I DailyLove® A Mellie Mel Chill

"I'd love to be with you, and the sun will rise, the sun will rise."

Cool, blue heaven.
Penobscot Bay, Maine
July 2010

•••

As the ferry made its way across the bay, a cool ocean breeze reminded us why we should have stayed put. Thick blue haze on the horizon warned us before we touched down but, who listens to anything any more?

(The title of this post — along with the musical selections — came with me across the Bay, 'The Velvet Fog' laying down his swingin' 1968 version of 'Sunshine Superman' as only Mellie Mel could do. The super-hip vocal styling gave me a chill — like someone walking over my grave (but, in a nice, cool, friendly way) — as I tried to remember if the people I knew back then (Yes, of course I was alive WAY BACK THEN) really talked like that. They probably didn't but, I probably didn't know anybody hip to laying down that righteous jive.)

Damn, it's hotter than H-E-Double Effin' Dogs on the mainland!


•••

Sunshine Superman
(Buy: Donovan: Sunshine Superman)

Sunshine Superman
(Buy: Rickie Lee Jones: Duchess of Coolsville: An Anthology)

Sunshine Superman
(Buy: Big Jim Sullivan: Sitar Beat)

Sunshine Superman
(Buy: Enoch Light: Enoch Light's Action: It's Happening...So Let's Dance!)

Sunshine Superman
(Buy: Mel Torme: Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head)

And, just because I needed a (cooler) little bit of the Super Rainbow to get me through this 'happening', well, here it is.

Sun Lips
(Buy: Black Moth Super Rainbow: Dandelion Gum)

Hello Darlin', Nice To See You

I'm ready for my close-up.

•••

Man, they should take these things (blogs and, the privilege to) away from you if you go a whole year and just slap up one half-arsed post.

But, they don't so, what I'm tryin' to say is ...

Hello darlin' nice to see you it's been a long time
You're just as lovely as you used to be
How's your new love are you happy hope you're doing fine
Just to know it means so much to me
What's that darlin' how'm I doing guess I'm doing all right
Except I can't sleep and I cry all night till dawn
What I'm trying to say is I love you and I miss you
And I'm so sorry that I did you wrong.

Hey, look kids, I'm back to it! (Well, maybe until next year or, maybe this year I'll surprise both you and myself, and stay on top of this thing.) Don't get all wet, however, I did just say, "Maybe."

See ya' real soon! (Or, not.)

Photography : Sally Dennison (via)

•••

Hello Darlin'
(Buy: George Jones: High Tech Redneck)

Hello Darlin'
(Buy: Conway Twitty: The Very Best of Conway Twitty)

Two For My Baby

Huang Yan (not my baby)
Swimming with the fishes. (Okay, okay, Mammals!)
2007

•••

But, only one to which my baby will dance.

(Can you guess which one?)

•••

Baby Beluga
(Buy: Raffi: Baby Beluga)

Punky Reggae Party
(Buy: Bob Marley & The Wailers: Exodus [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED])

George Carlin, R.I.P. (Or, Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, CockSucker, MotherFucker, and Tits)

July 21, 1972, a little after the show at Summerfest.

•••

George Carlin
May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008

Filthy Words

"On JUL 21 1972 the above subject was on a stage at the Summerfest and during the performance he used words as Fucker, Mother Fucker, Cocksucker said in the presence of a Large audience of adults and Children. Several complaints from citizens were received." — from police report and arrest record of George Carlin, July 21, 1972.

Why We Don't Need 10 Commandments

My Dad loved George Carlin. He had FM & AM, Class Clown, and Toledo Windowbox and played them all, often (along with Stan Getz, Kai Winding, Glenn Miller, J. J. Johnson, Sergio Mendes, and a ton of other great albums) on the living room hifi, as the whole family sat around laughing and giggling (or, in the case of the music, clearing out furniture and dancing). Of course, I don't think that my brothers and sister (as well as myself) knew half of what we were laughing at, but to see Mom and Dad laughing on the verge of tears was all we needed to know (and, by my Mom's teaching, the Jitterbug).

American Bullshit

"This is a little prayer dedicated to the separation of church and state. I guess if they are going to force those kids to pray in schools they might as well have a nice prayer like this: Our Father who art in heaven, and to the republic for which it stands, thy kingdom come, one nation indivisible as in heaven, give us this day as we forgive those who so proudly we hail. Crown thy good into temptation but deliver us from the twilight's last gleaming. Amen and Awomen. "

•••

(So, how's that for a return to posting? Maybe I'll clean it up next time, but the way I'm feeling these days, maybe not.)

Show Me The Way

I DailyLove® this car.

El Camino
Makin' the Scene
1964

•••

El Camino, El El Camino,
El Camino, El El Camino.

It's handsome like a car,
and it works just like a truck.

The front is where you drive,
and the back is where you ...

El Camino, El El Camino,
El Camino, El El Camino.

(With props to Cookie Palmer.)

•••

Show Me The Way
(Buy: Peter Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive!)

I'm In Love With My Car
(Buy: Queen: A Night At The Opera)

Jesus Built My Hotrod
(Buy: Ministry: Psalm 69: The Way To Succeed And The Way To Suck Eggs)

And, even though it's not an El Camino tune, it rocks the car theme perfectly for me. I hope for you too.

Brand New Cadillac
(Buy: Clash: London Calling)

Am I Blue?

"The most beautiful skies as a matter of fact."

Morning Clouds
The Rock
April 18, 2008

•••

Well, yes I am. As a matter of fact, I'm sky blue!

I have no excuses (other than blue skies and beautiful weather) why I haven't written for the last 3 weeks.

So, without further ado, I owe you a picture (above) and some music (below). And, a (false) promise that I'll try to be more diligent in posting.

Enjoy everything! (And get outside! These computer screens are no good for you!)

•••

I'm Blue
(Buy: The 5,6,7,8's: Teenage Mojo Workout)

Sky Blue
(Buy: Death By Chocolate: Death By Chocolate)

Mr. Blue Sky
(Buy: Electric Light Orchestra: Out Of The Blue)

Blue Monday
(Buy: Nouvelle Vague: Bande A Part)

Little Fluffy Clouds
(Buy: The Orb: Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld)

Mr. E's Beautiful Blues
(Buy: Eels: Daisies Of The Galaxy)

And, just because I seem to have these last two songs in my head today, they're yours, also. And, yes, "Blue Skies" would have been an obvious post-up today as well, but, I just don't dig that one as much as these.

Revival
Little Martha
(Buy: The Allman Brothers Band: A Decade of Hits, 1969-1979)

Charlton Heston, R.I.P.

A real straight-shooter (although, a little to the right in my humble opinion).

Charlton Heston, 1924-2008
Prideful, independent and valorific.
He was the N.R.A.

•••

We can only wonder who will step it up as our next celebrity spokesperson for the right to carry our homeland semi-automatic .50 caliber BMG's.

Now, will somebody please pry that thing "from his cold, dead hands!"

•••

Happiness Is A Warm Gun
(Buy: Beatles: The Beatles [White Album])

That's When I Reach For My Revolver
(Buy: Mission Of Burma: The Horrible Truth About Burma)

In Our Gun
(Buy: Gomez: In Our Gun)

And, a little step outside our 'Pictures Only' format, to bring you a little video ditty made most popular and, now hard to find, by Old Charlie. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, The Four Kinsmen.

Voulez Vous Le Sacre du Printemps?

The Rites (and, Wrongs) Of Spring

Spring Snow Angel
The Rock
March 28, 2008

•••

"Voulez-vous (ah-ha)
Take it now or leave it (ah-ha)
Now is all we get (ah-ha)
Nothing promised, no regrets."

•••

Voulez Vous (1979 Extended Promo)
(Buy: ABBA : Voulez Vous)

And, just a reminder.

Don't Eat The Yellow Snow
(Buy: Frank Zappa : Apostrophe ('))

Head In The Clouds, Feet On The (Upper Deck Of A Ferry In The Middle Of The Bay, Surrounded At Some Point By, Solid) Ground

L'Elephant. At least that's what I saw.

L'Elephant
The ferry ride home.
March 26, 2008

•••

THE ELEPHANT
(translation into English)

The elephant and the hippopotamus
Disguised themselves as men.
They walked to the beautiful village,
Walked, walked, walked, walked

On the path, they met
The children of men
And women, who were running,
Running, running, running, running

As they ran, the women were crying,
Crying fat tears.
Large drops, big fat tears, were
Falling, falling, falling, falling

The elephant and the hippopotamus
Wanted to know what was the matter,
Wanted to know the reason they were
Crying, crying, crying, crying.

A terrified child
Stopped to speak with them.
His mouth opened, but he remained
Mute, mute, mute, mute.

"Take off your foolish/beastly costumes,"
Sang to them the birds.
Pipits, screech owls, and owls were
Singing, singing, singing, singing:

"It is war, the war of men.
They have quarreled among themselves.
All around, they want to kill,
Kill, kill, kill, kill"

Kill, kill, kill, kill
Kill, kill, kill, kill
Kill, kill, kill, kill
Kill, kill, kill, kill

•••

L'Elephant
(Buy: Tom Tom Club : Tom Tom Club)

And, here are a few other gems for the Pachydermata amongst you, before I forget.

Nellie The Elephant
(Buy: The Toy Dolls : Dig That Groove Baby)

Elephant Man
(Buy: Bo Diddley : The Story of Bo Diddley)

Baby Elephant Walk
(Buy: Henry Mancini and his Orchestra : The Pink Panther & Other Hits)

How Does the Brain Wave?
(Buy: Baby Elephant : Turn My Teeth Up!)

Effervescing Elephant
(Buy: Syd Barrett : Wouldn't You Miss Me? : The Best Of Syd Barrett)

Elephant Love Medley
(Buy: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor & Jamie Allen : Moulin Rouge : Original Soundtrack)

Temple Music
Thung Kwian Sunrise
(Buy: Thai Elephant Orchestra : Thai Elephant Orchestra)

What's Up, Doxie? (Or, A Little Dachshund DailyLove®)

"Lump, he’s not a dog, he’s not a little man, he’s somebody else."
— Pablo Picasso

Picasso and Lump
Cover photograph from "Picasso & Lump: A Dachshund's Odyssey"
Photography : David Douglas Duncan

•••

"One spring morning in 1957, veteran photojournalist David Douglas Duncan paid a visit to his friend and frequent photographic subject Pablo Picasso, at the artist's villa near Cannes.

Traveling with Duncan was his pet dachshund, Lump. The photographers nomadic lifestyle and his other dog a giant Afghan hound had never suited the jealous and temperamental Lump. (What?! A jealous and temperamental dachshund?!) So when they arrived at Picasso's Villa La Californie that spring day, Lump decided that he had found his paradise on earth, and that he would take up permanent residence with Picasso."

Excerpt from Editors description of "Picasso & Lump: A Dachshund's Odyssey" by David Douglas Duncan

•••

Happy Dog (For Caggy)
(Buy: Blondie: No Exit)

Happy Loving Couples
(Buy: Joe Jackson: Look Sharp!)

You're My Best Friend
(Buy: Queen: A Night At The Opera)

Happy Together
(Buy: The Turtles: Happy Together)

Where's The Sunshine?

"What say we promenade through the yard, Mushi?" (Amazingly, this is the same little man that will do anything he can to stay out of the rain.)


Marcel Duchamp
Skin Hill, The Rock
February 2008

•••

Marcel loves the snow.

Heading out for his morning rituals, he plows through the snow — chest-deep (as well as everything else that hangs down below), head down, snorting loudly — on the trail of who knows what. Leaps and bounds, trying to get the jump on whatever he smells.

"Where's the sunshine? When is this weather going to end? Enough already!" people gripe — when we finally see them. But we won't be seeing them for a while. (It's only 4:30 — the crack of arse.) So, we enjoy the weather.

Marcel loves the snow. And, so do I.

•••

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
Fun In The Sun
Splashin'
(Buy: Maceo Parker : Southern Exposure)

Where's The Music?

Morning Gulls
Carver's Harbor, The Rock
February 2008

•••

Hey, I found it!

(Yeah, it's been a while.)

So, here it is.

TOMORROW: Where's The Sunshine?

•••

Where's The Music?
(Buy: Medeski Martin and Wood : Let's Go Everywhere)

Greetings From Sunny Vinylhaven!

If I had a band, it would be a Manly (Iowa) band. What would your band be? Check it out below.

Manly, Iowa
The Sun Is Shining
2008

•••

I've got vinyl. Lots of it. And very little room to store it.

I've been lugging around my collection of vinyl from house to house, state to state, and decade to decade for, well, decades. I can't get rid of it. And, why should I? (Well, aside from the storage issue.) The thought of buying their Cd replacements would be cost prohibitive, and the mere memory value alone has prevented me from leaving them behind instead of packing them onto the moving truck yet once again. Just what is a vinyl addict to do?

G, having put up with these 'beats of burden' for the last four relocations, finally took action. This past month she purchased one of those turntable-to-computer wonders that allows me to turn all of my scratchy musical memories into scratchy digital mp3's. Now, every other night or so, I hook up this mother of musical invention to my laptop and, "Hey, G! Listen to this! I loved this album!" And, DJ Mushi Mush is on the needle, slowly, but surely, digitizing the old into the new.

I'll post more as they come.

•••

Oh, and you want to find out What's Your Band?

1. The first article title on the Wikipedia Random Articles page is your band name.

2. The last four words of the very last quotation on the Random Quotations page is the title of your album.

3. The third picture in Flickr’s Interesting Photos From The Last 7 Days is your album cover.

4. Throw it all together in the graphic program of your choice, and ...

5. Show your friends your new album cover because, You Rock!

•••

Now, enjoy some scratchy music!

•••

Wild Tales
(Buy: Graham Nash: Wild Tales)

Don't Be Sad 'Cause Your Sun Is Down
(Buy: James Taylor: In The Pocket)

Here Comes Sunshine
(Buy: Grateful Dead: Wake Of The Flood)

Any Way The Wind Blows
(Buy: The Mothers Of Invention: Freak Out!)

Johannesburg
(Buy: Gil Scott-Heron : Brian Jackson: From South Africa to South Carolina)

Bob John Roberts Edwards 2008

When worlds collide.

Bob Roberts
John Edwards
Washington, D.C.
Hopefully, Never.

•••

Am I the only one that finds this a little coincidentally freaky?

•••

Get UR Freak On
(Buy: Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra: Hits The Hits)

Tonight We're Going To Party Like It's Nineteen-Mushi-Nine

Judy, Betty, (my best friend) Mike, Mushi (at head of table with that cocky,'Hey, It's My Birthday' cake-eatin' slouch), (my other best friend) Mike (Hey, all my best friends are called Mike. It just easier that way.), Carol, and Francis. (Sushi, and 6 or 8 others are at the other end of the table.)

Mushi and Sushi's Basement Birthday Party
New Jersey
1965

•••

"Youth has no age." - Pablo Picasso

And I thought I just liked Pablo because he could paint a good picture.

•••

Born To Be Wild
(Buy: Steppenwolf: Steppenwolf)

Born To Be Alive (Extended Dance Mix)
(Buy: Patrick Hernandez: Super Born to Be Alive)

Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
(Buy: Talking Heads: Remain In Light)

Birthday
(Buy: The Sugarcubes: Life's Too Good)

Mr. Peanut Gets A Bit Older

But, none the less feistier.

A Goober and a Tuber in an Exchange of Fisticuffs
Acrylic on Canvas, 24 " x 30", 1998
Todd Schorr

•••

'Little' brother 'Nut just celebrated a birthday. He is no longer the size of his childhood given nickname (he has children that have now taken over that status), but he still lives it (Whatever!? I don't even know what I think I mean by that.).

Anywho, ...

When I went away to school, Nut stayed in Jersey, 'colleged' (What? That's not a word?) there, and experienced the ever-rich Jersey music scene. When I came home for holidays, new music (on NEW! vinyl) always awaited. We still share it today, when we get a chance.

Thanks, Nut. And, Happy Birthday!

Love, Mushi

•••

Time Is Tight
(Buy: The Clash: Super Black Market Clash)

The Way I Walk
(Buy: Robert Gordon: Fresh Fish Special)

Brokedown Palace
(Buy: Grateful Dead: American Beauty)

Shadow Of A Man This song, 'Nut used to play in the minivan. His kids LOVED it! (This song, and some Disney song about a baby beluga whale, or something.)
(Buy: Oysterhead: The Grand Pecking Order)

It's Only Make Believe This might be the best karaoke song ever! Well, Peanut will just sing it any chance he gets.
(Buy: Conway Twitty: It's Only Make Believe)

Your Enduring Freedom, At What Cost? (Momento Mori)

Freedom, actually, is free — War, however, is not.

Veteran's Day
Korean War Veterans Memorial
Washington, D.C.
Dedicated 1995

•••

"I have of late — but wherefore I know not — lost all my mirth,
forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily
with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth,
seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me,
what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not
me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling
you seem to say so." Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, 303–312, William Shakespeare

•••

Dedicated to all those veterans who fought in World War I, "The War To End All Wars" (And, every war, that wasn't called a war, after that).

WWII (Second World War)

The Korean Conflict (The Forgotten War)

Vietnam Conflict (The Vietnam War)

Operation Just Cause (Invasion of Panama)

Operation Desert Storm (Persian Gulf War)

Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan War)

Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq War)

•••

Stars & Stripes Forever
(Download the entire Pride of the '48 Band's: Sousa Marches over at Oddio Overplay!)

War
(Buy: Edwin Starr: War & Peace)

War
(Buy: Bob Marley & The Wailers: Songs Of Freedom)

Find The Cost Of Freedom
(Buy: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: So Far)

Les & More

Figure & Stairs
Woodstock, England 2006
40 x 40 in. Carbon/Pigment Print
Photograph: Dirk McDonnell

•••

"When all is said and done, though, this is simply the way things looked as light fell, in certain places, at certain times, in that fugitive moment which is always now."

Excerpt of the Artists Statement from the upcoming solo exhibition, AS LIGHT FELL: Photographs by Dirk McDonnell, opening November 15, 2007, at Throckmorton Fine Art, NYC.

•••

Stops Out
What's Up?
You Don't Say?
From The Les The Better

Glass Eyed
The Long Way
Goodbye To All That
From More From Les

(Download more songs from Les Enfantsperdus Ensemble.)

Sweet Little Sunset®

Somewhere On The Rock.
Sometime in the Fall.
Somehow never boring.

•••

"Load the fan brush with Van Dyke Brown. Hold the brush vertically, start at the top of each tree and pull down to add the trunks. Thin the Brown with odorless thinner and use the liner brush to add the tree branches. Highlight the trunks and branches by adding White to the Brown.

Use the 1" brush and various mixtures of Brown, Blue, Green and Crimson to underpaint the tree foliage and small bushes at the, ...."

That's right, people — just like a painting by the Master — it's all Sweet Little Sunset®'s here.

•••

Evening : The Sun Set : Twilight Time
(Buy: The Moody Blues: Days Of Future Passed)

Happy Days

Sushi & Mushi
Children of the 60's.
Elizabeth, New Jersey

•••

You know, you didn't need much to keep my sister and I happy back in the day. Just give us our Colorola coloring box and the latest issue of TV Guide (What the hell?), and it looks like we were pretty damn happy.

Yes, we were sweet, little coloring vidiots.

•••

Get Happy
(Buy: Judy Garland: Summer Stock [Original Soundtrack])

Happy Days
(Buy: Ted Hawkins: Love You Most of All: More Songs from Venice Beach)

Shiny Happy People
(Buy: R.E.M.: Out of Time)