Category: Words That Begin With “F”

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Live Totem Pole EP

So I was listening to the latest episode of the My Favorite Album podcast yesterday. David Cross was the guest, and instead of choosing his actual favorite album (Quadrophenia), he chose something obscure that he listened to a lot, lamenting that it had been out of print for years and wasn’t even available to stream.

Nothing piques my lizard brain’s interest like scarcity, so when podcast host Jeremy Dylan mentioned that someone had been nice enough to upload it to YouTube, I dove into that dumpster with glee. And found it.

Live Totem Pole is an odd EP. It’s live, for one thing. But the really odd part is that five of the seven songs are covers, including those by Blue Öyster Cult, Public Enemy, Butthole Surfers, Superchunk, and Wire. BUT HOLY SHIT, IT WORKS. And the way it was recorded makes you feel like you’re in the room.

I downloaded the audio from the YouTube videos and packed it up like an album. Right click the cover up top if you’re so inclined …

I listened to fIREHOSE in college, especially fROMOHIO and Flyin’ the Flannel. Anybody unfamiliar with these guys should check out their fascinating origin story on Wiki-wiki-wikipedia.

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Shit

Florian Schneider, co-founder of Kraftwerk, dead at 73.

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Finally

Submitted for your approval, a few suggestions for celebrating Mabon this year.

  1. Setting Up Your Mabon Altar: Celebrate the Mabon Sabbat by decorating your altar with the colors and symbols of the late harvest season.
  2. Create a Mabon Food Altar: Mabon is a celebration of the second harvest season. It’s a time when we’re gathering the bounty of the fields, the orchards, and the gardens, and bringing it in for storage.
  3. Honor the Dark Mother at Mabon: This ritual welcomes the archetype of the Dark Mother and celebrates that aspect of the Goddess which we may not always find comforting or appealing, but which we must always be willing to acknowledge. (Hint: virgin sacrifice.)
  4. Mabon Apple Harvest Rite: This apple ritual will allow you time to thank the gods for their bounty and blessings, and to enjoy the magic of the earth before the winds of winter blow through.
  5. Hearth & Home Protection Ritual: This ritual is a simple one designed to place a barrier of harmony and security around your property.
  6. Hold a Gratitude Ritual: You might want to consider doing a short gratitude ritual as a way of expressing thankfulness at Mabon.
  7. Autumn Full Moon — Group Ceremony: This rite is written for a group of four people or more to celebrate the full moon phases of the fall. (Hint: virgin sacrifice.)
  8. Mabon Balance Meditation: If you’re feeling a bit spiritually lopsided, with this simple meditation you can restore a little balance into your life.

Also, this miniseries scared the ever-living shit out of me when I was a wee bastard.

 

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Smells Like … Vindication

Just one more reason to hate this fey twat. From The Guardian (“Bigmouth strikes again and again: why Morrissey fans feel so betrayed“)

These days, however, Morrissey prefers a different kind of onstage provocation. During a recent performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (and at a number of live shows in New York), the former Smiths singer sported a For Britain badge. For those unfamiliar with it, For Britain is a far-right political party. Even Nigel Farage believes it is made up of “Nazis and racists”.

To see Morrissey embrace the far right so openly was shocking. But was it surprising? Ever since the early 90s, he has flirted with the far right and fascist imagery – wrapping himself up in the union jack, writing a song called The National Front Disco, making inflammatory comments about immigration.

Yet in the last year there has been little doubt about his views. He has claimed Sadiq Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor, “cannot talk properly”, and declared “Even Tesco wouldn’t employ Diane Abbott,” – the Cambridge-educated shadow home secretary and Britain’s most prominent black MP. He has described the media’s treatment of the racist Tommy Robinson as “shocking”. And he has explicitly promoted For Britain on his Morrissey Central website: “There is only one British political party that can safeguard our security.” The party’s leader, Anne Marie Waters, posted a video online thanking Morrissey for his support.

Full story here.

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A Monster Science Created – But Could Not Destroy!

The Frankenstein Monster’s skull, possibly one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Every detail is perfect, from the flat metal plate on top being held in place by clamps to the wires running down the back of the skull to the neck bolts. My favorite part is the unevenly placed lid, haphazardly attached as if the person who made it didn’t know quite what he was doing – or was in a hurry. The little baroque nameplate on the base is a lovely touch as well.

Discovered amongst several other skeletons in a burned out castle in Darmstadt, Germany this strange skull is all that remains of what is believed to be the creation of Dr. Viktor Frankenstein. While somewhat crude in its design, the function of the skull was to enable repeated surgeries as well as to act as a conductor for electricity. A rudimentary iron skull cap is riveted to heavily calcified bone growth and a bulbous forehead. Wired from the skull down to the base, are the two neck electroconductors.

Sculpted and hand finished by professional artist Thomas Kuebler, this Frankenstein skull with spine is cast in solid resin chosen for its resemblance to actual bone. It measures about 15 inches from the top of the skull to the wood base, and the skull is about 9 inches from the top of the skull to the mandible. No detail has been missed in this mysterious and very rare piece of horror history. It is a must have for Frankenstein fans and horror enthusiasts or the collector of oddities.

This guy sold at auction for $1275.00.