You may have noticed things have been a little slow around the OcPot this week, because I spent the past weekend visiting my parents in scenic Peoria, Illinois. I’m now paying the usual price for taking a couple of days off, with everything I have to do piled up to twice its normal height. It’ll […]
Entries Tagged as 'New Wave'
Music: Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime”
June 24th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Chicago, Culture, Journal, Music, Neo-Futurists, New Wave, Performance, Theater, Video
Time to haul out a real classic. It’s hard to explain to someone who wasn’t around, and tuned in to the new music scene, just how electrifying this video was in the first few years of the 1980s, when you’d catch it on the scattershot music video shows that existed before MTV. I still think […]
Tags:
Roundup: Irish Sea Eagle Edition
June 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Blogs, Climate Change, Culture, Feminism, Film, Internet, Law, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Politics, Roundup, Science, TV
POLITICS: The Senate Judiciary committee has voted 13-3 to authorize subpoenas for documents related to the NSA warrantless surveillance program. That includes three Republicans on the committee voting in favor of the subpeonas: Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Poland “stuns” other members of the European Union by demanding that […]
Tags:
Music: Crowded House Releases “Don’t Stop Now” (with Video and Neil Finn Interview)
June 18th, 2007 · Comments Off on Music: Crowded House Releases “Don’t Stop Now” (with Video and Neil Finn Interview) · Culture, iTunes, Music, New Wave, News, Video
Crowded House’s new single “Don’t Stop Now,” written with Johnny Marr, was released last week and is available from iTunes. (Click the record cover at right for a handy iTunes link.) Meanwhile, I’m thrilled to report that I have a ticket for the Sunday, Aug. 19 show at House of Blues here in Chicago. (I […]
Tags:
In Chicago: Rachel Claff Is Busting Out All Over
June 17th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Books, Chicago, Culture, Film, Fringe, LGBT, Lit, Music, Neo-Futurists, New Wave, News, Nightclubs, Performance, Poetry, The Partly Dave Show, Theater
I haven’t done one of these Chicago Fringe scene reports in a while, so here’s what’s on my radar this week: The Neo-Futurists’ annual festival It Came From The Neo-Futurarium VI: Curse of The Neo-Futurarium, consisting of staged readings of various camp-ready old films, kicks off this Thursday, June 21 at 8pm. The first installment […]
Tags:
Music: Jacques Brel, Marc Almond, and “Jacky” — with a Side of David Bowie
June 12th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Culture, Film, LGBT, Music, New Wave, Performance, Video
As Marc Almond-mania mounts to fever pitch in anticipation of the impending release of Marc’s new album Stardom Road later this month, this post at After Elton has me thinking about Jacques Brel — who has long held a secure spot among the top 10 artists who make me wish my command of French were […]
Tags:
Music: “Free Money” for Rent Day from Patti Smith
June 5th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Chicago, Culture, Music, New Wave, Video
Today’s rent day,* here in Chicago anyway, so here’s some Patti Smith to soften the blow. This is Patti doing my favorite song from Horses, “Free Money,” at the final CBGB’s show on October 15, 2006. (Dodgy sound and video quality — looks like a phone video — but the historic nature of the occasion […]
Tags:
Roundup: Magnum Opus Edition
June 4th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Magnum Opus Edition · Apple, Books, Comics, Culture, Food, Heroes, iTunes, Language, LGBT, Lit, Media, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Tech, TV, Vegetarian & Vegan
COMICS: For once I’m starting out with the comics section, in honor of the fact that Salon has added Opus by the mighty Berkeley Breathed (Bloom County, Outland) to their repertoire. Oh, happy day. Here’s the first installment. Along with my favorites This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow and Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben […]
Tags:
Cooking with Kate Bush, or The Man with the Bean Sprouts in His Eyes
May 30th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Culture, Food, Health, Journal, Music, New Wave, TV, Vegetarian & Vegan, Video
I’m embroiled in some serious end-of-the-month deadline drama this week, so posting will probably be lighter than usual for the next few days. Fortunately for us all, Kate Bush is here to share vegetarian cooking tips! (From a 1980 TV interview.) Here’s to putting nuts in everything! I love the way Kate and the […]
Tags:
Roundup: Fried Ice Edition
May 28th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Fried Ice Edition · Blogs, Books, Climate Change, Comedy, Comics, Culture, Film, Food, LGBT, Music, New Wave, News, Organic Food, Politics
Profile of Newtok, Alaska: One of the first victims of climate change, a town gradually sinking into the mud. As the hardest hit of the 180 Alaskan villages suffering from erosion, “studies say Newtok could be washed away within a decade.” Iceberg of Yuck: The Consumerist says, “Poison toothpaste, killer cough-syrup, and tainted pet food […]
Tags:
Music: “The Wild, the Beautiful and the Damned” (and A Tale of Two Ultravoxes)
May 25th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Culture, Music, New Wave, Video
Here’s a nice video find for Friday: “The Wild, the Beautiful and the Damned” by Ultravox! (the early, John Foxx-led incarnation of the band). This song has possibly the most figuratively ambitious lyrics you’ll find in any song not written by David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, or Bob Dylan. And what a thrill to watch John […]
Tags:
Music: Captain Sensible — “If You Don’t Talk Happy, and You Never Have a Dream …”
May 18th, 2007 · Comments Off on Music: Captain Sensible — “If You Don’t Talk Happy, and You Never Have a Dream …” · Comedy, Culture, Music, New Wave, TV, Video
Just the thing for a Friday: Captain Sensible doing his version of “Happy Talk” (i.e., the best version ever!) on Top of the Pops. If you ask me, the parrot steals it. Bonus: Captain Sensible cereal commercial! … and the good Captain getting interviewed by a puppet. I just wish there were a […]
Tags:
Roundup: Carrot Whittling Edition
May 15th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Blogs, Culture, Education, Energy, Film, Food, LGBT, Music, New Wave, News, Politics, Science, Science Fiction, Tech
White light, green heat: LEDS aren’t just for clock radios any more. In fact, LED lightbulbs may turn out to be the bulb of the future instead of compact fluorescents. Thanks to a breakthrough in the 90s, modern LEDs can emit white light instead of just red or green. They last up to five times […]
Tags: