Schroeder gets an OBE

"John Cale, a founding member of the Velvet Underground, also collected OBEs at Friday's investiture ceremony."

Cale - who arrived at the palace with his hair - said it felt "strange."



"Someone has decided that you have done, and it is your job," he said.

"It was coming. My mother would be very proud if she were alive today."

Born in south Wales, Cale first began working with Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground in New York in the mid-1960s.

He left the band in 1968 and has since recorded more than 20 albums.

A-Toenaility

That image amuses me, as it's probably one of the smallest ones I've ever seen, or, at any rate, one of the smallest images I've ever pasted. In retrospect, my dream about the razorblade under my toenail was probably inspired by the copy on the packaging of the TopCare TOENAIL CLIP with file that I bought last night:

"Strong, sharp blades.

Swing-out nail file."

(I think Swing-out Nail File was an English pop-jazz band that I used to listen to.)



Robert Altman's Jazz '34: Remembrances of Kansas City Swing

Kansas City Band "Tickle Toe"

"When you dream about bleeding...

it means you're embarassed," or so goes the song by Shockabilly. But what does it mean if you dream about Ron Metz, erstwhile drummer for the Human Switchboard, and Louis C.K., writer/director of "Pootie Tang," one of the finest surrealist works of the Noughties?



I remember I was once in the office of the New Music Distribution Service on lower Broadway, which took ages to get up to, because even though it was only on the third or fourth floor, the only way to gain access to it was via the slowest-moving elevator it's ever been my displeasure to use. I was sitting there idly watching the parking lot across the street, with its machines that lifted cars up and put them up on platforms like a giant warehouse forklift, and listening to this jazz drummer holding forth about his various opinions, including his extremely negative assessment of Ron Metz's skills. As it happens, this fellow suffered an untimely death*, so I'm not going to identify him here (e-mail me if you MUST know)...I am not ordinarily happy about people's passing, but any unhappiness that I might have felt was definitely tempered by this guy's fulminating. I dug Ron's playing, plus I always found him to be a decent guy.

Hey, here's a joke: Two drummers, Pete and Repete, are sitting on a log. Pete falls off; who's left? Repete! Two drummers, Pete and Repete, are sitting on a log. Pete falls off; who's left? Repete!

Also, I had a dream about clipping my toenails, and out from under one my nails, I pulled out a razorblade. I would not be offended if you said "Ick."

*In a way, all deaths are untimely, because if it's a decent person, they're gone too soon, and if it's a bastard, you think "What took so long?"

1969 – In Columbus, Ohio, Dave Thomas opens the first Wendy's restaurant.

49 guitars, 1 cup