Sounds | Uke Cover of Tainted Love

This weekend's uke love comes from the ever-delightful Blue Dean Carcione. Check out all his goodness on YouTube.

Here's the good word from Brother Carcione:

March 2, 2012

Back in my old trailer house after a while. It's been a long winter, and work is hard down in the coal mine, so I had little time to upload new songs. But now spring is coming once again, time to get my hands on the uke and waste time making silly covers.

"Tainted love" was recorded first by Gloria Jones in 1965, and has been covered an obscene number of times since then. My all time favorite is also the most popular one: Soft Cell's synth-pop version of 1981. There's something absolutely haunting about those electronic snares and synth pulses.
Anyway, I tried to give it a little twist and make something of my own in this uke rendition. Hope it's worth the shot.

I'm playing an aNueNue Papa Mahogany concert uke and my faithful suitcase drum machine.

By the way, first Carcione's album coming soon! And no, I do not really work in a coal mine.

Love that trailer, Dean. Who's your decorator?

Late To The Party | Portlandia & Dana Millican

Once again, pop culture runs way ahead of me and I pant to catch up. When I feel like it. Or when something gets talked about on NPR. And, really, how "pop" can that culture be? But, "pop" is a sliding scale and I just spent an hour in the bathtub listening to pre-50's Fred Astaire recordings. 

I digress.

One of my favorite podcasts is KCRW's The Business hosted by one of my NPR fantasy girl friends, Kim Masters*. I just heard the January 23rd episode featuring her interview with Portlandia creators and stars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein. And I thought, "I should really check that out."

During this morning's coffee and facebook time, I see an episode posted on someone's wall and give it a click. Here it is now:

Clearly, Armisen and Brownstein are very good, but I think it's Dana Millican as the wedding planner that is KILLING IT! After you watch her here, check her out in another episode, "Is It Local?" I know the nature of Armisen and Brownstein's multi-character coverage on the show requires a slightly (and I'm being really micro-picky here) larger playing style, but it leaves the reaction characters, such as the ones Millican portrays, to run at a subtlety level that is exquisite. It may be a function of my own life as a side-man actor that makes me look at the edges of a scene first, but - so be it. I still say Millican is a find. And, bless her heart, she's fighting the good fight over at Portland Shakespeare Project. I think I have a new artistic crush.

*Speaking of crushes, one of my other NPR fantasy girl friends is Evan Kleiman, host of KCRW's Good Food. I like to think of Kim, Evan, and Elvis Mitchell, host of KCRW's The Treatment, and me all going out on a kind of double date, but I'm really dating all of them. That's just how I roll... And, yes, I do give to KCRW.

Words | Trees, Skeptical Optimism, and Selflessness

These two quotes, in combination, do a fair job of summing up my world view.
Martin Luther's reflects the way I am. Nelson Henderson's, the way I wish to be.

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”

~ Martin Luther

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”

~ Nelson Henderson

Henderson's family left Ireland during the Great Hunger to settle in Ontario, but the promise of newer lands, free to hard-working young farmers, drew he and his two brothers to Manitoba to the Swan River Valley. He served in the trenches of the Great War, made a farm, married, and raised a large family.

Luther made trouble for the Catholics. Good for him.
 

Words | Dubious Eggs

Ain't it the truth...?

To Miss Wurtz's assesment of his talents onstage—namely, that there were no boundaries to his "possibilities" as an actor—Mrs. McQuat countered with her own little scrap of truthfulness she found in the pages of Middlemarch. " 'In fact, the world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome dubious eggs called possibilities.' "

~ Until I Find You, by John Irving

Images | Pittsburgh

Visual diary of the week in Pittsburgh between Christmas 2011 and New Years 2012.

Images & Sounds | Sita Sings The Blues

Thanks to the great folks over at Fandor for sharing this. 

Turn off the lights, get...relaxed, crank up the speakers, full-screen this baby and please to enjoy...

Find out more about Sita, here.

Images & Sounds | Monster Mask

"Hello. How are we today? A little quiet? I’m feeling a little blue myself. You know, a little anxious for no particular reason. A little sad that I should feel anxious at this age. You know, a little self-conscious anxiety resulting in non-specific sadness. A state that I call blue. Anyway, whenever I’m feeling this way – blue – I like to listen to my music." ~ The Drowsy Chaperone, by Bob Martin

To relieve today's bout of free-floating funk, I've reached out to my two crushes over at Pomplamoose. Please to enjoy...

Images | Death Takes The Stage

I don't know you, Tiago Guedes, but thanks for getting this image out on the Facebook/interwebs:

Anybody track down where this took place and what production it is?

Images & Sounds | Andrew In Drag

I was recently introduced to The Magnetic Zeros by Alex Brandwine, the automation carpenter on our tour. He's a fine fellow and I recommend you take him to breakfast. Anyway, now  The Magnetic Fields pop up on the All Songs Considered blog, a treasure trove of new music. What's with all the excellent magnetism? Please to enjoy this odd video for...

"Andrew In Drag"

Read more about the song and video over at the NPR site: All Songs Considered | Andrew In Drag

Quotes : The Problem With Problems

“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.”

~ Theodore Isaac Rubin

I love this quote. I never knew it or anything about the quoted, Theodore Isaac Rubin. All of these quotes are things I sorely need to remember. Thanks, Jonathan, for the introduction. You're a mensch.