After the overwhelming reponse to my review of Shut Up and Play Yer’ Guitar I felt compelled to enlighthen the masses about another fantastic Zappa album: The Man From Utopia.  As with nearly every Zappa album, there is always a new twist to the experimentation with rhythm, tempo, vocals and of course content of songs.  Man From Utopia is a fun, energetic and basically an awesome album that just keeps the listener wanting more.  God how I wish I could make a living creating this stuff like Zappa did, so cool!

Man from Utopia is an album that just reflects pure Zappa; relaxed and in his element. Zappa just creates great music and lyrics that just flow and work together.  Cocaine Decisions is well written and just has a great feel for the beginning of an album. The next song Sex is again, well written and refined in its composition and lyrical content.  Tink Walks Amok clearly reflects Zappa’s inate ability to write funky, flowing, and complex instrumental pieces with precision and timing.  As most Zappa fans know only the best musicians could play his compositions; that is why Zappa surrounded himself with such talented guys!  Zappa’s band were basically the only ones that could play this stuff!  Man From Utopia is the second album that  credit’s Steve Vai with “impossible guitar parts”….so that should explain much.

The Radio Is Broken and the Dangerous Kitchen are as brilliant as they are hilarous.  Steve Vai actually had to detune his guitar to play along with Zappa’s out of tune vocals, who does this?  That is the brilliance of Zappa: innovation and creativity in his music.  We Are Not Alone is another incredible instrumental song that just signifies how unique and unapprecaited Zappa was in the larger music world, pure genius is reflected in this song and really, this entire album.

The song The Jazz Discharge Party Hats, well, listen to it with an open mind, laugh out loud and just enjoy Zappa’s unique style.  

Luigi and The Wise Guys, is an interesting song and really shows how much Zappa appreciated the 50’s doo-wop sound. Songs like this can be seen on other albums such as Cheap Thrills (On Cheap Thrills-1998)  and WPLI (Son of Cheap Thrills-1999).  I think this aspect of Zappa is often overlooked and under appreciated.

As I mentioned in my earlier review of Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar (which is purely an instrumental album), if you are willing to overlook what most would consider offensive lyrics (retards); you will discover that Zappa offered so much in the way of talent and variety in his music.   On the other hand, if you decide not to learn what Zappa contributed to the music world you are really doing yourself a disservice.  Please give him a listen and then make an educated decision.

Is Zappa for everyone, certainly not.  But for those of us who appreciate “good music” and appreciate those that push the limits of musical ability and structure Zappa is one not to be ever overlooked.

Joe’s Garage is often the ”Zappa training wheels” introductory album for the novice Zappa listener, however, if you decide to choose Man From Utopia as your first introduction it too is a perfect choice in getting to know Mr. Zappa up close and personal, enjoy.

Man From Utopia gets a 5 out of 5.

Jack and I love eating out (or maybe we just hate eating at home.. could it have anything to do with my non existent culinary skills?). Some nights we have full intentions of cooking something for dinner and then get too lazy so we invent a reason to eat out..

Lucky for us there are a myraid of places to choose from 3 flights of stairs down from where we lie prostrate prodding each other to get up and make a half decent meal. But these choices could be overwhelming. I mean there are just so many to choose from on Brunswick Street alone!

Jack’s decision process on choosing a restaurant? shaking his iphone so Urban Spoon could suggest a place..

Me? I fast type it to my two favourite (and my most trusted) review blogs in Melbourne: fitzroyalty and mel: hot or not and let their previous experiences or mouth watering photos make a decision for me.

I don’t do reviews very well. I will limit myself to one line per establishment but I did take really bad photos that you can salivate over. If you want a proper review of any establishment featured below, click on either of the links provided above and it is likely they’ve already given their 2 cents about it.

Akari

177 Brunswick Street

~ good old japanes food done really well~

Mixed Tempura, Wafu Salad, Yakitori

Red Rice

193 Brunswick Street

~Incredible food we couldn’t stop raving about!~

King Prawns, Salmon Spring Rolls, Calamari & Red Rice

Joe’s Garage

366 Brunswick Street

~Big Servings! Maybe not best place for risottos..~

Seafood & Chicken Risottos

Cafe Nova

307 Brunswick Street

~really rich & sweet like a dessert should be~

lemon meringue pie

I started selling cars in 1996 at a Bay Area Audi Porsche Cadillac Oldsmobile franchised dealer. I learned much working at that dealership and others. I developed online auto sales before other dealerships knew what an Internet Department was or would be.

Later, I helped develop a new car buying service become what it is today…it shall remain nameless as I outgrew it and it me.

Then in 2006 I ventured out on my own and it has been fun and stressful at the same time. I learn new things every day and still believe that the buying service/broker business model will help to make auto buying better for all consumers.

My favorite setup was at Joe’s Garage…and from there we continue onward!

Joe's Garage - Hybrid

I got the suburban blues.
The low-down-dirty-suburban-blues.

I want my inner-city comfort back.

Actually I want my own little slice of the inner-city.

Fitzroy is home, its my happy place at the moment(well it has been for about 10 years). Unless of course when I go overseas I find another happy place(NYC anyone?). Fitzy is it.

Feel like I’ve grown up there, I skipped classes at Tafe to go sit in cafes and read when I was 18/19/20.  I’ve fallen for 10 different Fitzroy boys in the last 10 years! That’s right, count ‘em TEN!
I can name all of them too, egads! But I won’t.

I do wonder whatever happened to Brendan and Jack though, I’m sure I saw Jack about 5 years ago walking out from the milkbar and I ran.
I do however know that one of them is now in a rather large band I loved, and still do have my moments with. Andy Andy Eyecandy, best guns on the planet, and I blushed the day he lent over me and asked if there was anything interesting in Beat that day(he smelt sooo good!).  I’m meant to forget idiotic moments like that right?
Or the night that my bar crush took me aside and told me he wanted to chain me up and spank me(oh please don’t let my mum read this!), he disgustingly enough had/has a girlfriend. I decided against going near the bar again, on the grounds that he was a sleeze! Sad though, as they make the best hot chocolate on the planet, and his specialty was strawberry daquari’s, and they were goood!

There’s the Punters, gone and lost. The amazing gigs I saw there, I shan’t forget(The Meanies, Klinger, and Mrs Pinkwhistle, BEST GIG EVER!!!!), and I’ll never forget the last night of drunken frivolity.
Nights at the Evelyn(or the evilyn, depending on what happens really!), Pop, punk, giggles, and great music. Unforunately I never got to go to the Ev’ before it was reno’d, so no old school “I remember when the stage was at the front of the room” stuff from me.
The Vegie Bar, which I like, but used to love, they have gotten better, there was a period of blah though. The food wasn’t as good.
Joe’s Garage, great food, and lovely staff. I’ve never had bad food, or not felt relaxed or at home there.
Red Tongue, food good, staff lovely, good for a Sat/Sun morn brunch.
The Hideout, I miss, with all my sweet lil heart. Well I miss when Mary was managing it.
Akari 77, great Japanese food! I loooovvveee it!
Red Rice was okay.
Nights at Bar Open, lordy lord. Sometimes it’s bizarre. Okay embarrassing admission, I licked a random boys tattoo there one night, not sure why, safe to say that copious amounts of beer had been consumed!
The Spanish Club <3 . My first night at Spanish Club, was the night that Tripod won me over. Was Radiohead night too. I remember 3 distinct moments that night, 2nd Drawer Down going for faarrrrrrr too long, The Gatesy Brigade sitting in front of me getting confused by the Tron joke, and me laughing my arse off, and The Gatsey Brigade hunting Gatesy down at the end of the night. I had honestly never seen a group of girls swarm a man so fast in my life. Well apart from Chris from TLE, but even they seemed not as vulturish. I said I wasn’t going to be one of those gals, technically I wasn’t, but I did kind of, in my own special way! I should go and see them again, am waiting for the rock opera we’ve been promised!
The Rob Roy, ahh so many good gigs! I’ve seen some great gigs there. I walked through the other night on my way to Trades, its different, and there were lots of business attired people in there. Where the hell is the band room now? Sad to see they couldn’t fix that steep stoop into the gals toilets, I’ve nearly fallen down that thing a billion times!!

Brunswick Street Bookstore <3!
Sheila Vintage, the new vintage shop, they actually have some nice stuff!
Polyester Books and Music… mmmm
Grub St books.

The list goes on, I should be living in Fitzroy.
If home is where the heart is, then I lost mine in Fitzroy.

So i was beat from the night before. But im excited for Joe’s Garage, PSA, Noise Attack and Dr. Know.

PSA was the first real band up… they played really good, My favorite being Sulifane. Good stuff for sure. heres a few photos.

Joe’s Was a Few bands after and Man was it effin’ epic, the crowd, the band, and the music was all one HUGE force. i was angry, but i a good angry. Premeditated Murder was their best song of the night, that and “bite you scum”. It was cool Zaine sang Mcnazis it was awesome and scary! heres a pictures from their epic set.

Zaine singing!

and this is where it the post turns bad… so in the middle of Noise Attacks set i was done taking pictures and i saw my lady friend sitting a bar table so i went to jump up there to sit, and what happened? i dont make it all the way and so i decide to bail out safely. NOPE not going to happen my other friends are sitting under the table and i trip on their legs i fall camera first and brake the lens off. Yeah it was sad. (good new i got my lens back today ive yet to try out) so that pretty ended my happy night…

so ya that was saturday! hope you had fun.

Joe’s Garage W/ Tippers Gore.

So when it comes to fan art most of the time it sucks… well this is not the case… Fan Art By mike craig for the band Joe’s Garage

God Save Obama

Joe’s Garage: Acts I, II & III is a 1979 rock opera by the legend himself Mr. Frank Zappa. The album is about a garage band youth’s journey through the music business. One song that always stood out to me was the classic “why does it hurt when I pee??” This song turns a simple situation into that of epic proportions.

Sadly he got it from the toilet seat……..

I have been aware for a number of years that there has been a legal battle between Gail Zappa, head of the ‘Zappa Family Trust’, and the so called ‘tribute’ bands that are determined to continue performing his music live. As some of you may know, there are numerous Frank Zappa tribute bands on the circuit at the moment that not only pay homage to Zappa, but also keep his memory alive. This is achieved by not only appeasing his current fans’ appetite of listening to this fantastic music live, but by spreading the word to a younger generation who are simply not aware of him. The most famous of these bands is called ‘Zappa Plays Zappa, and has the unusual credit of being legally sanctified to perform the great man’s music. This legality of course is no coincidence, as the band is headed up by Zappa’s son Dweezil (on guitar), and features the ‘Vault Master’ responsible for compiling all of the legal releases heralding from the Zappa Family Trust – Joe Travers on drums. The work that the Zappa Family Trust has implemented over the last 14 years deserves great respect, as it has unearthed numerous recordings that would otherwise not have been available to the general public. This is a laborious labor of love, and it is important that this process is quality controlled to avoid posthumous substandard releases that are associated with artists such as Jimi Hendrix for example. However, although I agree that copyright control of recorded music needs to be very carefully controlled, it is a different matter with live music. Bands such as Project/Object, The Muffin Men, Ugly Radio Rebellion, Bogus Pomp (which features guests such as Napoleon Murphy Brock and Jimmy Carl Black),The Band From Utopia, Frank Zappa Memorial Pancake Breakfast (amazing Finish band), The Zappatistas (UK) and a host of others have all performed Zappa’s music with great aplomb over many years. Indeed many of these artists come together to celebrate Zappa’s music at the Zappanale festival in Bad Doberan, Germany, which has itself been subject to the Zappa Family Trust’s legal force.  Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to witness an excellent Zappa tribute band in Cardiff called ‘The Grandmothers Of Invention‘. This band featured as far as I am concerned some of the legendary musicians who played with Zappa during the 1960’s – 1970’s, including Don Preston on Keyboards, Roy Estrada on bass (both of whom played on Zappa’s first album ‘Freak Out’), and Napoleon Murphy Brock on vocals on Saxophone. This was a fabulous opportunity for someone such as myself, who never saw Zappa live, and more importantly was too young when these musicians played with Zappa in the 60’s – early 70’s. The irony of the Zappa Family Trust’s attempt to ban bands from performing Zappa’s music is that fact that Zappa was a keen protagonist of linking current ‘projects’ with past ‘objects‘ and to me many of these cover bands represent a perfect representation of what he entitled ‘conceptual continuity” . Zappa used this process to continuously reshape his past compositional portfolio, even using it to ‘virtually’ create utopian concerts and performances that included the best aspects of various gigs, songs and recordings over the years (Check out the ”You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore’ series for an example of this). This process however also involved Zappa using aspects of other composers’ music. For an example of this process in a single song, listen to ‘Wipe Out’ (2.54), Nite Owl (3.38) and allusions to The Beatles Sergeant Peppers (2.00) on the title track of “Joe’s Garage”. On the same album we can hear Richard Strauss’s ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ (2.33) and his own ‘Mo ‘n Herbs Vacation’ (2.11) in ‘Fembot in a Wet T Shirt’ . Zappa labeled some of these extracts ‘Archetypal American Musical Icons’, and would use them as a means to get audiences to associate his music and live performances with the cultural memories associated with these works. I therefore find it difficult to believe that Zappa himself would advocate the hard-line approach his trusties are imposing on the very musicians who are attempting to honor him.

I read an article with Dweezel recently that almost seemed to claim that musicians’ outside of the ‘circle of trust’ were not capable of understanding the intricacies of Zappa’s music, and for this reason should refrain from playing it. As alluded above, this is a process that Zappa implemented to great aplomb, his music being a mixture of Do wop, Varese, Stravinsky, Musique concrète, big band jazz (although he would never admit it), rock, as well as non musical influences such as Spike Jones, cheap science fiction movies, Amos and Andy, etc etc.

Dweezel stated: “Frank’s music is much more like classical compositions than standard rock fare, The cover bands that attempt to do it don’t do it well because they’re changing things in the music to avoid the difficult parts. Most guitar players have a pattern-oriented mentality, and there’s nothing about Frank’s music that is pattern-oriented. It’s really hard to learn, especially if you’re learning things on guitar that were never meant to be played on guitar, like ‘Inca Roads’ and ‘St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast,’ things that were written to be played on marimba and keyboards, instruments that are laid out very differently than guitar. It required a complete physical transformation in terms of what I was capable of. I had to change my picking technique. It’s sort of like training for the Olympics.”

Performing Zappa’s music proficiently is indeed equivalent to competing at an Olympic games, but to me this statement represents a patronising slant on what many of these tribute bands are attempting to do. How would Zappa himself have learnt his trade if his heroes Varese and Stravinsky had asked him to stop appropriating their music into the popular music canon? How can musical ability and indeed our culture grow if we are not allowed to experience from the inside what the great masters have already done? Zappa was outspoken about this very process, as typified by the Central Scrutinizer character in “Joes Garage”. His much publicised confrontation with the ‘Parents Music Resource Centre’ also allude to his disdain for government control over musical content. It seems to me that The Zappa Family Trust is attempting to implement precisely what Zappa despised, and in doing so doing his memory a disservice.

After the result of a legal battle in the late 1970’s (I think), Zappa’s music ceased to be covered by ASCAP/BMI blanket licensing (the equivalent to the UK’s PRS/MCPS). Does this mean they can forbid other people performing their music? I ask this because I don’t know what the legal position is. I am a PRS member, but how could I stop other people playing cover versions of my music I have not registered? More importantly – would I want to? As opposed to attempting to sue these well intending venues and artists, is it not more appropriate to attempt a more amicable approach, possibly by investigating ways that live performance publishing royalties can be secured through independent publishing means? Indeed I would be really interested if anyone has examples of this procedure in practice. Alternatively, is this just a consequence of independent publishing??

There is an on-line petition for anyone interested in opposing this autocratic approach to music publishing. It can be found at http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ZFT/

- I suggest you sign it.

PS: For other excellent blogs about this subject area – please refer here and here

For a list of other bands playing Zappa’s music, please refer here.

Also check out the legal ‘jam band’ album tribute to Zappa here

Other tribute albums: Strictly Off Limits – Music Of Frank Zappa & Tommy Fortman

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I recently read an excellent article about the stage premier of Frank Zappa’s 1979 album – Joe’s Garage. It is great news that his wife Gail has eventually conceded to putting on a stage production of the show, although this reminded me that this was in fact not the first production. There was a 1999 production based at the University of Michigan that featured ex Zappa side man Ike Willis as a special guest. Although not given the blessing of the Zappa Family Trust, a recording of the production can be obtained here, and from what I can remember it is extremelly well performed.

Alongside my colleague Richard Hand, I have undertaken several research projects into the work of Frank Zappa in an attempt to investigate what makes this musical genius tick. The first of these projects was an investigation into interdiciplinary teaching using Zappa as a conduit. This was achieved by working with drama/music students on a stage production of another great piece of Zappa musical theatre – Thing Fish. Although the work was never performed in public, it proved to be an interesting case study in how students of different artistic disciplines can work together, using Zappa compositional techniques such as project/object and Xenochrony as creative inspiration.

This was then followed by a 2007 published paper which focused on Zappa’s incorporation of musical theatre into his work. The paper discusses Joe’s Garage and Thing Fish in detail, but also argues that much of Zappa’s portfolio had a consistent narrative that was theatrical in nature. Surprisingly, there has been very little academic work written about Zappa, and aside from people such as Ben Watson and Michel Deville/Andrew Norris, there is a substantial gap in the market. Mine and Richard’s last paper was an investigation into how Zappa fused musical genres through the use of gesture, and we are currently preparing for a conference in Germany which will focus on the pervasive relationship of Zappa and sex. That’s about it for this post, but I would be pleased to hear from anyone who is interested in Zappa’s work.

I’m sorry to say I let Miriam Makeba slip by without properly appreciating her during her lifetime. I gather from this excellent appreciation that she was an artist with courage to match her talent: she died giving a benefit performance for Roberto Saviano, a journalist living in hiding because of his work to expose the Camorra criminal organization, in a town that is one of the Camorra’s strongholds. Saviano’s book Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent International Empire of Naples’ Organized Crime System is a fine, deeply disturbing book. Meanwhile, here’s the place to start catching up on Makeba’s body of work.

Imagine this backroom chat between Barack Obama and Joe Lieberman. Seems plausible to me. Especially that last part.

Some years ago I interviewed Robert Darnton about his book The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France, a thoroughly researched and thought-out study of the street literature in France just before the end of the monarchy, when writers and printers faced hard labor and even execution for publishing works that undermined the throne or conventional morality. Darnton was impressed by the level of critical acumen shown by the king’s agents, who maintained dossiers on suspect writers and filed reports on their work — sometimes very knowledgeable and amusing reports. I suspect they were considerably more literate than the FBI agents who kept tabs on Norman Mailer for 15 years. Far more interesting from a professional writer’s point of view, however, is this New York Observer piece on the Mailer estate’s dealings with publishers, and the unusual contract Mailer had with Random House.

It’s the Frank O’Hara video collection!

A review of the first-ever stage production of Frank Zappa’s epic Joe’s Garage serves as the springboard to a lengthy appreciation of all things Zappa, filled out with a generous assortment of video clips and a list of dream directors to consider should a film version ever take shape. My money’s on Stuart Gordon — the man who brought us Re-Animator is the only one to put the mind of Zappa onscreen. Though I think Over-nite Sensation is the Zappa record to start with,  Joe’s Garage is probably his masterpiece. Everything that’s good and bad about his work is right there: the sophistication and the puerility, the charm and the abrasiveness, the satirical smarts and the scatological stupids, all on two CDs.

Oh man, how weird is this?

Madame Mayo talks about translations.

“The experiment of poetry, as far as I am concerned, happens when the poem carries you beyond where you could have reasonably expected to go. The image I have is from the old cartoons: Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse coming hell for leather to the edge of a cliff, skidding to a stop but unable to halt, and shooting out over the edge. A good poem is the same, it goes that bit further and leaves you walking on air.”

So my bestest friends band, Joe’s Garage is playing with the Lower Class Brats! Kind of a big deal ( well it is to me…). Its going to be awesome and i think this is the show that closes down the World Art Gallery… If you live in Orange County and you are in to the punk scene you should know what it is by now… its going to be FUN!

if anyone goes to this show because to see this say your there for joe's garage please

www.myspace.com/joesgarage666

www.myspace.com/joesgarage666

From Rolling Stone:

Almost 30 years since the original release of Frank Zappa’s unrealized stage play Joe’s Garage, director Pat Towne has brought the Rolling Stone-dubbed “unproducible” musical to Hollywood’s Open Fist Theatre. Joe’s Garage imagines a world where music is banned — the plot follows its protagonist as he discovers the obscene powers of rock & roll, the lazy appeal of religion and the benefits of a nice yellow apron when having sex with a robot (Joe dons that ass-less costume for the bulk of the show).

The show debuted Friday during the first presidential debate, and the irony wasn’t lost on Zappa’s widow, Gail, who says the current political climate was no small factor in finally bringing the show to life. “[Joe’s Garage] is made for people who love this country and love the Constitution,” she told Rolling Stone after the premiere, which she attended with a crew that included daughter Diva. “It’s just so relevant… these are desperate times and people are trying to convince themselves that information is knowledge, and it’s not.” Continue Reading…

Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? Frank Zappa music video clip

Video Clip : Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?

Singer : Frank Zappa

what do you do when you are bored to tears? You Blog thats what you do… and what do you blog about ? love? no… work? not today. school? its the weekend.

So whats left when you dont want to blog about those things? MUSIC. and no not that shitty hip hop rap stuff. Im talking about real music, music with soul. Rock n Roll not to be confused with “Modern Rock”. No its got soul. If you are asking yourself ” who are these bands that this crazy kid talks of? “. the bands i speak of are (just to name a few) The Supersuckers (greatest Rock n Roll band in the world), Throw Rag , Joe’s Garage, The Last Gang, Nashville Pussy, Peter Pan Speedrock, Valient Thorr, Zeke, Danko Jones, The Briefs, The Dickies, The Die Hunns, The Dwarves, Andrew W.K., Fireball Ministry , and Dropkick Murphys just to name a few. Some of those maybe punk but they all share 1 thing… A soul… Unlike these new bands out there that all sound the same, they all sing about the same thing, they all are in it for the money and the fame… the fallout boy’s, the As I Lay Dying’s, the The Devil Wears Prada’s, the Shwayze’s… the list goes on and on…

heres pictures of 2 bands with some soul…

Joe's Garage = soul

"Truly this is Rock N Roll "

Well, it looks like someone broke down Miss Thing(-Fish) herself, Gail Zappa and received her blessings to create a stage production of Franky’s classic Joe’s Garage.  It’s going down in California this fall, so I guess that’s close enough to Gail for her to be dropping in on the cast and crew every day to make them wish that they would’ve chosen to do Styx’s Mr. Roboto instead.  I guess that was your one downfall, Dave, New York is just to far out of Gail’s grasp.  Will they do the coveted ‘Watermelon in Easter Hay’?  Check out the release below from Playbill.com…

Joe’s Garage, Based on Zappa Album, to Make World Premiere in September

By Andrew Gans
04 Aug 2008

The Open Fist Theatre Company in California will present the world premiere of Joe’s Garage, a new stage production based on the Frank Zappa album of the same name.

Directed by Pat Towne, the production will begin previews at the Open Fist Theatre Sept. 18 with an official opening Sept. 26. The limited engagement will run through Nov. 22.

Joe’s Garage was adapted by Pat Towne and Michael Franco and features musical direction by Ross Wright and choreography by Jennifer Lettelleir. Producers are Michael Franco, Charlie Otte and Pat Towne with permission from the Zappa Family Trust.

The musical event, according to press notes, tells “the story of Joe – a simple guitar player in a garage band – as he is drawn into the dark and nightmarish world of the music business. As Joe deteriorates from betrayal, disease, and madness, our narrator, the Central Scrutinizer asserts that music is responsible for his demise, and is therefore evil. [The production] is a cautionary tale about the oppression of government and its desire to make its citizenry conform and obey. It ponders a world where the government controls the masses by making music a crime. Masked in the simplicity of a high school musical, the play’s attacks on government’s surveillance of its own citizenry, the sexual escapades of the Catholic Church, the ridiculousness of Scientology, the avarice of the music business, self serving journalism, mindless consumerism and bad boy rock and roll behavior in general, makes for a wicked and timely satire – all this wrapped in the brilliant music of legendary rock icon Frank Zappa.”

Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 7 PM.

The New Open Fist Theatre is located at 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. (former home of The Actor’s Gang) in Hollywood, CA. Tickets, priced $15-$30, are available by calling (323) 882-6912 or by visiting www.openfist.org.

I spend a lot of time in front of a computer at work. I usually listen to music while I’m doing my stuff, since it keeps the old cerebral cortex tripping along. I cannot usually listen to anything orchestral that I’ve performed, since I start focusing on that music instead of my project.

 Well, it looks like today I’ve also got to cross most of my Zappa off my list, too. *Sigh*

My co-workers alerted me to my maniacal giggling over Joe’s Garage. I was reviewing a bunch of bills that are currently in session and “The Central Scrutinizer” opening cut came up. For the uninitiated, Joe’s Garage is more or less about the music business… but the opening line just whacked my funny bone in a big way:

This is the CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER…  it is my responsibility to enforce all the laws that haven’t been passed yet. It is also my responsibility to alert each and every one of you to the potential consequences of various ordinary everyday activities you might be performing which could eventually lead to The Death Penalty (or affect your parents’ credit rating). Our criminal institutions are full of little creeps like you who do wrong things…  and many of them were driven to these crimes by a horrible force called MUSIC!

Our studies have shown that this horrible force is so dangerous to society at large that laws are being drawn up at this very moment to stop it forever!  Cruel and inhuman punishments are being carefully described in tiny paragraphs so they won’t conflict with the Constitution (which, itself, is being modified in order to accommodate THE FUTURE).

I bring you now a special presentation to show what can happen to you if you choose a career in MUSIC…

The WHITE ZONE is for loading and unloading only…if you have to load or unload, go to the WHITE ZONE… you’ll love it…it’s a way of life…Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha…

I miss you, Frank… you freakin’ weirdo.  Takes one to know one, I guess. 

Lust auf mehr?
Den Rest der Bilder findet ihr hier und hier.

Mir egal ob sich das so schreibt.

Geben wirs doch zu: Showposen sind geil.

Einzelportraits sind Knüller.

Ein Abend mit den einzigartigen Joe’s Garage