Doctor Mew

Doctor Who... cats? by ~TardisCat on deviantART

I know! I know! Not another Doc Who post. I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist. It is rare to find a work of art where two great nerd obsessions come together in such a perfect and beautiful way. So for those of you who love both cats and that renegade Time Lord from Gallifrey - here is your dream come true.

Thank you TardisCat. Thank you.

Katz

I was recently cleaning out an old back-up hard drive and stumbled across this picture. I have no idea where I found this image but I'm so glad I kept it. It is beautiful.

Cats Off!

A Maryland couple have rescued more than 3000 cats over the last 10 years. What started as an isolated rescue turned into a full-time job for Bob and Katherine Rude.

CNN reports:
A few years later, they bought a ranch house in Harwood and converted it into a shelter. Eventually, Bob and Katherine left their government jobs to work at the shelter full time. They now work seven days a week, morning through night, caring for their cats and dogs...

...The Rudes originally planned on keeping the shelter on one floor, and living in the rest of the house. But they quickly found that many of the cats required full-time care, so they expanded the shelter throughout their home.

..."For the evening meal, we go through about 25 cans of cat food. For the whole day, we go through about 40-50. ...We go through about 100 pounds of dry food a week for the cats, [and] 10,000 pounds of cat litter a year," Bob said...

Even buying in bulk hasn't helped the Rudes escape the financial woes that have begun to plague most business owners. Katherine says that so far, they have been able to support themselves but are concerned about rising costs and falling donations.

In the spirit of this story here is a link to my local humane society and to the national organization. Donate if you can.

Pamela Colman Smith

Pamela Colman Smith 1878-1951
Pamela Colman Smith may not be a name familiar to most, but her illustrations are arguably some of the most viewed and influential images of the past 100 years. She also was one of the century's great characters who was little noticed in her own time, although the company she kept included such heavyweights as Alfred Stieglitz, W.B. Yeats, and the famous occult group The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Colman Smith was born in England to a white American father and a black Jamaican mother. When her mother died when Smith was only 10, her father sent her to travel with an acting troupe with which she lived until 15. She later attended the Pratt institute and became a professional illustrator, and was represented by the famed photographer and art agent, Alfred Stieglitz.

Colman Smith was not only an artist, but a larger than life figure. An independent woman of eccentric dress and company, she lived part of her life alone in an apartment in London when such a lifestyle would have been considered outrageous even for a man. Colman Smith was involved heavily in researching the occult and associated herself with some of the major players in the nascent esoterica movements that what would later mutate into the New Age movements of the mid to late 20th century. Colman Smith died in relative obscurity in her 70s, but her work as one of the 20th century's great illustrators has grown considerably over the years.

Although Colman Smith was a published illustrator and writer, she is most famous for her design of the Rider Waite Smith tarot deck, first published 1909. Colman Smith was commissioned by fellow Golden Dawn Member Arthur Edward Waite to illustrate his new revised edition of the standard Tarot deck. Her illustrations would prove highly influential and serve as the iconographic standard for many subsequent versions of Waite's deck.

Although her work adopts the sinuous line of Aubrey Beardsley and combines it with the flat, vivid color of Caldecott, it is her efficient, economical line that really sets her apart from her contemporaries. There is a strong influence of early German woodcuts and Japanese Ukiyo-e prints that create a bold and strong quality to her work. It is this quality - simple and sure, yet sensual and vibrant - that helps make her images so iconic.

h2g2 biography
Gallery of Images

"Comme" All Ye Faithful

Just in time for the Christmas season Bedazzled has a great Scopiotone of the song "Les Rois Mages" ("The Wise Kings") from 1971 by the French artist Sheila. I swear that this song and "video" were lifted directly from my head because they contain some of my favorite things ever: French chanteuses, Medieval imagery, choruses with hand clap break-downs punctuated by percussive Neil Diamondesque acoustic guitar strums, Mod fashion, refracting lenses, the list goes on.

I have reprinted the lyrics below the video. The song is basically about how the singer will follow this guy like the three wise men followed the star to Bethlehem and Christopher Columbus followed the sun to the Americas. I love how the song has reduced key events of history and religion to a metaphor about relationships (and this is a few years before ABBA's "Waterloo" which did something very similar).


Comme les Rois Mages en Galilée
Suivaient des yeux l'étoile du Berger
Je te suivrai, où tu iras j'irai
Fidèle comme une ombre jusqu'à destination

Comme les Rois Mages en Galilée
Suivaient des yeux l'étoile du Berger
Comme Christophe Colomb et ses trois caravelles
Ont suivi le soleil avec obstination

Plaise au ciel que j'ouvre mes fenêtres
Le matin au bord d'un étang bleu
Plaise au ciel que rien ne nous arrête
Dans ce monde aventureux

Comme les Rois Mages en Galilée
Suivaient confiants l'étoile du Berger
Mon Amérique, ma lumière biblique
Ma vérité cosmique, c'est de vivre avec toi

Plaise au ciel que s'ouvrent les nuages
L'éclaircie dévoile le chemin
Plaise au ciel qu'au terme du voyage
Son triomphe soit le mien

Comme les Rois Mages en Galilée
Suivaient confiants l'étoile du Berger
Comme Christophe Colomb et ses trois caravelles
Ont suivi le soleil avec obstination

More Who Nerdiness

I am currently on Christmas break from teaching and am spending my first week off doing preety much nothing but stuff I enjoy. I've been watching tv, reading non-school related material, and making stuff. I'm currently working on a new album cover for my band, a Franeknstein's monster statue for Rhonda, and today I worked on two pieces of Doctor Who related fan art. The first is a watercolor of all 10 Doctors that will take me a while. The other is a little pop art inspired banner I threw together for fun.

Here Comes the Groomer

My friend Jenn Gooch alerted me to the incredible talents of Sandy Hartness of Sandy Paws Pet Grooming Shop in Yucca Valley, CA. Her work speaks for itself.

Re-TARDIS

I've been a Doctor Who since the mid-80s when KERA in Dallas began airing the Tom Baker episodes on Saturday nights. They eventually aired the the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th Doctors, but did not air the early 60s episodes, at least through the early 90s. Despite my huge fandom of DW, I've only seen a handful of early episodes over the years via video, although I did read every single Target novelization while still in high school.

Anyway, my plan is to slog through every single DW episode from "An Unearthly Chld" through the end of the Sylvest McCoy era via the magic of Netflix. I was watching the first disc of the Early Years set (includes the first 3 serials) and stumbled upon a series of skits that aired in 199 on the BBC in conjunction with "Doctor Who Night" (am I dreaming?). They were created by some of the guys responsible for Little Brittain, and are quite funny. The skit below is probably the best, and probably my favorite Doctor Who parody period.

The Pitch of Fear

Slam Drunk

I know of no one who loves a sad song as much as I do. I'm not talking about the kinds of songs that make you feel a little wistful and melancholy. I'm talking about songs that make you double over with the sudden shock that life is nothing but horrible, inescapable suffering and the only recourse is to collapse, snot-faced and trembling in a wet, squirming mockery of the fetal position writhing on the floor. This is probably why two of my favorite kinds of music are classic country and Irish ballads. I must admit that there is also an over-the-top bathetic quality to many of these songs that I find appealing. Although I see how people could see that this approach could be ironic, it isn't. I love music that has shed all the cloaks of public decency and goes straight for the jugular vein, in terms of trying to pry emotion from its listener.

With that being said, here's a link and the lyrics to the Ferlin Husky classic "Drunken Driver." It is nowhere near as creepy or gloriously ridiculous as Dolly Parton's "Me and Andy," but it just as worthy of hearing.



"Drunk Driver"
Friends there's somethin' been hauntin' me and I just got to tell you bout it
I saw an accident one day that would chill the heart of any man
And teach them not to drink a drop while the steering wheel's in their hand
This awfull accident occurred on the 20th day of May
And caused two dear little children to be sleeping beneath the clay
These two little kids walked side by side along the state highway
Their poor old mother she had died and their daddy had run away
As these two little kids walked arm in arm how sad their hearts did feel
When around the curb came a speeding car with a drunk man at the wheel
The drunk man saw the two little kids and he hollered a drunken sound
Get out of the road you little fools and the car it brought them down
The bumper struck the little girl taking her life away
While the little boy in a puddle of blood in the ditch lying there did lay
The drunk man staggered from his car to see the damage that he had done
And he let out a yell you could hear for miles when he recognized his dying son
Such mourning from a drunken man I've never heard before
While kneeling at the running board he prayed to heavens door
Saying oh God please forgive me for this awful crime I've done
And his attention then was called away by the words of his dying son
And he said daddy why did you do this to us how come you run us to the ground
It was you and mommy we was talking about when the car it brought us down
And I was just telling little sister that I knew we'd see you again someday
But daddy why did it have to be like this why did it have to be this way
Why daddy why

I Should Coco

Here is the latest addition to our little animal family. Her name is Coco and she is a Denton animal shelter rescue. She's a min-pin and chihuahua mix. She's about 7. She's a grumpy, eccentric old lady. Although she is up in years, she had never been fixed. She also had heart worms and really bad teeth. We spent almost $500 on her before we even got to take her home. She was worth it.

I love her very much. The cats aren't so sure.

My wife, Rhonda, took these amazing pictures.

Sweet, sweet memories of mama boiling corn

I grew up watching Hee-Haw and late night K-Tell commercials. This SNL skit from 2004 reminds me of both of those beloved memories. Watch for the song "Ain't Nothin' Cuter." It is God.

Doctor Uke

The Doctor Who theme play on ukelele. The two great tastes that taste great together.

Book Review: Little, Big - John Crowley

Little, Big by John Crowley

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
LB is lush, beautiful, and strange. It is one of those books, also, that sent me scurrying for other sources to help make sense of what I am reading. The language is poetic, but not dense. The characters are memorable, but like the book, a little removed and detached. I found myself reading this book from a distance, as opposed to feeling involved and part of the story. Which again is also apt, because the book is ultimately about a Tale and one lone family whose responsibility it is to spin it by acting out an ages old set of circumstances set forth by outside forces. The Story which this family enacts is theirs alone and sets them apart, literally it seems, from the rest of the world. Despite the aloofness of the novel, however, I found LB to be rewarding and rich. It is not a casual read, but thick with allusions to other tales, fables, and myths. John Crowley does not simply do this to flex his highly developed literary muscles, but the very nature of his Tale depends upon the existence of these other established ones.


View all my reviews.

Straw-ng Hold

East Texas man builds house out of mud, hay, and sand.
I must admit that building this kind of structure has always been a dream of mine. Who wouldn't want their own ecologically sound Hobbit hole?

Suarasama

I am so happy. A few years ago I stumbled upon a twenty volume Smithonian/Folkways collection of Indonesian music. Most of it was really great but the last disc pretty much blew my mind. It was a collection of guitar music and every track was absolutely incredible. What struck me was how all-over-the-place everything sounded. Some of the songs were made on funky home-made guitars and sounded like weird Delta blues filtered through Middle Eastern ude music, while other stuff sounded like Hawaiian slack key guitar.

Out of all of this great music, one band and song especially stood out. The song was called Fatas Di Atas Awan and sounded like nothing elese I had ever heard. I'm not going to describe it here, but you should give it a listen for yourself. The band was/is a male/female duo called Suarasama, and I've been looking for their album on and off for the last 7-8 years and just discovered today that Drag City will be re-releasing their full-length album, Fatas Di Atas Awan later this month.

Yay.

Since I'm kind of obsessed, I just ordered it on CD and LP. Although I've only heard the title track, which is the song on the Smithsonian compilation, I can't imagine the album being a disappointment.

Frankie Lee and Judas Priest were the best of friends

I've been listening a lot to Judas Priest lately. I never listened to a lot of metal growing up because I was a clueless little snob, but over the past few years I've seen the errors of my ways. Anyways, Sin after Sin is one of my favorite priest albums, and I especially love the song "Diamonds and Rust," which was written by none other than Joan Baez. What's awesome about this song is that it was written for Bob Dylan after he unceremoniously dumped her and treated her generally like dirt. Whenever I listen to the Judas Priest version of this song, I picture Rob Halford in full Priest leather get-up singing to Bob Dylan at the height of his Rolling Thunder weirdness. So my friend and band mate Ryan Thomas Becker sent me this image that he made in honor of my rock and roll fantasy.

Damn you Ryan, damn you.

My Barbarian Invasions

About 18 months ago I was introduced to the performance group My Barbarian by my friend Colleen who sent me a link to a video for a song called "Unicorns LA." I subsequently discovered that it was mentioned in boingboing about three years ago, but somehow I missed it. Since then I have become obsessed with their somewhat singular take on post-ironic performance art. The only way I can describe them is as if Bob Fosse choreographed a Renaissance Faire to be filmed as an after school special to be shown at an early 70s Californian hippie commune, then you have a vague idea of what this group is about.

The most bizarre thing about them is that they somehow manage to project both sincerity about what they are doing, while still being completely self aware of the ridiculousness of their performance. I don't know what to call this approach. "Sincere irony" perhaps?

My interest in them comes partially from my interest in the way popular culture interprets the medieval world. I study medieval art history and I am always confronted by people who misinterpret what I do. I don't know how many times I have been asked if I go to Renaissance Faires, or if I "dress up" in medieval garb. How come nobody asks Egyptologists if they put on Pharonic headwear? Anyway, I do understand that medievalism has a particularly geeky/fanboy subculture aura around it, and it is this aspect that initially attracted me to My Barbarian. I think that possibly only Civil War buffs maintain the same level of intense fandom around their historical subject as medievalists do.

My Barbarian explore so much more than medievalsim. Their whole shtick is an examination of/commentary on, and weird embracing of 1970's Southern California new age culture and its interests. What I love most about these guys is the way they can both satirize this culture for its excesses while also embracing it for its hopefulness and sense of possibility.

The one to watch.

This is pretty darn cool. iTunes along with the makers of the upcoming Watchmen movie have just published the first chapter of an animated webcomic of the Alan Moore classic graphic novel. While I still have my doubts after seeing the new preview for the 2009 film version made by the guy who brought us 300, I'm quite excited by this animated version.

Ten out of Ten Doctors...

A comix artist named Rich has created a surprisingly good Doctor Who fan comic featuring all ten Doctors. The art and the story are both very good, and are in some ways more entertaining than the last season of DW.

HeLP!

I've been going record crazy. It is an addiction I cannot and do not want to curb. I am going to go broke. I don't care. Vinyl is precious to me. It gives my sad little life direction. It keeps my hands out of my pants (except when I reach for cash to buy record). I used to hate people like the one I have become. I worked at a used record store for ten years. I once mocked and loathed the sad, empty-lifed recluses who came into the store and snot-pawed the vinyl like some middle-aged pizza loving Gollum whose one-ring was an out-of-print Italian prog album. Now I am that person. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs. I try to eat fairly healthily. I exercise regularly. I collect vinyl. I am new at it. It is a corrupting influence. I don't know exactly what caused this mania. I got a new job. I am in a band that makes me happy. My life has changed significantly in the past few months. This coincides with my new habit, but I'm not sure how the two fit together.

Here are my recent acquisitions of the past month or so:

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Geraldine Fibbers - Butch
XTC - Skylarking (Mermaid Smile version)
Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
Jethro Tull - Warchild, Heavy Horses, Living in the Past
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Lou Reed - Transformer
Big Star - 3rd
David Bowie - Scary Monsters, Changesonebowie & Changestwobowie
Billy Bragg - Workers' Playtime
Can - Ege Bamyasi
Decemberists - Crane Wife, The Tain, Her Majesty, Picturesque
6 Nonesuch Explorer Albums

There are more, but I'm too weak to go on.

Rest in peace, Arthur C. Clarke

There were two major authors that completely consumed by brain from about the ages of 10 to 14 - Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke. Ray Bradbury showed me that there was something beautiful, scary, and poetic in almost everything around me, while Clarke taught me about potential.

Almost everything that guy wrote was about how we could achieve anything we wanted as a species as long as we just rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Nothing happens to any character in a Clarke novel if they just sit on their hands. His heroes are always people who think big, question everything, and look ahead. Unfortunately, it is our inability as a race to live up to Clarke's vision that I am so disappointed in the world right now. I feel that we're asking all the wrong questions, setting all the wrong goals, and simply not applying ourselves. We could be achieving greatness, but instead we're fighting over whose god is better than the other.

In spite of this, I refuse to give up hope. It is because of people like Arthur C. Clarke that I cling to one last shred of optimism. He never gave up on us, so I guess I can't either.