I usually wait until I am finished with a book to suggest it to anyone, but I'll make an exception in this case. For no particular reason, I popped into my local library last week and spotted this on the new releases shelf. I spotted the NYC photo on the cover from half-way across the room, took a 30 second glance at the book to see what it was about and then took it from the shelf and headed to the checkout counter. I started reading it the following day on my lunch break and I am now about 145 pages in and I can assure any of you who are interested in the social/racial history of New York City, especially during the 1960's and 70's, you will enjoy this book.
But don't just take my word for it, after all, I haven't even finished the damn thing yet. Here's author T.J. English, describing what the book is about in his own words. I'm sure his description of his work will be more likely to persuade you to pick up a copy than any review I could write...
Yeah, that's a lot cooler than what I could tell you about it....I know you want to read it now! Order up your very own copy at Amazon.com.
When Colonel Tom Parker became Elvis' manager, he began to look for ways to get his sole client further into the public eye. In addition to advertising and promotional appearances, the Colonel signed a deal to merchandise a line of Elvis Presley collectibles.
Elvis Presley Enterprises was established in the summer of 1956 by Colonel Tom Parker in a deal with Hank Saperstein. Saperstein had successfully merchandised Wyatt Earp, the Lone Ranger, Lassie, and other icons of American pop culture. The Colonel and Saperstein approved 18 licensees, who produced about 30 products. Among them were Elvis Presley Lipsticks, which Saperstein claimed would be so popular "they would walk off the counter.”
Shades included Hound Dog Orange, Heartbreak Pink, Cruel Red, Tender Pink, Tutti Frutti Red, and Love-ya Fuschia. Each lipstick came attached to a card with a picture of Elvis and the tag line, "Keep me always on your lips." The lipsticks are a popular collectible today, partly because the colors were named after Elvis songs. A tube attached to the original card is quite valuable, while the lipstick chart that lists all the colors is extremely rare.
Yesterday, May 28th, marked our 3rd anniversary here at ThisAintTheSummerOfLove. We could go on and on about the historical significance and/or social importance of the event, but really, who gives a crap? We'll just say that for the past three years, we have been happy to be doing this - whatever "this" is - inventing it and evolving it day to day and sharing stuff with you we find interesting and/or cool. We're just so glad so many of you think this stuff is interesting and/or cool enough to keep coming back here...thank you.
Central Minnesota hard-rockers Division Nine returned to the Bonfire Bar & Grill in Litchfield, Minnesota on Saturday evening to deliver three sets of classic rock/hard rock/heavy metal to an eventually fair sized crowd who came out to rock along with them and blow off some Saturday night, holiday weeked steam.
The last time we saw D9 at the Bonfire, back in November of 2010, a late evening ice storm made our return trip home after the show a real nightmare. This time we had no such worries. The Gorgeous One and I arrived around 7:30pm, just as the Bonfire's 2nd Annual Smoke Out dinner (details on the official bar flyer below) was winding down - too bad we missed that! A rather loud and obnoxious group of ladies from what was obviously a bachelorette party was boarding a party bus to leave - we were glad to see them go.
After I crushed out my cigarette, we popped inside and went and said hello to the guys in the band - they were busy getting set up in the other room, so we went back to the bar and had a seat and ordered up a few bacon-cheeseburgers. They arrived in short order and were quite tasty, nothing to write home about, but pretty good all the same. They were served with a generous portion of golden, crispy tator tots. While seated to eat our meal, I took a few photos of "Bonfire" related items in the bar. First up, a Budweiser/Bonfire neon light...
...and this cool hand-made Bonfire Bar Rock Hawks wall plaque. They're serious about their rock and roll here at the Bonfire.
A short while later, burgers and tator tots having vanished at an alarming rate, a few more of our friends arrived, along with some friends of theirs. We had a nice little group and we all comandeered a few tables up front near the small stage area and conversed among ourselves, waiting for the band to finish their last minute preparations and begin their first set. Just after 9:00pm, the members of D9 materialized near the stage and a few seconds later, the sleepy little Bonfire Bar was transformed into a - uh, sleepy little bar with a rock band blasting away in the back room. Taking a look around, we were all hoping for the bands sake that a few more people would show up - the 9:00pm crowd was barely cracking double digits, freinds of the band making up the majority of those in the room. There were a few more people up front in the bar, but they seemed content to stay up there, glued to the TV, oblivious to the history making rock and roll event that was occuring in the other room. I was pretty sure a few more people would show up though - and sure enough, by 10:00 or 10:30, things were looking quite a bit better as several small groups of people arrived and joind our little party.
Meet the guys in the band!
Chad!
Steve!
Rob!
and Mikey!
Now...let's rock! (The videos that follow are only a random sampling of the material D9 performed and are NOT in sequence. We're not even starting with the first song here - these are just the ones I randomly decided to film...)
...dude, I don't think they're gonna play any fuckin' Lynyrd Skynyrd...
By this point a few more people had shown up, the drinks of those around us were going down at a, shall we say, frequent pace (J. and myself, we were each having a Sprite - because we're all harcore like that), and the band was in a groove and the ladies were beginning to get up and dance a bit...
This is Bert, D9's go-to sound and lighting guy...he doesn't mess around!
Hey! What the hell is this?!? The band takes a break and the first thing you know, Bert's messing around, yakking it it with Rob, distracting him, telling him, "Hey, man, come here and check out the pretty lights!" like some hippie acid casualty or something.
Hey, you two! breaks' over - quit staring at the fucking lights and get back to work!
That's more like it!
The band slows things down for a few minutes and play a suitably mushy number and the couples hit the dance floor. I ask the Gorgeous One, since we are indeed a couple, if she'd like to dance. She smiles and offers me her hand. I lead her to the dance floor and we have a moment...
Whoa! What the HELL was that? That was kinda freaky!
Sky-NYRD! Sky-NYRD! Sky-NYRD!
What? Break time again? Already?! What the hell?!
Thirsts quenched (well, as quenched as a Saturday night beer thirst can be quenched anyway), our heroes return to the stage once again for one more set, rocking out as if their very lives depend on it, making lots of sweet noise and strange faces in the process...
Steve!
Chad!
Rob!
Mikey!
Time for one more song then we gotta say our goodbyes and get the hell outta here...it's nearly 12:15am and the Gorgeous One has to be at work at 6:00am...and I don't think these fuckers are gonna play any Skynyrd anyway, so...
Dangerous Toys? Nice! That beats Skynyrd ANY day!
For those of you who would like to see more D9 madness from this show...and, really, why wouldn't you? Just click HERE to see all the photographic evidence of the madness that ensued.
All right, we're out of here...thanks to our friends Division Nine for keeping it Skynyrd-Free!
*I never made it to any of the "Edgefest" or "XFest" shows here. But my buddy Try was looking out for me half a dozen years back when he spied this sweet EdgeFest 6 t-shirt for a buck or two at a garage sale. He knows I like anything Flipp-related, so he grabbed it for me, for which I am still grateful. I still wear the shirt too, Try...got my money's worth - thanks again!
I have to admit I was a bit horrified a few months back when The Gorgeous One suggested we go see emo-popsters Jimmy Eat World. Can't say I know much of their stuff (O.K., I know one song) but I know it's "alt/college/power/emo-nerd pop" (I think) and that shit usually scares me. But J. likes them and she goes to all the stuff I drag her to, so I willingly agreed that we'd go. We picked up our tickets the morning they went on sale and it's probably a good thing, last night's show at the legendary First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis looked to be a near sell out crowd by the time the headliners went on.
Anyway, downtown was a mess - due to a 6:30pm MN Twins game that was having a rain delay due to the miserable, light, chilly rain that was descending. But the baseball fans and rock fans were not to be deterred by a bit of rain, so they were all converging on the same area of downtown at the same time - the doors at First Avenue opened at 6:00pm. We arrived just a few minutes after that, after first paying $13.00 (!!) to park in "Ramp A" - goddammotherfugging MN Twins and their new stadium messing up my downtown!! Sorry about that. Anyway, we parked the car in this rip-off joint, walked a few blocks to 1st Ave and I snapped a few photos on the street when we arrived...
This shot is looking across the street from in front of First Avenue, looking South-East. The Target Center would be to your left, across the street.
First Avenue has, I think, 3 of these display cases along the outside walls, displaying a poster for which band is playing that particular evening. Tonight it's...
We give the man at the door our tickets, get our wrists stamped (with an "Ice Cream Cone" stamp(?!?) and walk into the club. Just inside the doors there is this painting of the club, done by a local artist. It's pretty cool. It's nice to be back in the club, it's the first show I've been to here in the past three years...
So we make our way inside and the front rows are filling up quickly. We grab a Gatorade from the dude at the bar and get situated near the front, maybe 6-8 rows back or so. Not a bad view at all, we're off to the right a bit, but we've got a good spot. We settle in and wait, and 6:30 comes and goes and no opening band yet. They finally came out on stage around 7:00pm and introduce themselves as Civil Twilight. They're originally from Cape Town, South Africa, but said last night they are now based in Nashville, TN. This was their first gig in Minneapolis and by the time they finished up their set they got quite a nice response from the crowd. The Gorgeous One and I both agreed - we had both enjoyed them. This was the final song of their set...
After a brief set change, it was time for the evening's headliner, Phoenix, Arizona based Jimmy Eat World. The came out very high energy right away and most of my fears of this show being a suckfest vanished rapidly - it looked like they would indeed be pretty good, which they were. There were a few points throughout their set 20 song set that kinda lost me, but for the most part I was with them the whole way. The Gorgeous One, who wasn't too thrilled with their latest studio effots, said "the material sounded quite a bit better live."
Here are the opening five numbers from the show. The video for the first song, "Bleed American" sounds kinda distorted - the drums were really wreaking havoc on the camera mic, but fortunately this problem did not persist through the entire show, and by video #2, it seems to have mostly abated. Enjoy...
Bleed American
My Best Theory
Coffee And Cigarettes
Lucky Denver Mint
Let It Happen
The band continued on with another 15 songs, the rest of the setlist follows. We filmed the entire show - for those of you you wishing to watch more, just click each song title below and it will take you to the video on Youtube.
...and, what the hell, here's the final two songs of the evening as well.
The Middle-Sweetness
So in conclusion, I enjoyed it alot more than I thought I would and the Gorgeous One had a great time, so what more could you ask for on a rainy Friday evening other than some genuinely good rock and roll? Not much...not much.
*As I finish this post late Saturday afternoon, under threat of a Tornado watch, in just a few hours we are off again, this time to Litchfield, Minnesota to catch a set of classic rock and heavy metal classics by our friends Division Nine. We'll have some photos and video from that show here tomorrow...
Artist: Michael James Band Title: Let The Good Times Roll Released: 1983
*I guess this band was from Minnesota. I'm not familiar with them or their music, although that doesn't really mean much either - I don't claim to be an expert on the history of Minnesota rock and roll. But, doing a quick Google search turns up very little (read: almost no) information on this particular Michael James Band, but plenty of info on several other outfits going by the same name, both current and past. No videos of this bunch on Youtube either. And I'm running a bit behind this morning so I don't have time to really dig any deeper, so just enjoy the fact that an 80's era band from Minnesota felt strongly enough about the New York City images above to use them on their album cover.
I was thinking it would have been kind of creepy if the artist had duplicated the small airplane with the "Let The Good Times Roll" banner trailing behind it image from the front cover onto the back cover as well...it would have looked as if it were flying straight into the WTC tower on the right of the back cover.
And apparently the album is kinda rare - seems to be fetching pretty decent prices - around $30.00 - on Ebay. I might have to go back to Cheapo Records in Minneapolis and pick up the $5.00 copy I saw there a few weeks ago...
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 by Kristine Brennan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A well written, easy to read introductory explanation of the economic policies and practices that led to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed, plunging the United States citizenry into a decade of financial hardships that were almost unimaginable just a few years before. Also introduced to the reader in this volume are the economic strategies, reform policies and work programs ("The New Deal") that were enacted by the U.S. Government, Wall Street Barons and the Bankers to help ease some of the financial difficulties being endured by the man on the street. Those policies, combined with the eventual onset of World War II and the ramp-up in domestic manufacturing and jobs creation that the war brought about finally reversed the economic downturn and propelled America forward into a decades-long time of unequaled growth and prosperity.
If you find yourself lacking in knowledge about the Crash of '29 and the Great Depression, this book would be a great place to start reading up on the topic. It appears to me to be something that was written with middle-school aged children in mind, but at the same time is not so dumbed-down that adult readers with a limited understanding on the topic feel they are reading a childs book - the adult reader can also come away with a better understanding of the events leading up to the Stock Market Crash and Great Depression.
OK, it's a 55" X 39 1/2" painted and foil finished, framed paper print version of the Brooklyn Bridge, but still...and it's on sale! This was on the back page of an Ikea flyer I got in the mail earlier today...
Last evening, The Gorgeous One and I were off to Minneapolis for the second time this week, this time to attend the opening night of the 2011 Art-A-Whirl Arts Festival and to have a look at some new works by The Gorgeous One's brother-in-law, artist/musician James Dankert, who was exhibiting several paintings at the Spot Art Gallery (1828 Marshall Street NE), a few doors down from Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge, located in what is known as the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District.
(Photos: NYCDreamin Archives)
We arrived a bit early, so we had a liesurely look around the Spot Art Gallery, taking a few photos of some of the more interesting pieces, notably the very detailed metal sculptures on display. These were really cool, the photos don't do them justice...
...there was this wooden sculpture with a guitar neck used in it's design...
Near the center of the room was a white beam, covered in layers of signatures, doodles, graffiti...and there were several markers placed on a small ledge about half-way up the beam on one side. It was evident you were supposed to add something, so I added a small tribute to the place the beam reminded me of immediately, CBGB in NYC...
As we wanderd around enjoying the various artworks, we kept running into this cute, dreadlocked little guy, who we decided must be named Dog Marley. He was super friendly and was even more so when, a bit later in the evening, I bought a BBQ pork sandwich from a vendor outside on the sidewalk and sat down outside the gallery to eat it. He was not obnoxious, just respectfully...hopeful. So I tossed him a few bits of my sandwich which he really seemed to enjoy. He's lucky - the sandwich and BBQ sauce were excellent. He also didn't mind posing for a few photos...
A little after 7:00pm, our artist, along with his wife and adorable baby daughter in tow, arrived to mingle and discuss his works on display with those braving the rain to attend the opening. We chatted outside for a bit then went inside to have a look at his paintings.
Jim poses for a shot with some of his latest work.
James recently did an interview (read it in it's entirety HERE) where he explained what he has been working on recently:
"I’ve been working on a series of flat, nude human forms against black backgrounds, taking equal parts inspiration from Attic vase painting and from the paintings of John Wesley. My previous project was a series of office scenes depicting employees in anonymous office spaces. While I started this series with the idea of painting the office as psychological landscape, as I worked through the images, I discovered my deeper interest in the form and framing of the human figures within these scenes. My current series of nudes sheds reference to a physical context and presents the contours of flat human forms interrupted by the edge of the support."
And here are the two series of painting he has on exhibit this weekend. First up, the "Office Scenes" series...
...and the "Nudes" series.
After catching up with Jim and his wife and trying to get the baby to smile for us and looking around a bit more, The Gorgeous One and I were off to look at some of the other artwork located in some of the other buildings in the neighborhood. We stepped outside into the rain, popped our umbrella and we were off...
