Kimono My House

When I was posting under the nom-de-guerre of Fussy Records, I'd spend a lot of time looking through Russian photo sites. I love getting lost in websites with scripts I can't read in languages I don't know. It's been a long time since I looked at the fussy site. There's some good stuff back in the formative years. I guess that's what you get when you spend your time dealing with rednecks and biting your tongue. Suffering fools badly fed me a worth of vitriolic petroleum. It makes me think this blog is a wee laconic: I always thought laconic meant lazy or slow. Anyhow, I used to post Russian photo sites all the time, and I'm surprised I've not yet done that here: Российские Картины


I was thinking about religion today, because my coworker asked me about the reason for Passover. Shortly after sussing it out and putting on my asshole atheist pin, I developed an enriched appreciation for the religion of Ancient Greece and Rome spoken so derisively and dismissively of by my Catholic educators. They'd put it across like those folks were crazy for believing in the unbelievable. To me even at such a tender age, the books didn't outdo each other in terms of fantastic reaches and great demands for the suspension of disbelief well past the point of common sense based on my 10 years of personal experience. It heartened me to consider the vagaries of existence through this peculiar Greco-Romanic filter in which I was well-versed. The Bible stuff was pounded into my head and it was pretty easy to remember, at least the exciting bits. As tiresome as the peaceful benificence of the Good Book was, all the more exciting the visceral tumult spewing alluvial reality from the roof of Mt. Olympus came to me to be. Love makes you crazy. People get too angry and do horrible violent things. Winter follows Summer. Their faith not only helped account for Humanity's history of and propensity for unbelievably dumb-ass behavior, but it gave better proof of everything having meaning. If I was in a boat far at sea and a storm more violent than anything came from nowhere, I'd at least have the comfort of knowing that somewhere Someone far more significant than I was ripping pissed about something.


OK. Enough of my yakkin'. Here're some things I've enjoyed looking at lately.


All those lines remind me of the part of my brain that fills my own doodles with too many dots/circles/lines. My own approach towards creating through repetitions of miniature process is, admittedly partly due to an inability to paint a decent bowl of fruit, is rooted in my eye for visual coincidences. I'll see someone on the bus once and recognize them on the street a week later. I'll know a color but be unable to place that smell.


I really need to start studying Russian again. I wish I had someone to practice speaking with because taking notes while watching Ночной дозор with the Russian subtitles on can only take me so far.


My brother told me that power cables like these went all the way around the world. I wanted to build a ski-lift contraption to take me there.


I thinks it wonderfully fitting that you come from the cusp like you do. Capricorn gives you power.


According to the Chinese, you are a Rooster of Metal: I am a Wooden Tiger. I didn't look into compatibility between the two, but I like the sound of it regardless. The above astrological illustration reminded me of this Czech illustrator whom, while quite twee, I've always liked. I found him in Japan of all places. Dr. Karel Čapek was also the first to use the word robot for a robot. I wish they'd make gigantic robotic spiders like this one that you could ride.


My ideal Transformers are far more approachable, like in that one Hume Cronyn/Jessica Tandy movie.


I can't wait to go swimming in Miami.


Thinking about Belly-Dancers the other day reminded me of all the vinyl I bought simply because I'm an absolute sucker for a cheesecake cover. I don't really like Hawaiian music that much.


As a sorbet to cleanse the palette of bellydancing album covers, Japanese cigarette ads throughout the ages... I think they're cigarette ads.

Let's do a quick run through some other graphicy designish bizness. Posters from Asia.



Vintage Posters.


or Soviet-era matchboxes


I stumbled across this looking for rockandrollbandflyer/posters.


As far as all that goes, I still respond to the messy photocopied cut-and-pasted vibe.


Punk purposefully done well or badly, for me, resonates with the Fluxus movement.


Then again, the finger that Dada gives to proper ART always leads my mind to Joseph Beuys. He's such a fascinating storied character, but I remember how good I felt first finding out about I like America and America likes Me. He hated the States and refused to visit. When he eventually did make it to our shores, he demanded to be carried off the plane wrapped in felt so he would see nothing and his feet would never touch the ground: he gave instructions to be carried in this fashion and be thrown into a room with a wild coyote, which he'd adopted as a representative of this land that had been wronged by this nation. He stayed in a locked room with a wild coyote for a week and eventually made friends before being again wrapped in felt and carted back to the Motherland. I have felt his Felt Suit. No shit.




Shi--o - Fred Frith

I Received A Letter - Jimmy Yancey

Bamako Blues - Bob Brozman

Waitin' For My Gin To Hit Me - Ronnie Self

Land Of Snow - Ben Perowsky featuring Miho Hatori