Part two of my “remake Beatles album covers with anagrams” project.
¡EL HP! (Help!)
Our Burbles (Rubber Soul)
Lover Rev (Revolver)
Author: Ga2so
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A Bee Snorter’s Amalgam – More Beatles Anagrams
This now looks like a Pearl Jam/Herb Alpert supergroup cover. -
A Manager’s Bleats – Beatles Anagrams
Someone on twitter did an awesome silly thing where they re-titled James Bond movies with their anagrams. I thought it was a great idea, so I stole it to re-do Beatles albums. Here’s the first batch. I’m skipping the early Capitol hacked-up albums.
Peep Lame Easels (Please Please Me)
Featuring 300% more George. White Slab Teeth (With The Beatles)
Now with 50% less Ringo Aghast, Randy Hid (A Hard Day’s Night)
Now with 2400% more back-of-George’s-head. A Stereo Elf Slab (Beatles For Sale)
Now with 100% more Ringo (nose only) The problem with Beatles anagrams is that their album titles are usually pretty short. Some of these would be under ten letters if I didn’t include “Beatles” in the name.
The White Album is probably going to be super lame.
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50ish Recent Tracks
I used to do this thing on Facebook where I’d post the last 50 or so songs I’d played, along with some notes about a few of them. This is pretty much that, except I’m going to throw some Youtube links in along the way.
Charlotte Street – Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
Hold My Hand – The Rutles
I have students who say The Beatles are their favorite band, which seems weird since the band broke up 40 years before the students were born. That would middle school me saying my favorite musician was Cole Porter. I have to remember to play The Rutles for them. Reptiles and Samurai – Oingo Boingo
Mah-Ná, Mah-Ná – Leroy Holmes – probably the best song to ever come from Swedish softcore that was used by the Muppets and Benny Hill.
Ain’t No Good – Cake
Train in Vain – Annie Lennox
High Fidelity – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
A-Tisket A-Tasket – Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb And His Orchestra
Don’t Let’s Start – This Radiant Boy
Car Horns and Kentucky – Tom Waits
There She Goes Again – The Velvet Underground
Jump, Jive, An’ Wail – Louis Prima
Baby’s on Fire – Brian EnoStraight To Hell – Chum
I Feel Fine – The Beatles
Sun Gazer – Hideout
Do You Remember the Riots? – Jens Lekman
Freedom for My People – U2
Hawaii 64 – ccc – ill chemistCool it Now (New Edition) – Len
Everyone needs a new edition of a song by New Edition. Golden – My Morning Jacket
Zero Hour – The Plimsouls
The Long Grift – They Might Be Giants
Suzanne – Leonard Cohen
Bedsitter – Soft Cell
Cat’s Blues – Palace Music
Fight – The Kleptones
Staircase to the Soul – Weston Smith
Two Lives – Young Fresh Fellows
Persona – Instupendo
Shark Food – Starsailor
Lonely – Bebel GilbertoMy Funny Valentine – Ella Fitzgerald
Every time I hear this I think “Somebody wrote more lyrics to that Elvis Costello song.” I am dumb. clairaudients (kill or be killed) – Bright Eyes
No One Else Around – Orchid Mantis
True Romance – Vacation Forever
Blue Fire – Air Waves
Monkey Man – The MaytalsNice To See You (feat. Floor Cry) – Vansire
A Warning – Thievery Corporation
I’m Not The One – Bye Beneco
Diferente – Gotan Project
Blackbird Chain – Beck
Riding On The Subway – Jesse MalinJefferson Starship – – Aug, 5, 1975 – Rock Show Commercial – I don’t care for commercials on the radio, but I love the occasional 40+ year old concert commercial.
the promise – The Cure
Beaten To The Punch – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry – Cowboy JunkiesYou Wouldn’t Like Me – The Beths
Blind Love – Tom Waits
Upfield – Billy BraggNothing Matters When We’re Dancing – The Magnetic Fields
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I Love My Bike – My Bike Tolerates Me
I’m really good about finding reasons not to ride my bike. Rain, a cold, a thing for work that has to be done by the morning, whatever; if there’s a reason not to ride, I usually take it. And that’s dumb, because I love riding my bike. I love it so much that I set up a special blog just for recording when I ride. Now I’m trying to ride more, and I’m trying to put most of my online self here. So, bike posts get posted here and mixed into everything else. Whee!
Here’s today’s ride: short, hot, and slow. Just like me!
18 miles, 13 mph. Like lightning! Like really slow lightning! Tomorrow, riding gets more difficult. Daylight Saving Time ends, which means sunset shows up around five, and riding in the dark on Los Angeles streets can be spooky. And winter is coming, so cold and rain are on the way.
See? Excuses.
But I do plan to ride more at least until the next Ciclavia. It’s right by my old neighborhood, so I feel obligated to ride it (and ride to it). I hope it doesn’t rain.
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Double Dee & Steinski: The Lessons
The last post about The Hood Internet reminded me of another set of remix/collage records: Double Dee & Steinski’s “The Lessons.” There’s a detailed Wikipedia page about them, but the short version of their bio is that they made “Lesson One” for a Tommy Boy Records contest back in 1983. They won first prize, then recorded a couple more Lessons before moving to other careers. I thought that was it, but today I learned that they released the long-evolving “Lesson 4” last year. The bandcamp link for the EP with the track is below.
They aren’t afraid to use weird samples. “Lesson Three” includes snippets from “Hernando’s Hideaway” and Mars Needs Women. De La Soul must have been at least partially inspired by them.
Lesson 4 EP: https://ddsteinski.bandcamp.com/album/lesson-4-the-beat-ep
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Amazing Nostalgia Mashups by year, 1979-1983
The Hood Internet has created nostalgia mashups of 50 or so songs from each of the years from 1979 to 1983. If you are in your early to mid fifties you will either love the waves of nostalgia as you recognize each of the musical snippets of your youth, or you will hate the crazy pitch shifting that’s required to spot weld all of these songs into a reasonably cohesive song. If you are me, you will feel both of those things.
For me, 1983 resonates the most. Not coincidentally, 1983 was when I started my senior year of high school. Plus, it features a section that mixes The Pointer Sisters and Van Halen songs named “Jump.” That’s a bit of a cheat since Van Halen’s song actually came out in January of 1984, but it works well enough for me to accept the wibbly wobbly timey wimeyness.
Also worth checking out: 40 Years of Hip Hop.
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Today in “Pictures I Felt Obligated to Take Even Though I felt Creepy Taking Them”
Click the picture to embiggen. Bonus: The Moment I Felt the Most Like a Jerk
I was at the light when I saw the man sleeping. I found a parking spot, got out my camera, walked to a good vantage point, and… the man sat up. Then I got annoyed. Yes, I got annoyed that a homeless man dared to re-position himself on a crappy, uncomfortable bus bench before I could take a picture of him.
Bonus: The Moment I Felt the Second-Most Like a Jerk
When I took this picture.
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Bicyclist-Killing Driver Gets 90 Years
Driver who hit, killed bicyclists sentenced to 90 years
While there is some satisfaction in finally seeing a person who killed and injured bicyclists, It’s frustrating that it takes a crime as horrific as killing two people, injuring many more, and then getting caught laughing about the testimony for some form of justice for the riders and their families to be meted out. Far too many of these killings end with an “oh, well.” In this month alone, three people on bikes were killed in a one week period, and I’d bet a nickel that the worst anyone gets is a suspended license. I don’t really think even that weak punishment will happen.
I teach in Burbank. A student at my school was hit while riding her bike. The driver watched while the kid pulled herself and her bike out from under the car. The driver got in her car claiming she was calling the kid’s parent, then drove off. A fellow teacher who is a hardcore rider got knocked down riding his bike in a bike lane on a main street in Burbank. The driver got away with it. That’s two people I know who were ridinging completely legally and nearly got killed in the last six months.
Have you ever seen a ghost bike? They look like this:
Image source: https://rvamag.com/news/community/a-ghost-bike-memorials-removal-and-what-it-means-for-the-community.html I’m pretty careful when I ride, but Los Angeles roads are not built for me. A lot of Los Angeles drivers believe that getting to their destination a few minutes faster is more important than me getting to my destination alive. Watch for ghost bikes. Watch for me so I don’t become a ghost bike.
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Storyboarding
My monkeys make movies. I make my monkeys make storyboards. When they make their first ones, they almost always use stick figures, which makes it really hard to know things like character size, position, and direction. I’ve started pushing them toward variations on Ivan Brunetti’s cartooning, and it’s really helping them be more expressive on the page.
Storyboard for The Wisdom Tree 
Storyboard for The Wisdom Tree It’s kind of surprising how much the simple shapes can express. And the kids are actually trying to match their shots to their storyboards. Neat!
If you want to try some Brunetti for yourself, he’s got a book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300170998/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
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My Least Favorite Call For Donations
I like Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. I even (briefly and indirectly) worked for them. But I don’t care for this:
If I had a nickel for every time I got one of these… I understand that donations matter and that every nickel counts. I understand that sending money, even a nickel, draws attention to the request. And I also understand that a mailer with a nickel costs at least a nickel more than a mailer without one. Don’t send me money when you’re asking me for money. It’s weird.
Again, I have nothing against CHLA. They do good stuff. You should give them money. Go to chla.org/give and throw a few bucks in to help some sick kids. I just did. But tell them Luke doesn’t want their nickels.
…and no fair pointing out that their marketing not only worked on me, but got me to advocate for them as well.