secret comics

More SXSW Coverage, Bingo-style

OK, if you're not winning with the first card:

Life In A Devil Town

Best... Daniel... Johnston... cover... ever**.

**Oh yeah, it's the Groovie Ghoulies.  Duh.

The Fastest Finger on the Remote Keyboard

She's a maniac, no doubt -- check out the live footage for yr proof.

That's Steve flippin' Vai!!! -- that's what "Stevea Vaija" means, I think... and what the hell is he holding?

Update! Let's party!

Daniel Johnston @ The Cactus Cafe, 3/17/05

Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice

...is the name of the new Starflyer 59 record, out 4/12/05.  "Good Sons" is a catchy little number -- definitely New Order-flavored, I think.  Sounds more immediately enjoyable than the slightly weird straight-up rock of I Am the Portuguese Blues.  The keyboard-y percussion is pretty sweet, anyway. 

Oh yeah, looks like they have another record out in April, the The Last Laurel EP.  Plus remastered re-issues of Silver, Gold, and the early EPs late summer/early fall.  OK then.

Compliments of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman!

You can thank Robert (pictured below) for this -- this, on the other hand, wasn't from him.  Happy Holy Week, I guess...

Update!  Ef you, Hasbro!

This Were SXSW

Before these things float off into the ether, I should probably get my thoughts about SXSW down onto... paper ones and zeroes.  And speaking of the ether, why the hell are we so intent on only learning "real" astronomical science?  Boring.  I mean, I know that all science strives to be as "fact"-based as possible, but where's the fun in that?  The artistry?  The sense of wonder and the absurd?  It's not like it's biology or anything -- how is my belief that God dwells in the Empeyean on the outer ring of the solar system going to, say, induce unwanted pregancy or allow me to contract whooping cough for lack of immunizations? 

OK, I should probably admit that I've been enjoying Ptolemy's astronomy as I've recently been working through Dante's Divine Comedy:

--And OK, the Copernican model of the solar system might be techinically correct, but it's not so much, umm, fun.  Where's the whimsy in a theory of the universe where the planets revolve around the sun?  It's so obvious, you know?  Technically correct and all that.  I prefer alternate realities and alternate cosmologies that break up the dull hegemony of "facts" and let our minds and selves to wander and explore, without having to worry all the time about whether we're coloring inside the lines.

Oh yeah, SXSW '05.  Daniel Johnston at the Cactus, 3/17/05, was absolutely brilliant.  He seemed to be totally there, you know?  It was a great, short set with half acoustic guitar numbers and half keyboard numbers.  I snuck a few snaps that'll be posted a little later on when I get my iBook out of the shop.  Anyway, Daniel was great, very into the performance, even closing with the magnificent "True Love Will Find You In The End".  He wished for each of us that every day could be like Christmas, and that we would buy ourselves things we like, like comics and records and "entertaining things."

I left the Cactus on a complete high and headed over to La Zona Rosa.  How could the Futureheads compete with that, I thought?  As it turns out I never got to find out -- the show was sold out before I got there (and I was an hour early), so I missed them.  Drag.  That sort of put a damper on the rest of proceedings for me, if you want to know the truth.  I'm bummed that I missed Harvey Sid Fisher, Fivehead, and Subset, but what can you do?  I was so lucky to see whom I did, there's no sense in complaining, you know?

How To Make Friends By Telephone

Man, I could use this sort of stupid instruction book for just about everything in my life, but especially proper phone usage.  Thanks, Contact Sheet -- now I'm much more effective talking on the phone and crap!

P.S.  I Love Egg!

Maybe, I Think We Can Beat Nirvana

Electric Eel Shock believe Rock 'n' Roll Can Rescue The World!  After witnessing them tear Emo's up last night, I'm a believer as well.  They may have put on one of the best shows I've seen at Emo's -- definitely Top 5.  Maybe Top 3.  More proof?  Some lyrics:

My God is early Black Sabbath... Yeah
Every day, every night I like Ramones
And Bob and John and Jimi and Stevie,
Fishbone and Wishbone Ash and much more.

Lets talk about Rock & Roll
Every day and every night It's a free for all
So we don't need a big bank roll...

Rock & Roll can rescue the world...
Rock & Roll can rescue one and all
Rock & Roll can rescue the world...
Rock & Roll can rescue one and all
Yeah Yeah Yeah

Yeah
Maybe, I think we can beat Nirvana
Much more than Presidents of USA
I can play faster than Eddie Van Halen

Yeah
Rock & Roll can rescue one and all
Rock & Roll can rescue the world...
Rock & Roll can rescue one and all
Oh Yeah Yeah Yeah

Rock & Roll can rescue the world...
Rock & Roll can rescue one and all
Rock & Roll can rescue the world...
Rock & Roll can rescue one and all

If you're a SXSW-er, check 'em out at Beerland on Saturday or, um, somewhere else on Thursday.  Maybe Friday... somewhere.  I'm tired and don't remember exactly.  Gimme suicide rock 'n' roll!

Yay for Me

Could anything I've read in a long time be any more brilliantly, um, brilliant than Leisure Town?  I don't think so... I really don't.