll get a couple of new posts, but mostly reruns. As I said the other day, I think it's possible that I will be able to do the p.s. while I'm there, although maybe not every day, and I won't know how that's going to work until I actually get to Berlin and learn the hours/ schedule of the post-production work. So, on Monday the 23rd, I'll either be back here live with a p.s. or with news concerning how the blog will be functioning while I'm there. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Super interesting about the Sondheim/Bunuel mash-up theater work. Sounds promising, obviously. I read that about Richard Glatzer. That's very sad news, and I don't what the best case scenario is, but I hope for it. ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T. Yes, Germany here I come. Wow, CP working with Xiu Xiu is a fascinating idea. That's really very cool. Thanks a bunch about 'ZHH', man. Coming from a fellow and great gif auteur, that means a lot. Kiddiepunk is in Paris right now, as you no doubt know, and he said he's be meeting up with you. Very nice. Have a good one and good series of ones! ** Steevee, Hi! ** INVERT ME, Hi. Okay, interesting, obviously. Lots of questions arise, and I'm in a rush to catch a plane, but here are a couple. First, 'fucked up', what does that mean? I use those words all the time in casual conversation as a placeholder that signals something but is intentionally vague, but if you're using 'fucked up' relative to something as serious as self-annihilation, I don't know what you mean. And I don't believe in generalizations, so when you say you and most of your friends are 'fucked up', I don't what to do with that since I think each person's 'fucked-up-ness' is unique. Second, if the motivation for becoming girls is self-annihilation as you said, why girl? Why not, I don't know, a monster or a inanimate object or some new being created to perfectly match your reasons for making the change. It seems like if you're all choosing to become women, there must be something else and probably a bunch of something elses going on in addition to 'self-annhihilation', which seems like it must be just the most dramatic reason among many. Those are my in-a-rush thoughts. ** Kier, Hi! I do that with Kier too. I mean I turn kier into a syllable and then try to think of clever attachments, but, for some reason, maybe kier is so strong in and of itself that it doesn't need a costume or something? Another great day you had. Poor Blakkå! So, you found the ammo you needed? Well, obviously, since you finished RE4. Wow, I feel like it took me months to finish that game. You're good. Monday: First I met a journalist from the French newspaper Liberation at a cafe, and he interviewed me about 'Zac's Haunted House' He was very smart and cool, so it was really pleasurable. I guess it's going to run this coming weekend. Then I met up with Kiddiepunk, and we wandered around, had a Mexican lunch, tried to go to a bookstore, but it was closed, and stuff. Then I came home and worked and did my laundry and started packing for a while. Then we met up with Zac, who had just Fed Ex-ed a hard drive with our film on it to Berlin. A major new problem has appeared because we were suddenly informed yesterday that the guy who's supposed to do the post-production with us works in Final Cut Pro 7, and the film was made in Final Cut Pro 10, and there is no compatibility between the two generations of FCP. So he's either going to have to do it in FCP 10, and we have no idea if he'll be willing to do that, or we're going to have to find someone else to work with, and this could be a huge problem, and this last minute crisis is typical of what an ongoing messy experience we've had with the higher ups in Berlin, ugh. Anyway, we had dinner and talked about the film and other stuff, and then we parted ways. I did a little more work and prep stuff and crashed. So, I would be happy to hear about your next days, very happy. Even though I won't be doing the p.s. until at least Monday, I'll be reading the comments. Long story short, how was today and tomorrow and ... ? ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Thanks about the interview with Blake. Mm, the producers' little flash of seeming support will remain very suspicious until we get to Berlin and talk to them in person. They ambushed us once before, and we are very, very wary of them for now. The few people we've showed the film too have been extremely enthusiastic, so, yeah, we're feeling quite happy and confident. Man, sure hope your life stops being conspiratorial, obviously. No, I don't think I've ever had a Jess post here, but it's a very good idea. I read some Mary Butts back in the 1980s because Ashbury and other writers I respect were very high on her work. I remember finding it very curious and unique and quite excellent. Yeah, I would like to reinvestigate her. Are you reading her? ** Schlix, Hi, Uli! Thanks a lot. Yeah, I think the Halle portion of the trip should go very well. The Berlin portion's success or lack thereof is very up in the air at the moment. Take care! ** Sypha, That's true. ** Misanthrope, Hi, G. I saw the pix. Yeah, I remember him from the videos. Interesting choice on your part. Okay, I won't do an envy number re: your possible snowfall. I won't. I didn't. I'm proud of myself. ** Cal Graves, Hey! Thank you a billion for turning my blog into your spread! Oh, see, yeah, I don't know opera at all. I thought they were always, like, 8 hours long or something. Cool that they were good. If you want to pass along the titles, I'll google them. Gotcha on the fucked. Yeah, can you pretend to up your game convincingly or something? I can keep the finger? Awesome! I can already think of all kinds of things to do with it! A missing chapter, ooh, exciting! Everyone, Cal Graves made an extra chapter to his DINNER masterpiece yesterday that didn't make the cut, but you can go see it and get the full-on Director's Cut experience of DINNER by clicking this and ending up somewhere cooler. It looks great! My perfect Paris meal or anywhere meal: A huge bowl of cold sesame noodle, Szechwan style. A bottomless bowl of split pea soup. A big loaf of olive bread with lots of olives in it. A tall glass of iced tea. Sigh. Your perfect meal, if you don't mind? Have swell next few days, pal! Prayerfully yours, Dennis ** Okay. I leave you with the third and probably last 60s psychedelic music gig, this one covering the area between the USA's coasts. Enjoy, I hope. The blog will see you tomorrow as usual, and I will hopefully be back to start talking with you again and catching up with the accumulated comments come Monday the 23rd, fingers crossed. Take care, and have fun!