Hmmmmm... Interesting.

Got this from Blogjam - The urinals of Aquarium a trendy club in London that allows you to pee and watch TV... Of course this would be in the men's room - the same place where you can always find a copy of the New York Times or print-outs from Yahoo Fantasy Football laying on the floor.
In any case - check out the urinal site for other crazy things, among them the trough that Ian will have to probably use when he runs the NY Marathon... Speaking of, I should probably "go" and then go to the gym...

I recently got a cd anthology of Laurie Anderson's work... a retrospective. I was realizing that it's been just short of 20 years since I owned Big Science. I used to be completely ga-ga over her stuff. I remember how freaky she first seemed - watching her on NightFlight (when it was really avant guard and had whole programs on cutting edge artists -- and New Wave Theater premiered right after...) -- they played the video for O' Superman, my preteen friends and I looked at each other in affixed puzzlement - what was she doing? Who was it that was calling her answering machine? Whose long arms? Whose Petrochemical arms? What's wrong with her hair? Was this New WAVE!?!? A year or 2 later, I buy Big Science, thinking it avant gaurde pop as opposed to Po-Mo art recorded for the masses. It was the kind of album you would play and lie back on your bed and look at the ceiling... Sometimes in the dark.
Of course, I remember the Rollingstone review of "Life in these United States" - 5 stars! It was 4 CD/LP set. Damned if I could ever afford anything that lavish then ($50 seemed really expensive for Vinyl back then)...
The year after, Mister Heartbreak seemed to be the ultimate. It was exotic, had strange bird noises and textures. (In Speech class, I embarassingly try to deliver her "Lang'da mour" in my most monotone delivery. Went over like a lead balloon in conservative state competitions, but the college judges liked it.) A few years later - Strange Angels tour in Portland, I finally got to see her live... and remember being floored how minimal, yet grand her tour was. She stripped it even further down 3 years later when she toured campuses shortly after the gulf war. It was mostly an oration, a few numbers, but less exploring, more opinion... even a political rant at one point. After Bright Red came out... I kind of lost touch, occassionally seeing her on a special or hearing a great film score she did (Fallen Angels uses 'Speak my language' very well)...
Then after 9/11, I rememered O' Superman and even worse, 'Into the Air' - the lyrics about aircraft, losing control, military, American identity, safety... and immediately wondered how she would piece all this together. I went to her website and found nothing new or updated, however I could almost hear her words talking about people, Americans... identity. Alienation was never her message - but more of optimism, sensing a need to connect with everyone... She seems to be able to speak with a compassion about our wreckless ways, and forgiving about our inevitable lack of hindsight.
Unfortunately, I was out of town for her last show -- but I bet it would be poignant as always...

Spoke too soon... and no, I didn't even look at the Sunday Times before I posted my musings on retro-retrofuturist nostalgia... In any case, now that this has been outed by the NYT, it's probably d.o.a (and we're not talking Pete Burns DOA either)... In a related article, they did give much kudos to Fischerspooner (another complete coincidence as I had been perusing their clever site just the other day.) Ian, Paula, if you are able - catch them. The show is supposed to be a big saucy sandwhich of entertainment. Then again, that's how I like to bill myself...

Should I shell out $$ for blogger pro because it has spellcheck? I'm looking at past blogs and seeing my spelling errors come back to roost. In any case - today was cold. I was underdressed and think I might be coming down with something. That or I'm just needing more sleep. Speaking of which... ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I couldn't help but pour over Rolling Stone's 50 Uncoolest Records, the opposite of their last month 50 Coolest feature (w/their disclaimer that these are albums they actually love - kinda like guilty pleasures)... I find it vaguely patronizing, a few of the artists deserving of some other tribute than "it's so bad it's good". I'm always compelled by arguments of taste because in 20 years, someone get's a facelift (metaphorically speaking) and the world is in love with them all over again... Case in point: Burt Bacharach. I'm currently listening to Reuben (from Ladytron)'s Datamath Phat Camp mix from Emperor Norton. I'm debating on seeing them this wednesday, but that's beside the point. I got to thinking about the whole Electroclash scene -- One hand, I want to throttle the GenY kids for rifling through my New Order and Yello LP's, telling them "enough goddam nostalgia", but on the other hand, I want to give them props for coloring in the lines, making something refresh, yet artful (that music was pure aesthetics if anything...) I think it's good to have a healthy irreverance hese days. Case in point? Fischerspooner - the troupe from NY that establishes a working link between Avante Guarde and the Solid Gold Dance numbers. As long as there's a sense of fun, a sense of creativity as opposed to fashion... Ann Magnuson said the world is divided into the Cool and the Groovy. The Cool are calculating and seldom take risks, the Groovy are all about taking chances and looking foolish. Fischerspooner probably apes the Cool, but are being pretty groovy...