Chris

Ingmar Bergman R.I.P.

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In sad news Ingmar Bergman lost his last chess match today.

 

1918-2007

Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.

I hope I never get so old I get religious.

Albert Ellis, R.I.P. (1913-2007)

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By not caring too much about what people think, I’m able to think for myself and propagate ideas which are very often unpopular. And I succeed.

Self-esteem is the greatest sickness known to man or woman because it’s conditional.

The art of love is largely the art of persistence.

The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.

– Albert Ellis

Scranton Town / Steamtown U.S.A. 1986

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A long forgotten novely 45 for the founding of Steamtown National Historic Site…

Sorry for the poorer quality, this is my first attempt.

[audio:https://www.chrisflannery.com/music/steamtown.mp3]
Scranton Steamtown U.S.A (mp3)
The Steamtown Express
Lyrics & Music by Michael Gianetta
KMA Music 106 Side A

 

[audio:https://www.chrisflannery.com/music/scranton_town.mp3]
Scranton Town (mp3)
(“The official theme song of Scranton, PA. Respectufully dedicated by Michael Giannetta and accepted by the Mayor James B. McNulty and The City Council”
featuring The Gene Dempsey Orchestra with Vocals by 2 PLUS 2
Lyrics & Music by Michael Gianetta
KMA Music 106 Side B

[tags]scranton, steamtown, novelty 45s[/tags]

Tattoo You

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Something I never knew: Tattoo You (1981), the only standout album of the Rolling Stones’ past 27 30 years, was actually just a dumping ground for outtakes. The reason I like it so much becomes clearer when you make the connections to the original sessions and musicians (namely Hopkins and Taylor) they came from.

  • “Tops” and “Waiting on a Friend” were cut in late 1972 during the Goats Head Soup sessions (thus featuring Mick Taylor, not Ron Wood, on guitar; Taylor later demanded and received a share of the album’s royalties).
  • “Slave” and “Worried About You” were recorded in 1975 during the Black and Blue sessions in Rotterdam. They feature Billy Preston on keyboards and Ollie Brown on percussion. Wayne Perkins plays the lead guitar on “Worried About You”.
  • “Start Me Up” was originally written as a reggae number called “Never Stop” during the 1975 Black and Blue sessions. “Start Me Up” was left unreleased at the time because Keith Richards had expressed concern that he might have inadvertently taken its main riff from another song he had heard (something that was later to happen with “Anybody Seen My Baby” on Bridges to Babylon).
  • “Hang Fire”, “Little T&A”, “Black Limousine”, and “No Use In Crying” all came from the Emotional Rescue sessions in 1979.
  • “Neighbours” and “Heaven” were the only new recordings (from April to June 1981), although the band began a version of “Neighbours” during work on Emotional Rescue.
  • “Heaven” has an unusual lineup, consisting of only Charlie Watts on drums, Bill Wyman on synthesizer and bass, Mick Jagger on guitar, and producer Chris Kimsey on piano. Some sources also claim that Wyman plays guitar on the track.

Some of the older tracks were overdubbed and mixed during the 1979 Emotional Rescue sessions or in 1981 as Tattoo You was being compiled.

(The Failure of) Live Earth

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The results are coming in… nobody cares. Nobody knows what the event was for or how to reduce their impact on the global environment.  Perhaps American artists and politicians should consider tackling environmental issues at home prior than taking issues to the global stage. Instead of looking like progressive problem solvers – Americans continue to look like hypocrites pushing their agendas on foreign nations – a majority of which have much stronger environmental regulations and public concern/awareness.

Dear Mr Gore, you can now retire your slideshow and begin to lobby to pass the Kyoto Protocol or some other significant global treaty. Less pop stars, more legislation.

[tags]environmentalism, Live Earth, Al Gore[/tags]

Thomas Hart Benton

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Thoms Hart Benton (1889 – 1975)

Among Benton’s most important easel paintings, Persephone recasts an ancient Greek myth in a contemporary, rural guise. The myth accounts for changes in the seasons. Famously beautiful, Persephone was abducted by Hades, lord of the dead, who imprisoned her in the underworld. Provisionally released after her father Zeus intervened, Persephone was required to return to the underworld for one-third of every year. Her mother Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, was so saddened and angered over her daughter’s fate that she refused to allow crops and vegetation to grow during these four months.

Benton’s Persephone appears as a farm girl caught sunbathing. Hades is shown as a lustful, aging farmer, his rickety cart in the background alluding to the god’s chariot. The farmer’s facial features appear similar to Benton’s own, although he used another man for his model. The natural setting on the banks of a creek suggests an arcadian landscape as well as the traditional venue for skinny-dipping. Shamelessly naked, Persephone evokes the Old Master tradition of the female nude as well as 1930s pin-ups.

– Nelson Atkins Museum Kansas City

 

St. Helens?

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It’s all a lie.

I’m not going anywhere.

There is no amount of money that would bring me to St. Helens.

[tags]rooster, forward, st helens[/tags]

Open Air

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Amber was 19.  
Lucky for us she looked 23. 
She said that we could do anything and we did it all.
We lived downtown. It was pretty punk for kids to live downtown.
Pretty punk of us to get kicked out, but we didn’t care… at all.
Open air, open air, open air
Open air, open air, open air
The open air, open air, open air
The open air, open air, open air

-the oranges band-