WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Happy Life Day, One and All.

Thought it would be a good time to polish off this old chestnut. Happy Holidays!

The Next Generation of Metal

8-year-old plays Sabbath's Electric Funeral

6-year-old plays Crazy Train

9-year-old plays Crazy Train

Kids' band plays Crazy Train

Thank you to the one and only Brian Turner for the links!

Aaron Cometbus on Put the Needle on the Record TODAY

Fans of the excellent COMETBUS fanzine series will want to check out Billy Jam's show this afternoon at 3pm. Cometbus creator/writer Aaron Cometbus will be dropping by for a chat with BJ the DJ, who says,

"Veteran punk rock drummer & author Aaron Cometbus has been gaining notoriety since the early 1980's when his pioneering East Bay punk band Crimpshrine arrived on the scene. Around the same time he launched the now legendary, long-running Cometbus series, at first a rough, stapled, handwritten Xeroxed punk fanzine -now a soft cover book format that is available only at small independent bookstores and music stores and which the author insists on selling cheaply - only a few dollars per copy. Before he exits the New York area next week to head west for the winter, the artist will stop by WFMU...."

Listen live today at 3pm, or check out Billy Jam's archives if you miss the live show.

All of WFMU's special upcoming programs, including Michael Shelley's interview with legendary Beach Boy Brian Wilson tomorrow morning, are listed here.

Doing the Math with Megan M.

This off the AP Wire last night:

"A 28-year-old man who attempted to pay for his bar tab with gum wrappers was arrested after a scuffle with a police officer on Tuesday night, authorities said. A bartender told police the man was playing pool with an open bottle of beer and spilled some of it on the table. She said he first tried to pay his $32 tab with a credit card, which was declined.

When police arrived and ordered the man to pay his tab, they reported that he began counting out gum wrappers as if they were cash."

Now, anyone who isn't a drunken idiot can tell you: gum wrappers ain't worth squat.

When I first read this story, I thought that he might have tried to pay with Bazooka Joe comics, in which gum is also wrapped. The comics could also be argued to possess a monetary value, as they are redeemable for valuable prizes such as x-ray spectacles and gold-plated insignia rings. This, of course, led me to the question: How many Bazooka Joe comics would it take to pay a $32 bar tab?

Let's do the math, shall we?

Using the information gleaned from this circa-1985 comic, we can infer that, at that time, 195 comics were worth 40 American cents.

Ergo

.40 = 195 comics
32/.04 = 80
80 x 195 = 15,600 comics would cover a $32 bar tab

These numbers have obviously not been adjusted for inflation, and time constraints prevent me from further calculations. I am leaving it up to you, the Beware of the Blog-reading mathemagician, to help me figure out this weighty problem.

Images courtesy of The Onion and childofthe1980s.com

Wire and Times New Viking Memories

WFMU ended its amazing 50th Anniversary Free Music Series last night at the Fillmore East in NYC with a show featuring Times New Viking and Wire.    Early reviews have deemed the entertainment "great" and "AWESOME".   What did you think?  Did you catch the live broadcast or were you lucky enough to score one of the free golden tickets?  The show is not archived, so feel free to share your reviews/ memories in the comments section below, since the fun will live on in memory alone.

Oh, and in pictures and video clips, some of which you can see here, and here, thanks to Trent and John Dalton! 

Get Ready to ROCK... Again!!!

The sequel to the play-along-with-the-music video game Rock Band, Rock Band 2, is coming out this Sunday! To celebrate, Trent will be hosting another live video game playing session on his show Monday 9/15, from 8 - 11pm EST.

Rock Band 2 is like the wildly popular Rock Band, but with more songs. Tune in live Monday evening to hear your favorite WFMU DJs (and others) slaughter the classics (virtually) via the brand new hyper-karaoke game. If you'd like to play live in the studio or remotely on Xbox Live, email Trent ASAP!

You can hear the last Rock Band session Trent aired (featuring Bryce on Tom Sawyer, Nick the Bard on Black Hole Sun, Maria on My Sharona) by checking out the archive here.

The full list of songs can be found after the jump, and you can see all of WFMU's upcoming special programs here.

Diamanda Galas speaks on The Brother Lucy Show

Composer, pianist, activist, and shamanistic chanteuse Diamanda Galas joined Kurt Gottschalk on The Brother Lucy Show yesterday morning for an engrossing conversation about vocal music from Greece, Anatolia, and Turkmenistan. If you were sleeping in, you can still hear this special interview by clicking this link for streaming mp3 or this link for streaming RealAudio.

LOLBush... at the Olympics.

More here...

Thanks to Brian for the link...

WFMU Listeners Get Mail, part 1

We get mail, yeah, but WFMU Listeners also get mail, and sometimes, they get a little extra. Listener Chris B. in NJ shares this amusing anecdote about something special in his mailbox:

"I just received my Marathon swag today. My premiums were obviously too much fun for one envelope, as somewhere between here and Jersey City, the back panel blew out like grandpa's union suit trap door . The Post Office rendered a big white patch, a lot of packing tape, and a profuse apology on a surrounding poly bag. The good news is all the swag was intact and accounted for upon receipt.

Here's where it gets interesting: also included in the repaired envelope was an instructional DVD on the use of the Dermabond ProPen topical skin adhesive, along with a Dermabond logo surgical cap.

I have to assume one of two things: WFMU has entered into a crafty corporate sponsorship deal due the amount of bloodletting and injuries that accompany their mailings, or the USPS has found a creative new way to clear detritus from the dead letter office. Pictures are attached [ed: click to enlarge] for your amusement."

One might also imagine that some hapless NJ Postal employee out there is improperly applying their topical skin adhesive. Maybe that's how the package got accidentally torn open?? Oh dear!

Les Crane Passes On

Broadcasting historians and one-hit-wonder enthusiasts may want to take note of the death of Les Crane this past Sunday, aged 74.

Considered a pioneer of the talk-show format, Crane got his start on the radio in 1958 at KONO in San Antonio. After a stint at WPEN in in Philadelphia, he went on to KGO in San Francisco, where, according to his wikipedia profile, "he delighted and irritated callers and listeners with his forthright style and unwillingness to suffer fools quietly, often hanging up on callers in contravention of the polite ethos of the time."

In September 1963, he debuted on ABC-TV, where he hosted a couple of late night talk shows through the end of 1965. Crane, considered rather hip and edgy, was known as "the bad boy of late night television" according to the New York Times of his times. He conducted the first televised interview of the Rolling Stones in the United States in June 1964, and also hosted Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Bob Dylan, George Wallace, and Lee Harvey Oswald's mother, among others. He later worked as an actor on television shows such as "The Virginian" and "Love, American Style".

In 1971, Les Crane's reading of the poem "Desiderata" reached number 8 on the Billboard Charts, and earned him a Grammy for best spoken word recording. Its inspirational tone hit a chord in the popular sentiments of the times, but Crane disavowed the recording in 1987, saying "I can't listen to it without gagging", and even expressed his preference for the National Lampoon's parody version of the hit called "Deteriorata", released in 1972. (Station Manager Ken played both songs (the Crane version first) on his radio program back in on September 26, 2001 (streaming real audio))

Les Crane ended his working days as the chairman of a software company in northern California. He is survived by his daughter (whom he had with actress and ex-wife Tina Louise) and his wife of 20 years.

"Desiderata" by Les Crane followed by "Deteriorata" by National Lampoon on Ken's 9/26/01 show
Les Crane's wikipedia entry
Les Crane's obituary in the New York Times

Astorians welcome Saw Festival July 5th

If fate places you in the neighborhood of Astoria, Queens tomorrow, the 6th Annual NYC Musical Saw Festival might be the place for you to be. 

DJ Bronwyn C says this is "the concert of the summer.   The idea of a musical saw backed up by a handbell choir makes the top of my head blow off".

This author agrees.  What better way to celebrate America's freedom from the tyranny of its imperial British overlords than by watching Saw Players and hearing the Singing Sounds of the Saw? 

Featured entertainments include:
* Natalia ‘Saw Lady’ Paruz presenting the musical saw as an ensemble instrument with participation from 2 singers, a pianist and a handbell choir.
* Nicholas Bardach of Germany will give a presentation spoofing classical music with the saw.
* The world premiere of a new saw composition.
* An art exhibition featuring the musical saw in paintings and a video installation.
* Solo performances by many musical saw players.
* The Chorus of the Saws - all participating saw players will play together: Schubert 'Ave Maria' accompanied by church organ, and 'Over the Rainbow' accompanied by piano.

More info: www.SawLady.com/musicalsawfestival.htm

When: Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 2pm.
Where: Trinity Church, 31-18 37th Street (37th Street at 31st Avenue), Astoria, NY

Decorate your Desktop with WFMU Wallpaper

Now you too can decorate your computer desktop the way the Movie Stars do, with our amazing WFMU Wallpaper!  To take advantage of this fabulous offer, simply click the link below for your desired selection, and once it loads, right click over the image and choose "Set as Wallpaper".  Or, if your computer doesn't have that option, you can right click on the image (once it loads) and choose to "Save Image As.." and then set the wallpaper via your computer's control panel settings.  This site has more information on how to set your wallpaper up, or you can drop me a line if you are still stuck. 

These recently added wallpaper designs adorned various Marathon goodies of the past.

Radio Ballet
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Nick Dewar choreographed this beautiful design for the WFMU sticker and postcard set back in 2006.

Where Dead Air Lives
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Marco Almera dug up this festive design for WFMU's 2004 T-shirt.

Sasquatch Drummer
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800x600, 295k.
Andy Ward drummed up this design for a WFMU t-shirt in 2007.

Bumper Sticker Streetscape
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J. D. King took a stroll to Coolsville and brought back this design for the 2007 Bumper Sticker.

Baby Loves WFMU
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As you can tell from this image, babies and kittehs love WFMU, and you can show that you do too!  Dr. Phrankenshop cobbled together this sweet scene for WFMU's 2006 sticker and postcard set.

Eat Flaming Death, Fascist Media Pigs!
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The copiously talented Dr. Frankenshop also manufactured this image, for WFMU's 2006 T-shirt.

Escuche!
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This design for the 2005 WFMU t-shirt can be pinned on Mark Zingarelli.

More fabulousity after the jump...

Skip work early today!!! WFMU Live at the Knitting Factory 3-6pm!

Good morning everyone!  Got any exciting  plans for the long weekend coming up?  If fate, or a big military boat,  places you in New York City today, you should know that the place to be at 3pm this Friday afternoon is downtown at the Knitting Factory (74 Leonard Street).  Jump ship early and join the fun as Billy Jam, Clay Pigeon, and Station Manager Ken broadcast freeform radio live, for free!!  Special guests will include Bisc-1, Broke MC, Jim & Karla Murray, Kid Lucky, DJ Thanksgiving Brown, plus DoseOne and Jel from the Oakland band Subtle who are all working a double shift at the Knit today as they have a show this evening as well.  Station Manager Ken has promised free WFMU t-shirts to any one who is or comes dressed up as a sailor, so it's time to pull those bellbottoms out of storage, and go have a good time witnessing the shenanigans, which will include live music, on-street mayhem, and god-knows-what-else.  You can catch what is sure to be a memorable radio experience live at 3pm today, or check Billy Jam's archives to relive the magic. 

WFMU's Myspace Band Buddies - vote for your favorites, FINAL ROUND!

Good morning people! 

This is it!  The last round of voting for your favorite randomly selected bands from WFMU's hefty list o' buddies at a certain social networking site of which you may have heard.  Thanks to everyone who's listened and voted so far.

Here's the deal, in case you missed earlier installments:  the band or bands who get the most "Pump it" votes each week will be forever exalted on my FIRST EVER MARATHON PREMIUM called "In MySpace, No One Can Hear You Scream" (you can still pledge to this year's marathon here). Last round's favorites were Satanicpornocultshop, Porest, Paid in Puke, For Esme, and Bonbomb! Congratulations, band buddies!! 

Who will be next? It's up to you!!!

WFMU's Myspace Band Friends, Vote for yer faves, Round 7!!!

Good morning people! Got some more music goodies this week for you to vote yay or nay to, courtesy of WFMU's hefty list o' buddies at a certain social networking site of which you may have heard. We've got Japanese collagists recycling Missy Eliot, The Ramones recycled by Christians, North American musicians named after recycled French Existentialism 101 exam terms, a track from the guy who put together the Sublime Frequencies "Choubi Choubi" compilation of folk and pop from Iraq, a song named after the capital of Iran, a New Jersey collagist named after a line from one of the greatest teen comedies ever, an atmospheric piece from Germany, and a straight out rocker, just for good measure. Consider it the Earth Day Special... or not....!!!

The band or bands who get the most "Pump it" votes each week will be forever exalted on my FIRST EVER MARATHON PREMIUM called "In MySpace, No One Can Hear You Scream" (you can still pledge to this year's marathon here). Last round's favorites were The Bran Flakes, Slasher Risk, and The Little League! Congratulations, band buddies!!

Who will be next? It's up to you!!!

WFMU's Myspace Band Friends, Pick your Faves, Round 6.

Hey, what's cookin', good lookin'?  After the jump you'll find some mp3's for your listening pleasure, selected at random from WFMU's extensive MySpace friends list.  We've got hip-hop for kids, Americana from Londoners, a healthy helping of Bran Flakes, and much more this week.

Here's the deal, in case you've missed earlier rounds:  listen to the mp3, check the profile if you want, and then vote!   

The band or bands who get the most "Pump it" votes each week will be forever exalted in the form of my FIRST EVER MARATHON PREMIUM called "In MySpace, No One Can Hear You Scream", offered for pledges of $75 or more to WFMU's 50th Anniversary Fundraising Marathon (you can still pledge here!) .   Last round's favorites were Ultrabunny!  Congratulations, band buddies!

Who will be next?  It's up to you!! 

WFMU's MySpace Band Friends - Pick your Favorites, Round 5!!!

Good morning people! 

After a short marathon-induced break, we're back with more randomly selected morning maniac music, courtesy of WFMU's lengthy myspace friends list!  Here's the deal, in case you've missed earlier installments:  listen to the song, check the profile if you want, and then vote!    

The band or bands who get the most "Pump it" votes each week will be forever exalted in the form of my FIRST EVER MARATHON PREMIUM called "In MySpace, No One Can Hear You Scream", offered for pledges of $75 or more to WFMU's 50th Anniversary Fundraising Marathon (you can still pledge here!) .  With the artists' gracious permission, the winning tracks from the 1st portion of this year will be compiled onto one CD, packaged lovingly, and mailed to your home in exchange for some dosh for the station's perilously emaciated coffers.   Last episode's favorites include So Cow, Copydex, Holmes, The Soap, Irmãos Panarotto, and Magic Carpathians.  Congratulations, band buddies! 

Who will be next?  It's up to you!! 

WFMU's MySpace Band Friends, Pick Your Favorites, Round 4!!!

Good morning everybody!  We're back with another healthy helping of mp3 treats courtesy of WFMU's lengthy myspace friends list!  The gist, in case you've missed the earlier installments:  listen to the song, check the profile if you want, and then vote!    

The band or bands who get the most "Pump it" votes each week will be forever exalted in the form of my FIRST EVER MARATHON PREMIUM called "In MySpace, No One Can Hear You Scream",   offered for pledges of $75 or more during WFMU's 50th Anniversary fundraising Marathon (going on now!!!).  With the artists' gracious permission, the winning tracks from the 1st portion of this year will be compiled onto one CD, packaged lovingly, and mailed to your home in exchange for some dosh for the station's perilously emaciated coffers.   Last week's faves included the Wobblies and Eleanor Roosevelt.  Congratulations, band buddies!  Who will be next?  It's up to you!!

A couple of notes to all you commenters out there:  first, this is a nice friendly contest!!! Last week, I had to take down an mp3 because a couple of people's not-so-nice comments made an 8-year-old girl cry her eyes out.  If you must criticize, please be constructive!  I can't take any more tears.  Secondly:  pledge! pledge! pledge!

Enough lecture!!! On to Music!! 

Dump it or Pump it? Round Three!!!

Good morning!  It's time again to turn our eyes and ears to a selection of bands from WFMU's gargantuan myspace friends list.  Here's the deal in case you missed the previous installments:  listen to the song, check the profile if you want, and then vote!   

The band or bands who get the most "Pump it" votes each week will be forever exalted in the form of my FIRST EVER MARATHON PREMIUM called "In MySpace, No One Can Hear You Scream", which will be offered during WFMU's 50th Anniversary fundraising Marathon (starting February 25th!!).  With the artists' gracious permission, the winning tracks from the 1st portion of this year will be compiled onto one CD, packaged lovingly, and mailed to your home in exchange for some dosh for the station's perilously emaciated coffers.   Last week's winners included The Steeds, The Wiggins and Hot Cha Cha - congratulations!

Who will be next?  It's up to you!!

Dump it or Pump it?? "WFMU Idols", Round Two

Good morning, people!  We're back with another savory gallimaufry of musical tidbits courtesy of WFMU's insanely long list of myspace music buddies.  If you missed the first post in this series, here's the basic gist:  Listen to the song.  Check out the profile, if you want.  Then vote! 

The band or bands who get the most "Pump it" votes each week will be forever exalted in the form of my FIRST EVER MARATHON PREMIUM called "In MySpace, No One Can Hear You Scream", which will be offered during WFMU's 50th Anniversary fundraising Marathon (starting February 25th!!).  With the artists' gracious permission, the winning tracks from the 1st portion of this year will be compiled onto one CD, packaged lovingly, and mailed to your home in exchange for some dosh for the station's perilously emaciated coffers.  So far we have The Toblerones, fronted by everyone's favorite WFMU prodigy (all growed up and channeling the Velvet Underground). 

Who will be next???  It's up to you!!!