Author: Monkeystador

Enthusiast.
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Faster, Pussycat! Flee! Flee!

Maria Alyokhina (above left), a member of Pussy Riot, has managed to escape Russia. She posed as a food carrier to get into Belarus, and then an Icelandic performance artist convinced a European country to issue her a travel document, which got her safely into Lithuania.

Great recap of the entire cloak-and-dagger operation here. After multiple instances of being jailed for proclaiming Russia’s suckitude over the past decade, she got out. The picture of relative incompetence of the authorities that she paints matches the extensive coverage on Renfield’s website.

“I don’t think Russia has a right to exist anymore,” she said. “Even before, there were questions about how it is united, by what values it is united, and where it is going. But now I don’t think that is a question anymore.”

The Icelandic performance artist was not Bjork, but being Icelandic, he is of course related to Bjork.

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Dear Mr. Brody

I’ve been watching this and it’s pretty fantastic. Via Amazon Prime Discovery trial, which I will cancel when finished. The producer who had all the letters in storage boxes was Edward Pressman – who produced Phantom of the Paradise. Have you guys ever seen that?

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Duel of the Fates

The Obi-Wan trailer reminds me of how great Duel of the Fates is.
It sets the perfect tone for the cinematic climax of Phantom Menace. Nothing to that point in Star Wars was choral, which set it apart even more.

I had no idea what they were saying, or if it was a made-up language. It just sounded cool.

“The great sword fight at the end of the film – the decision to make that choral was just the result of my thinking that it should have a ritualistic or quasi-religious feeling, and the introduction of a chorus might be just the thing. … [T]he medium of chorus and orchestra would give us a sense that we’re in a big temple.”

The words originated in the medieval Welsh poem Cad Goddeu (The Battle of the Trees). The text was translated into English by Robert Graves, and published in 1948 as part of The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth.
John Williams selected lines 32-35:

under the tongue root
a fight most dread,
and another raging
behind in the head

Williams had it translated into a variety of languages, eventually selecting Sanskrit “because of the quality of the vowels.”

Korah Matah Korah Rahtahmah
Korah Rahtamah Yoodhah Korah
Korah Syahdho Rahtahmah Daanyah
Korah Keelah Daanyah

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Viking Kittehs

In honor of Len Zefflin week, enjoy this gem from the early internets.

I think I liked the song better after finding this. I’m sure it’s what they pictured when they wrote it.

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Len Zefflin II

This is the earliest known live concert recording of um, Len Zefflin, as they played Gonzaga University prior to their first album’s release. Young Monkeystador’s parents did not take him to this show. The venue was unheated for rock events, and this was a December concert. It was their fifth show in the U.S., and they used propane heaters to keep themselves warm before going on.

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Please Don’t Suck

Just kidding. It’s fine if you suck. Joel Edgerton is in this as Uncle Owen, and will periodically remind me that I really liked Green Knight. And maybe the Tatooine landscapes will make me think of some cool Dune stuff.

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Viva Charo

Though Segovia’s classical influence is often proffered to explain her skill, Charo has a highly original style that weds intimate, lyrical classical melodies with the rhythmic flourishes of the flamenco tradition and spikes it all with a pop sensibility.
“She is a great guitar player,” said Kim Perlak, the chair of the guitar department at the Berklee College of Music. Citing her command of techniques like classical tremolo and flamenco scales, she added, “You have to practice that all the time to get to be that fluent, especially if you want it to be intuitive the way she does it.”

I only knew her as the “cuchi-cuchi” woman from Love Boat. Check out this fascinating article on María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, her childhood in Francoist Spain and Segovia’s academy, to New York, Las Vegas, American 70’s and 80’s television, and beyond.