Leaves You Wanting Less

SotD 12-31

Song:

"Get Together" by Earl Brown from Jamaica Funk: Original Jamaican Funk and Soul 45s.

Download 01_get_together.mp3

Meme (Top Ten):

Music

• Panda Bear      ‡ Person Pitch       †Not the first four minutes, or the last, but the middle 4 mins.;    ‡
  
• Tunng      ‡ Good Arrows ;    ‡Freedonia fav goes big with boy-girl harmonies. still fostering a big boy crush.
  
• Grinderman      ‡ Grinderman ;    ‡"I played the guitar by the hour/ I petted her vile little chihuahua
  
• Shocking Pinks      ‡ Shocking Pinks ;    ‡ Flying Nun + DFA
  
• Bill Callhan      ‡ Woke on a Whaleheart
  
• Nicole Willis & the Soul Investigators Keep Reachin' ;    ‡ Winehouse, Sharon Jones, et al be damned
  
• Bowerbirds ;    ‡ Hymns for a Dark Horse ;    ‡ the best Rosebuds album ever
  
• PJ Harvey ;    ‡ White Chalk ;    ‡ one of the best Cat Power Records ever
  
• Christy & Emily      ‡ The Gueen's Head  †† just dreamy
  
• Pylon      ‡ Gyrate +  †† everything is cool
  

Books (From a small pool due to the personal 2007 Book Buying Moratorium) -- Thanks to all who lent or gave me these books over the year.

• Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano. ††† Believe the hype. finally the foil to the overidentification of South American literature with Magical Realism
• No One Belongs Here more Than You & Learning to Love You More by Miranda July.†† Apparently third-wave feminism will be both cuddly, ironic, and vaguely menacing.
• Spook Country by William Gibson. † Once again, the pater familias of cyberpunk gives us realism on global capitalism rather than trying to pre-program the future with sci-fi. somehow better and funnier. 100 dollar bills as the universal currency of bad shit. ... indeed.
• Exit Music by Ian Rankin. †20 years of Rebus from the hipster father of Tartan Noir.
• Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson. † Manages to cram every Vietnam cliche and still feel right.
• Pork and Sons.†† for those porcine-inclined who can't shell out the 250 bucks for Martin Picard.
• Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. †† the allure of Daemonolgy.
• Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon. Chabon rebounds from generic analytic rehabilitation of Holmes with the best speculative hard-boiled detective novel since Murakami.
• Arboretum by David Byrne.††† Less about trees than graphically representing knowledge.

Film

• No Country for Old Men
  
• Brand upon the Brain!
  
• Into Great Silence
  
• Lady Chatterly's Lover
  
• Syndromes & a Century
  
• Killer of Sheep
  
• Fay Grim
  
• Inland Empire
  
• Hot Fuzz
  
• Eastern Promises
  old:
• Adventures of Prince Achmed. plus silhouette shorts at the Bridge. amazing.
  

SotD 12-29-30

Song:

"Anyone Else But You" by Michael Cera & Ellen Page from the Juno Soundtrack.

Download 19_ellen_page_michael_cera_anyone_else_but_you.mp3

Meme (Googlegeist):

Fastest Rising (global)
iphone
badoo
facebook
dailymotion
webkinz
youtube
ebuddy
second life
hi5
club penguin

Fastest Rising (U.S.)
iphone
webkinz
tmz
transformers
youtube
club penguin
myspace
heroes
facebook
anna nicole smith

Fastest Falling (global)
world cup*
mozart
fifa
rebelde*
kazaa
xanga
webdetente
sudoku
shakira
mp3
*featured in our 2006 fastest-rising list

Methodology
In compiling the 2007 Year-End Zeitgeist, we studied the aggregation of billions of search queries people conducted on Google. We should note that no individual searcher's information was made available to us. Except where noted, all of these search terms are most popular for Google.com in the U.S.

SotD 12-28

Song:

"Tiger Phone Card" by Dengue Fever from Venus on Earth

Download 03_tiger_phone_card.mp3

meme (Dengue Fever):

History of Dengue

The first reported epidemics of DF occurred in 1779-1780 in Asia, Africa, and North America. The near simultaneous occurrence of outbreaks on three continents indicates that these viruses and their mosquito vector have had a worldwide distribution in the tropics for more than 200 years. During most of this time, DF was considered a mild, nonfatal disease of visitors to the tropics. Generally, there were long intervals (10-40 years) between major epidemics, mainly because the introduction of a new serotype in a susceptible population occurred only if viruses and their mosquito vector could survive the slow transport between population centers by sailing vessels.

A pandemic of dengue began in Southeast Asia after World War II and has spread around the globe since then. Epidemics caused by multiple serotypes (hyperendemicity) are more frequent, the geographic distribution of dengue viruses and their mosquito vectors has expanded, and DHF has emerged in the Pacific region and the Americas. In Southeast Asia, epidemic DHF first appeared in the 1950s, but by 1975 it had become a frequent cause of hospitalization and death among children in many countries in that region.

Current Trends
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In the 1980s, DHF began a second expansion into Asia when Sri Lanka, India, and the Maldive Islands had their first major DHF epidemics; Pakistan first reported an epidemic of dengue fever in 1994. The epidemics in Sri Lanka and India were associated with multiple dengue virus serotypes, but DEN-3 was predominant and was genetically distinct from DEN-3 viruses previously isolated from infected persons in those countries. After an absence of 35 years, epidemic dengue fever reemerged in both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China in the 1980s. The People's Republic of China had a series of epidemics caused by all four serotypes, and its first major epidemic of DHF, caused by DEN-2, was reported on Hainan Island in 1985. Singapore also had a resurgence of dengue/DHF from 1990 to 1994 after a successful control program had prevented significant transmission for over 20 years. In other countries of Asia where DHF is endemic, the epidemics have become progressively larger in the last 15 years.

In the Pacific, dengue viruses were reintroduced in the early 1970s after an absence of more than 25 years. Epidemic activity caused by all four serotypes has intensified in recent years with major epidemics of DHF on several islands.

Despite poor surveillance for dengue in Africa, epidemic dengue fever caused by all four serotypes has increased dramatically since 1980. Most activity has occurred in East Africa, and major epidemics were reported for the first time in the Seychelles (1977), Kenya (1982, DEN-2), Mozambique (1985, DEN-3), Djibouti (1991-92, DEN-2), Somalia (1982, 1993, DEN-2), and Saudi Arabia (1994, DEN-2). Epidemic DHF has not been reported in Africa or the Middle East, but sporadic cases clinically compatible with DHF have been reported from Mozambique, Djibouti, and Saudi Arabia.

The emergence of dengue/DHF as a major public health problem has been most dramatic in the American region. In an effort to prevent urban yellow fever, which is also transmitted by Ae. aegypti, the Pan American Health Organization started a campaign that eradicated Ae. aegypti from most Central and South American countries in the 1950s and 1960s. As a result, epidemic dengue occurred only sporadically in some Caribbean islands during this period. The Ae. aegypti eradication program, which was officially discontinued in the United States in 1970, gradually weakened elsewhere, and the mosquito began to reinfest countries from which it had been eradicated. es

SotD 12-27

Song:

"Rize" by Blood on the Wall from Liferz

Download 07-blood_on_the_wall-rize.mp3

meme (rize):

from William Gibson's Spook Country >>

"What?"
"What is this stuff?"
"Your medication," said Brown.
"It says 'Rize' and there's Japanese writing on it. It's not Ativan.
"Its the same fucking thing," Brown said, his delivery slowing threateningly. "Same DEA Schedule fucking Four narcotic."
Milgrim looked at the bubble-card.
"Now shut the fuck up."
He ehard Brown begin to type again.
He sat back down on the bed. Rize? His first impulse was to phone his man in the East Village. He looked at the phone, knowing that that wasn't on. His second was to ask Brown if he could borrow his laptop, so that he could Google this stuff. The DEA had a page with all the Schedule Four Products, foreign brands too. But then, he though, if Brown was really a fed, he might even be getting this stuff from the DEA.

------

But this new Devonian sea, the blood warm shallows in which these visions swam, belonged not to Ativan but to Rize, a Japanese product for which Milgrim had immediately formed a firm respect. There were possibilities inherent in Rize, he sensed, that might only be revealed with further application. There was a sense of mobility that had been lacking recently--though he wondered if that had anything to do with the fact that he was being held captive.
The advent of Rize, though, made it easier to get his hand around that concept, captivity, and he was finding that it rankled.

(49)

Radio Freedonia 12.4.2007

Radio Freedonia 12.4.2007 >

with DJ Poubelle

Download 01_part_i_dec. 4.mp3

W.H. Auden      †      New Year's Day
Moses Ellis      †      California Dreamin
Rodriguez      †      Sugarman
Man Child Singers      †      Right On
Parental Involvement PSA
John Cale      †      Hello There
YAP
Phosphrescent      †      A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise
Thomas Middleton      †      Sea of Glass
Shocking Pinks      †      The Narrator
Lee Hazlewood      †      Dirtnap Stories
Jim Noir      †      Computer Song
The Owls      †      Peppermint Patty
YAP with Poubelle
Sir Guy      †      Funky Virginia
The Clover      †      Remember
Stereolab      †      Les Guitars Electroniques
Groop Therapy      †      I've Got to Leave this World
Sixth Great Lake      †      Lovely Today (Up the Country)

{Cut}

SotD 12-25

Song:

"Dirtnap Stories" by Lee Hazlewood from Poet, Fool, or Bum

Download 01_lee_hazelwood_dirtnap_stories.mp3

Meme (the gift of annoyance):

Culture Geeks just pointed me to what may, in fact, be my favorite example of how the internet and snail mail can work together to make pranks a regular part of your daily intake. I speak of this ebay auction item (excerpt):
DRIVE SOMEONE INSANE WITH POSTCARDS

You are bidding on a rare chance to traumatize a treasured friend or relative with baffling, mind-numbing, mystery correspondence from abroad. I will be spending the Christmas holiday in Poland in a tiny village that has one church with no bell because angry Germans stole it. Aside from vodka, there is not a lot for me to do. During the course of my holiday I will send three postcards to one person of your choosing.

These postcards will be rant-ravingly insane, yet they will be peppered with unmistakable personal details about the addressee. Details you will provide me. The postcards will not be coherently signed, leaving your mark confused, guessing wildly, crying out in anguish. "How do I know this person? And how does he know I had a ferret named Goliath?"

Your beloved friend or relative will try in vain to figure out who it is. Best of all, it can't possibly be you because you'll have the perfect alibi: you're not in Poland. You're home, wherever that is, doing whatever it is you do when not driving your friends loopy with international prankery. Your target will rack their brains in the shower. At dinner. During long drives. At work. On the golf course. "Who did I tell about the time I got fired by a note on my chair?" they'll ponder, "And where the hell is Szczecinek?"

To add to the sheer confusion and genuine discomfort, one missive will be on an original promotional postcard announcing the 1995 television premiere of Central Park West on CBS. Another will be a postcard celebrating Atlanta's disastrous hosting of the 1996 summer Olympic games.

And the winning bid: $415.00!

You can thank comedy writer Brian Sack for the original prank (and for a hilarious Facebook Hitler profile also on his site), which may evolve into a "trend", because now there are seven "drive someone insane" offers on ebay. But none of them even remotely have the panache or innocence of the original, and they reek of opportunism (Sack wasn't really trying to make money, just have some silly fun).

But that doesn't mean it isn't a prank worth playing. So what are you waiting for? You are certainly more clever than some lame Glen Beck fan. If you live or are traveling somewhere a little bit odd (sorry Florida and NY copycats - that just does not cut the mustard for an "insane" postmark), jump on the bandwagon and offer to give the gift that keeps on giving. And you don't even have to ebay it. Offer to do it for free just for the love of the game.

Pictured above: Szczecinek Coat of Arms

SotD 12-24

Song:

"Zombie Boy" & "Too Drunk to Dream" by The Magnetic Fields from Distortion

Download 12_zombie_boy.mp3

Download 08_too_drunk_to_dream.mp3

Bonii -- "Three Way"

Download 01_threeway.mp3

Meme (list):

"CLUE"
ACCUSATIONS,
2012.

BY DAVID HART

- - - -

Colonel Mustard, identity theft, Ukrainian server room

Miss Scarlet, catastrophic hurricane damage, Manhattan shoreline

Professor Plum, character assassination by trolling, hyperblogosphere

Mr. Green, water-rationing-card devaluation, Texas

"Mrs." White, sexual-reassignment surgery, San Francisco

Mrs. Peacock, Mayan-calendar expiration, fourth dimension

SotD 12-22-23

Song:

"Wolves" by Wu-Tang Clan from 8 Diagrams.

Download 07_wolves.mp3

Meme (list)

Meme (list):

CORRESPONDENCES
BETWEEN TV CHARACTERS
AND SETS CONTAINING
A SPECIFIED NUMBER
OF ITEMS.

BY JAY WEXLER

- - - -

GILLIGAN'S ISLAND CASTAWAYS: SEVEN DEADLY SINS

The Professor: Pride
Ginger: Lust
Mary Ann: Envy
The Skipper: Gluttony
Mr. Howell: Greed
Mrs. Howell: Anger
Gilligan: Sloth

BARNEY MILLER DETECTIVES: FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF

Harris: Denial
Wojciehowicz: Anger
Dietrich: Bargaining
Fish: Depression
Nick: Acceptance

FACTS OF LIFE GIRLS: FOUR HUMORS

Jo: Yellow bile
Natalie: Black bile
Tootie: Phlegm
Blair: Blood

FRIENDS CHARACTERS: SIX PHASES OF RABIES PROGRESSION

Chandler: Slight pain and numbness at infection site
Rachel: Malaise and flulike symptoms
Ross: Agitation, paranoia, hallucinations
Joey: Excessive salivation
Phoebe: Complete delirium
Monica: Inevitable death

WHAT'S HAPPENING!! BUDDIES: THREE INNER-EAR BONES

Roger: Hammer
Dwayne: Anvil
Rerun: Stirrup

Radio Freedonia 12.19.2007

Download 01_12.19.2007.mp3

Roland Kirk Christmas Medley on Straight No Chaser
Yap
99 & a 1/2       †      Mavis Staples (We'll Never Turn Back)
See What Condition My Condition Was In      †      Bettye Lavette (Dirty Laundry: The Soul of Black Country)
Take This Heart of Mine       †      Marvin Gaye (Motown Complete Singles 1966)
White Hot Christmas       †      The Elves (Nick Rubin's Fruitcake)
Love Makes the World Go Round, but it's $$$ that Greases the Wheel       †      Dee Mullins (motown Compelte Singles 1965)
Yap
I Saw You       †      Yacht (David Shrigley's Worried Noodles)
The Noise of Carpet       †      Stereolab (Emperor Tomato Ketchup)
Frantz       †      Antena (Camino del Sol)
Holy Dances       †      Beach House (Devotion)
Dirty Boots       †      Sonic Youth (Goo)
Yap about Kenny Rogers / PSA
Killah Lipstick       †      Ghostface Killah (The Big Doe Rehab)
Gotta Eat       †      Lupe Fiasco (The Cool)
We Did IT Before       †      Lil' Wayne produced by Kanye (Tha Carter III Sessions)
Wolves       †      Wu-Tang Clan (8 Diagrams)
Yap and PSA
Yes, Sir       †      Redman (Live from the Bricks)
Pidgeon       †      Cannibal Ox (Cold Vein)
Glitter Pills       †      Health (Health)
In McDonald's       †      Burial (Untrue)

SotD 12-21

Song:

"My Egyptian Grammar" by The Fiery Furnaces from Widow City.

Download 06_my_egyptian_grammar.mp3

Meme (Stop the Blashphemy):

Mary's Little Secret- Attic Ted's Blasphemous X-Mas Opera

Texan wierdos, Attic Ted churn out an "Insane Asylum Country Gothic Carnival" organ driven clip-clop. They perform in cardboard masks, influenced by synthetic cubism, whipping themselves up into a manic frenzy for their live shows. Frontman/organ grinder Grady Roper rants with glee as the waltzes stumble down into a drunken wobble and sour oscillations swirl throughout.

For the past four years Attic Ted has been performing their Christmas "Opera" Mary's Little Secret- a tale of the Virgin Mary sleeping around with a traveling performer and giving birth to the little baby Jesus. It took a while, but it seems the Texan Bible thumpers have finally caught on and have called a protest to this year's show, in order to stop the blasphamy (sic). Grady Roper says:

So I go to the laundrymat last night to do some wash, and realize that Attic Ted has been getting talked about...not by the young artists and rockers but by some stuffy old fart sniffing Christians...trying to ruin our holiday fun! It makes me feel like all that hard work is finally paying off. Too bad our show doesn't start until midnight. I think them protesters will be out of Christmas carols by then.

It might all be a hoax, but...I dunno, it's Texas...Texas scares the shit out of me. Hopefully the flyer is genuine and the protest adds to the demented proceedings. Grady informs me that Mary was to have a miscarriage this year but fate stepped in and the little baby Jesus will be alive and kicking when he slips out.

If you're in the San Marcos area, Attic Ted will present Mary's Little Secret on Saturday, December 22nd at the Triple Cown. Here is a video of them performing a song from the show. Also! Listen to their song Climbing Up from the Attic Ted Land Suite.