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nate got excited about a manual typewriter that his grandma gave him recently. he writes poetry, and because this thing requires NO electricity i said that he should go out into the wilderness and record a video of himself typing on it. later i asked if i could join him, and bring my guitar. he said “sure,” and we drove to lake olathe. we walked past a “no trespassing” sign on top of a dam to get to this spot. the pic above is from the video we shot. when i upload the video clips, they will have to be edited because it was so windy that day.

the last time i blogged about david letterman, he was going off the air. thanks to youtube, though, his reruns are still with us. in the early years on NBC the writers on the show came up with ideas that viewers wouldn’t see after the move to CBS. last night i watched an episode that was so far away from the normal format, even letterman’s discomfort was hard to miss. in the pic above dave has traded his suit for casual clothes, his desk for lawn chairs, his backdrop of the city for a large gaping mouth, and he’s having a discussion with dr. ruth westheimer about the authenticity of g-spots.

this pic is from the traces and trajectories closing reception a few weeks ago. the exhibit ran for a month at la esquina, and featured work from past and present rocket grants. beep goes the weasel didn’t make the cut for this show, but angie and i were invited to the reception, and we got to meet some really cool people.
(white arrow) robert baker – in addition to being a john waters look alike, he portrays a news reporter in the current project live tv live.
(green arrows) nicholas ward and amber hansen – angie and i talked to them about their documentary, called to walls, which includes footage from joplin where they painted the butterfly mural.
(blue arrow) mark southerland – he was one of the people that helped get funding for beep goes the weasel. he also performed a musical piece at the reception, afterward i awkwardly approached him, said “hi… i just wanted to say hi,” patted him on the shoulder, and walked away like a panhandler.
(orange arrow) jake wagner – he received a 2013 rocket grant for a project that tried to save vacant lots and empty houses in kansas city that were once lived in by notable jazz musicians.

elvis didn’t die in 1977… that’s what you would have sworn if you ever heard jimmy ellis sing. his story is currently on netflix. it’s called orion: the man who would be king. it’s an amazing tale about a guy who just wanted to sing. he couldn’t help the fact that he was born with the same vocal chords as the king of rock n’ roll. his elvis-like voice was a blessing and a curse. he never intended to be an elvis impersonator, he wanted to make his own way in the biz. when jimmy ellis put on a mask and sang are you lonesome tonight, a horde of fans thought that elvis had faked his own death, dropped a few pounds, and re-surfaced under another name. you can hear other songs by jimmy ellis on his website.

when i made this facebook post earlier today, it made me love tom waits (the guy on the left who is smoking) even more. why you ask? because he looks like an uncomfortable outsider even when he’s at the same table with celebrities like david bowie and bette midler. all three of them are (and were) talented recording artists. here are three songs from these three: heart attack and vine, space oddity, and the rose. see if you can figure out who wrote what.

today is my little sister’s birthday. i’m not sure what year this pic was taken, but i’m guessing she is one year old. thanks for giving me this photo mom!

last friday was local life in overland park, and beep goes the weasel returned to salon kitch for penny fairman’s art show. last month we had technical difficulties with the fruit and veggies, so we gave those guys the night off. this time chris, ian, and i were the core band members, and we featured at least a half dozen other participants on the theremin and voice transformer. i told penny this show was gonna be utilitonic because i thought playing without the fruits and veggies would be more stripped down, bare, and “utiliarian,” but having ian on guitar and chris on keyboards actually gave the experience a “full house” feel. i think i’ll still refer to gigs like this where we play without veggies as utilitonic… just because i can.

recent somber events have driven me to look for less somber things. i just discovered the mountbattens, a tribute band to another tribute band. “which band?” you might say, well i’m glad you asked! the rutles were a tribute band to the beatles, and the mountbattens are a japanese tribute band to the rutles. when i watched this video, it had only been viewed 28 times.

mom and jim came up to KC to join in some pre-st. patrick’s day festivities last weekend. we went to mike kelly’s westsider to hear eddie delahunt play friday night. saturday afternoon we stood on 63rd st. in brookside for the warm-up st. patrick’s day parade, then we came home and ate corned beef and cabbage for dinner. later we ate some of mom’s irish cake. sunday afternoon i thought “what would an irish pac man eat?”

for awhile it was kept alive in a laboratory, and then for some unknown reason it began a constant, rapid, accelerating growth. first it ate up the laboratory, then it ate up a city block– then it ate up the city. ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is the original 1937 radio broadcast that made bill cosby smear jello all over the floor, set the family sofa on fire, in an attempt to save himself from the chicken heart.