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Notes from Austin, Volume 2 #26
Click Here for 1st page of NOTES
VOL 2 #26
Friday afternoon I went to the post office and mailed off
the footage of "Rector" to Hollywood to be processed. This
is the Super 8 B&W short film that I did with John Christensen,
Richard Eckersley and David Bilow a few weeks back. I can't
wait to see it. John gave a spectacular performance as a make-up
zombie.
Later I went to Waterloo Records for the Patti Smith autograph
thingee. I got there about 3:45 and there was a small line.
I waited with the others and, like all good line waiting times,
got to know my neighbors. One girl (okay, woman) next to me,
Kim, had grown up in Jersey and had seen Patti play in the
Bowery in the early 70's. That was awesome. There was also
a guy next to us who had done some dance/poetry performances
to some songs on "Easter" and "Horses." It was cool to get
to know these folks.
We had to wait outside and it was a little hot but the Waterloo
staff took extra good care of people. They lined us up in
the shade and even brought out plastic cups and glasses of
water! Can you imagine that! I was almost shocked into disbelief.
Patti arrived around 4:30 and it wasn't long till we were
ushered inside. We could see her signing autographs across
the store in the cassette section. It didn't take long for
us to get to her. I was almost shaking.
I got close. I took a picture. Patti was allowing the fans
to take photos and there was even a professional photog there.
When I was next in line, she stopped and started to make an
announcement. I thought, oh great - she's going to tell us
she has to go. Instead, Patti, the Earth mother, the goddess
of poetry and punk, told us that it had been hot in Dallas
when she performed the night before and the bus was hot on
the ride here because the A/C had broken and she hadn't been
feeling well all day. Again, I'm thinking - great - she doesn't
feel well - she's going to go... And again, instead, she thanked
us, she told us the love and the spirit of the people waiting
to see her, their kindness has made her feel very good. She
would be able to perform tonight. It was one of the most beautiful
and sweet things I have ever seen a performer do. The group
inside burst into applause. I said, "Oh Patti, Don't make
us cry..." and she said.. "You guys... don't make me cry..."
It was awesome.
I got up to get my copy of "Babylon," her 1970's book of
poetry signed and said "Hello Mama." Patti said... "Hi Elmer...
I'm Patti." She had thought I said, "I'm Elmer..." I was stunned.
I didn't know what to say. She was autographing my book and
I was so afraid she was going to write "To Elmer.." Then I
thought - what the fuck - that would be a great story anyway."
(She just autographed it). I also had a copy of her new CD
"Gung Ho" which I had bought at Waterloo a few weeks back.
I only brought it because I was afraid they were only going
to allow you to get an autograph if you had the new CD. They
had said all day while we were in line that it would be one
item autographed per person, so I was happy to just get the
book autographed. But Patti grabbed my CD and said, "I can't
resist my dad." A picture of her dad graces the cover of "Gung
Ho." She signed my CD too. I got two autographs! I said, "Thank
you," (I hope. God I hope I had the wherewithal to at least
say thank you) and walked off. I waited for Kim and the other
guy I had met. Kim and I hugged. It was an awesome moment
in time. Brilliant. I will never forget it!
After the autograph thingee, after I could walk again, I went
to Cheapos and sold some old CD's. I need a little extra cash
this week. I just sold some old junk I never listen to. While
they were coming up with a total, I looked around the store.
I have been meaning to look for some Plasmatic CD's, in particular,
"Beyond the Valley of 1984," but perhaps the eponymous debut
album too. They had no Plasmatics at Cheapos. No Patti Smith.
No interesting new Bowie stuff. I did find a used copy of Hobble's
first CD "Wre ckid." It's pretty good stuff. I particularly
like "Godzilla" (an original - not a Blue Oyster Cult cover)
and "Downhill." An instrumental called "Doublewide" that finds
lead singer Oriah playing horns is also quite awesome. My favorite,
however, is "8 Track Tape Player," mainly because it is one
of their standout live songs. The CD is awesome but a bit too
polished. It is probably impossible to capture the awesome raw
energy of a live Hobble show. Oriah is so phenomenal live that
there's just no way a recording of the event could ever evoke
all that the live show does. They do, on "Wre ckid," use some
studio techniques to try and make playful use of Oriah's vocals.
"Downhill" is a great example of this, where the vocal track
is manipulated to make it more unique and interesting.
Hobble is supposed to have a new CD called "Blackmassking"
out soon. I can't wait.
Friday night, I talked to Tim
the Wonderhorse on the phone for a bit. I was hoping to
work on some video footage I shot with Kelly O'Hare a few weeks
back. For some reason this made me want to hook up with Tim.
We talked a lot but he had some other plans. I ended up working
on the Kelly footage, which I was trying to make into a piece
called "Pud," on my own. I worked on it for a couple hours and
came up with some stuff I liked, nothing great though.
At around 11, I went down to 6th street and hung out at
Casino's for a while. Casino was there and I said howdy. He
was talking about going to the Patti Smith show to some guy.
I really like the staff at Casino's, they take good care
of me. There is a rather buxom young woman working there now
that is always so sweet. Plus Ivan and Lifto, the new cutie
barback, and all the others. It's such a cool bar.
I left around 1 and stopped at Room 710 on my way to my
car. It's a cool bar too. They had a lot of local bands on
the jukebox. They even had an early copy of Hobble's "Blackmassking"
on the CD jukebox as well as the "Rock Opera" soundtrack and
CD's by Pocket FishRMen, Voltage and more.
Oriah better set me up with a copy of "Blackmassking," or
I'm gonna freak!
There was a live band playing, finishing up their set, but
I can't remember who they were. 710 is going to have a lot
of local live alternative bands play. The bar is really weird,
it's like two rooms divided by a bar and the bathrooms. You
can see the area where the band plays over the bar from the
entranceway. It was free to get into the club, but if you
wanted to go over to the side where the band was, it was 3
bucks. You could see and hear the band just fine from the
"free" side, so I didn't pay.
On Sunday, Tim the Wonderhorse came over and played some music
he has been making and recording using computer programs. A
lot of it would work great as score for film. Much of it was
pretty interesting techno beats and stuff. We talked a bit and
then tried to make a quickie video film but it didn't turn out
very well. At least we tried.
I've been trying to work on the video "Pud" that I shot
with Kelly O'Hare some as well. I've got some interesting
little bits here and there and an idea for the finished product.
I just need to sit down and work on it and see what happens.
Miss Xanna Don't invites
all of us to "Celebrate the clearing of Janet's name by listening
to: THE JANET RENO SONG (via the link below)!"
http://www.mp3.com/artists/43/miss_xanna_dont.html
Says Xanna, "Love that great big gal...!" Actually, this
is a great way to get to hear how awesome Xanna is! I wish
she would get a band together and get back on the scene. She
is just so wonderful.
"Everyone comes and goes so quickly here!" Very late Sunday
night, I had dinner with my friend Max. He's probably going
to be leaving Austin for a few months to go home to his family.
I hope he comes back to town like he promises. He's a great
guy to know. Full of energy. It struck me, after we talked,
that Austin is a town where people come and go. With the college,
the technological companies, the artists and filmmakers; People
in Austin are often quite transient. They either move back to
their old life or move on to bigger and better things. Austin
is a town in flux. And while I love this, it does make having
friendships more difficult. Just about the time you get to know
and really like someone, they move on. It can be troubling,
but at least it's never boring!
Tuesday, Tim the Wonder Horse dropped by yet again and we played
with making short silly videos. The first one we made was a
stupid one-joke flick about me stealing his name badge from
work. The second one was a hilarious and cheesy improvised bit
where he left "our" dog in the park because it got too much
attention. I thought it was damn funny. As I was about to hook
the camera back up to the TV so we could watch it, I stepped
on the cord, the camera dropped from my hands onto the floor
and then proceeded to not work correctly when I picked it up.
Yep, I broke my own damn camera. ARRGGHHH!
Wednesday night, I caught myself on Lube TV (Cable Access channel
10 at 11pm on Wednesdays). I was the special guest on the show
with John Christensen and Mark Brauner. I thought I was really
funny. I thought the show was really great. The Cramps video
John played was really awesome and weird. And, of course, John's
own twisted cross-dressing "Monologue" was the perfect capper
for the insanity. It was a pretty kick-ass outing in my opinion.
They also identified me as "Lodger - Teen Idol" which was sort
of an inside joke because that's what they used on the screen
as a joke when Wiley Wiggins stopped by the show. Wiley showed
his film "Binary Cancer Tacos" on his appearance. That boy is
just plain fucked up in the head!
I'm also on the next two episodes. Mark and John and I seem
to have a pretty good chemistry on screen. Next week, it's
the debut of the film I made with Tim the Wonder Horse called
"Monster Piss" and in two weeks, it's an episode where they
play the entire 20+ minute version of Bowie's "Jazzing for
Blue Jean" video (directed by Julien Temple).
Look for the spam e-mail coming to you Austinites soon.
And if you live out of Austin and want a tape, just ask. I
might send ya a dub.
After watching the valentine episode of "The Real World"
(I hate David! I love the gay guy!), I watched "The Austin
Connection" (Wednesdays at 12 midnight, cable Channel 16).
DJ Kadabra was in the house and he spun some awesome trance
stuff. I really dug his set. He played a song that is on the
CD that Kelly played while we filmed "PUD" at his place several
months ago. Someone even called about the song and Kadabra
said it was by a band called System F. It's a cool song. The
graphics were also a lot better on this show.
Let's face it, I watch this show for two reasons: 1) You
get to see a DJ mix and that's pretty cool. Plus Kadabra is
young - like 16 - and he is sharpening his skills. He's a
great DJ now, and in time, he will be amazing! It's cool to
see him early on like this. And 2) Dammit - sorry - he's just
as cute as can be. (I don't care if his girlfriend does get
mad)! Plus Tucker was back on this show and he's cute and
funny too. Sure, these guys are obviously straight but it's
still fun to watch them and hear them interact with the callers
- the good and the bad. Kadabra even dances and goofs while
he does his set sometimes and it looks really cool. It's a
TV SHOW. There has to be some action going on. There has to
be visual stimuli. Just rave music and computer graphics are
not enough to keep people interested. Too bad they can't have
more of a live audience and more stuff going on when the show
is about the music (like a post-post modern rave "American
Bandstand"). Right now, the best reason to watch it would
be if you are a young DJ and want to watch someone else spin.
You can actually learn quite a bit from watching Kadabra.
I wonder what's gonna happen to the show when school starts?
And that's a wrap for this week boys and boys.... lodger2000
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1st page of NOTES VOL 2 #26
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