Monday, June 30, 2008

we sail tonight for singapore




As I'm sure most of you reading this know, I had the distinct & utterly mind-blowing honour of seeing my own personal saviour, Tom Waits, at the Plaza Theatre in El Paso. I'm not going to elaborate on the experience here, as my words are proving far too meager for the task. If you'd really like to know about it, do ask me in person. But I did want to share the set-list:

Lucinda
Way Down in the Hole
Falling Down
Chocolate Jesus
Singapore
Fannin Street
Get Behind the Mule
Trampled Rose
Metropolitan Glide
The Other Side of the World
God's Away on Busines
Hoist That Rag
Lucky Day [TW on reed organ piano]
House Where Nobody Lives [TW on reed organ piano]
Lost in the Harbour [TW on piano reed organ]
Lie to Me
Goin' Out West
Jesus Gonna Be Here

Make it Rain
Dirt in the Ground

And here's a picture of Tom getting the key to the City of El Paso.


He said, "You know, these keys open every lock in the city. If you find me in your living room in my underwear, we have an understanding." (Picture from Anti )

While the show is still hard for me to speak of (and I still can't quite believe it actually happened), know this... it was worth every second of the 18 hours total I drove and worth every damn penny of the ticket price. Now, Mr Cave and your alleged "Bad Seeds," you're next on my hit list...


Friday, June 27, 2008

ALIVE!!!


This blurry, camera-phone picture is the only evidence (outside of my own fevered brain) of the most bizarre movie-screening I've ever had the pleasure of attending. Last Sunday, my dear pal and future room-mate Barbara & I climbed 45 minutes thru canyons, gorges, agave & cacti to a spot high up in the mountains of El Paso. Overlooking the vast sprawl of El Paso, Juarez & New Mexico was a movie screen fastened to a lone power-pole. Now, which film could possibly have urged us & 450 other Texans out of their comfortable homes and thru dangerous (and beautiful) trails? Why, of course...


I swear to you... never has that movie been funnier or wine out of a glass jar tasted better than it did high on that mountainside.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

lizard in my backyard


Today I made friends with this fellow:


... the anolis corolinensis. I was embroiled in reading of the celebrated 19th century medium Daniel Dunglas Home ("...a luminous vapour gathered above the table, and, as they watched, slowly formed itself into a child's hand... the room shook, the crystal pendants of the chandelier clashed together; the Empress's lace handkerchief climbed into space...") when I noticed a flash of pink out of the corner of my eye. At first I thought it was a leaf with a pink-ish underbelly flapping in the breeze... as I watched it formed itself into a small lizard that was extending and retracting a sac beneath its head. The way it moved (positively cat-like), the thoughtful movements of its head, the way its eye followed me struck me as much more sentient, more knowing then other reptiles I have encountered. We had an understanding, dig?