1/17/2007
1/17/07 
From The National Occult Newsletter:
ZOMBIES IN VEGAS
January 17:
Several hundred bonafide zombies attended a Steely Dan concert last night in a ballroom at the Four Seasons hotel on the Las Vegas strip. The venue had been booked to hold a dinner and a concert as part of KingWorld Productions' annual Confab. There seems to be some controversy as to whether the zombies were masquerading as KingWorld executives or if authentic KingWorld executives were themselves zombies.

Zombies are dead bodies that have been re-animated, although the word "re-animated" might not apply in this particular case. After the performance, several members of the Steely Dan band, which rocked admirably under difficult circumstances, were hospitalized with symptoms of post-traumatic shock. The whereabouts of the zombies are not known at this time except for a small group which followed a charismatic "Undead" known as Diavlo down the strip and into the casino at Caesar's Palace where they still remain at press time.

1/11/2007
1/11/07 
The Fairlawn Report:

The SD Band is gearing up for three dates in the West: a corporate party and two casino dates (see steelydan.com). Although the Rock & Soul Review did a couple of private dates in the nineties, this will be the first for The Lads. This is sort of a tryout date to see if the boys can tolerate the special atmosphere of ... no, strike that...to see if the boys can bear the humilia... no, strike that as well. The boys are looking forward to digging the mood of a very different but enomously lucrative gig that will, if all goes well, be the first of many of this type.

Irving Azoff has the Eagles on this circuit year in and year out, and they all own gorgeous summer and winter homes. Christ, some of them own homes they've never even been to and that they've probably forgotten about.

Apparently, Miss Carolyn and Miss Cindy have pledged to help DF with any social responsibilities attached to the gig in question, which is an incalculable relief to the introverted, almost certainly semi-autistic bandleader. The biggest problem - anticipatory anxiety - can probably be handled with mild prescription pharmaceuticals. Apres-handshake contamination, amplified by several tens of perceptons in DF's mind due to a generally phobic nature, can be readily taken care of by any major brand of hand sanitizer.

So sprinkle on some Acqua Di Gio, put on your power tie and let's BOOGIE!

12/28/2006
12/28/06 
DF has two more cheerful holiday recommendations:

*** Something Weird Video has released Brian De Palma's early feature, Murder a la Mod from 1968. Although this is only one step up from a student film and must have cost about $40 to make, it proves that De Palma was really onto something in those days: specifically, the relationship between the filmaker and the actors. Also, it looks great. The picture features Andra Akers and the strange and beautiful Margo Norton. Packaged with another beatnik cheapie, The Moving Finger.

*** The journalism of Mark Jacobson has been collected in Teenage Hipster in the Modern World. Jacobson was a wild boy scribbler when he and his partner, photojounalist James Hamilton, did stories for the Village Voice in the 70s. He also writes for Rolling Stone, Esquire, New York Magazine and so on; is the author of two novels; and a funny book about how he forced his poor wife and kids into traveling around the world.

He likes to cover stuff that folks of my age and subculture are interested in: Afro-American music and culture, urban heros and villains, tales of drug-abetted enlightenment and dissolution, disturbing pop cultural artifacts - that sort of thing. With the breakdown of all previous mythologies, there is - or was - a faith in the power of the marginal to reveal some truths around which to build a life. You know - l'existentialisme. Also, the marginal is often your best entertainment value.

There's stories about Chuck Berry, Julius Erving, "anti-drug" psylocybin guru Terence McKenna, Pam Grier in her groin-crunching days, and all sorts of "low-life" and true crime goodies. Check it out.

12/7/2006
12/7/06 
DF would like to recommend to all the writings of George W.S. Trow who died in Naples, Italy a couple of weeks ago:

" The little book he is best known for," The Context of No Context" (originally published as an article in the New Yorker Magazine in 1980) is an essay that really got to the heart of why television was - and still is - so dangerous. Of course, Mad Magazine has been doing that pretty well since the fifties. What made George's piece great was the deadpan minimalism of the style, a freaky-deaky, I Ching-like idiom that made it seem like a text carved on some future, unearthed Rosetta stone explaining why our culture suddenly and rapidly came apart like a cheap suit at the end of the twentieth century. It was a gag, but a gag about how everything you've ever cared about was just destroyed in a flashfire.

I got to know George a bit in the early eighties. We even started (and quickly abandoned) a couple of projects together. I remember him walking into a room full of people like a country squire off to the foxhunt and announcing:
'Today the motto is: Find an America You Can Stand and STAND BY IT!' ".

Thanks, DF
Lexi

11/16/2006
11/16/06 
From Martina "Ginger" Van Loon:

I just want to thank Levon, Larry, Amy, DF and all the great musicians for a great Ramble on Saturday night in Woodstock. I brought my friends Carol, Norm and Corinne and they were freaking like they were in high school. Does anyone know how often the Rambles are held?

Thanks again,
Martina