I'd like to take a minute to talk about a band I was in called Calibretto. I joined the band in 2002, right after the release of their second album on Tooth&Nail. At first I was just a sub for their bass player who didn't want to go on a month long tour. I was happy to go, even though I had to miss a few ITFOW shows. We didn't get all the way to the West Coast, but we got as for as North Dakota in the north,
...and Corpus Cristy, TX in the south.
I joined that summer and toured around with them for 2 years. Went to the west coast a couple of times, toured with a lot of great bands, and even went to Germany for a week.
It was sort of hard for us to get along. I would consider myself to be pretty bratty then, I would consider Joe to be extremely moody, and Christopher to be, not having any of it.
We put out Dead By Dawn on Standard. To this day... I say it's a great album. Maybe the greatest thing I've been apart of. You should get a hold of it.
Before we broke up we put out a split with Mercury Radio Theater. It's good, but odd.
Joe started a new band called Harley Poe. Their first album was actually recorded by us and was almost a Calibretto release, but it caused turmoil (with me) and broke up the band.
Joe's still kicking around Harley Poe. They sound exactly like Calibretto...but whatever.
"Because it's an enormous context that you have to keep in mind. It's an enormous structure. You can't do it inspirationally. You can't do it by looking at a piece of paper once and just decide what you're going to do. It's a whole enormous structure, much more complicated than a building, and you have to keep it all in mind, never contradict your outline, and carry it out. It's killingly difficult, but wonderful when you succeed at it."
I watched all 4 seasons of the Tudors this fall. I don't think it's very good, but anyway... During the episodes where Anne Boleyn played a role in the story, I couldn't help but to be reminded of our modern Boleyn sisters.
Over the years Jessica Simpson has become a household name, thanks to the success of "the Newlyweds", which ushered in the sister Ashlee. Behind all of the success was the father, Joe Simpson, who has been their manager since the beginning. Joe was formally a youth minister at a large church (that I've been in) in Waco, Texas. He pushed his daughters into the spot light, maybe to set a good example for the world, maybe to let the Christian light shine, maybe to make a bunch of money.
Arcade Fire has a song called "Antichrist Television Blues". The lyrics are from Joe's perspective.
"Lord, will you make her a star? So the world can see who you really are."
"Wanna hold a mirror up to the world So that they can see themselves inside my little girl."
In the Tudors, Anne's Dad does every maniacal thing he can think of to get his daughter to the very top of her potential.
And in the end it was obvious that he only really cared about his own success. In his final scene, he was spared his life and released from the kings court. As he walked away he saw his daughter in the tower preparing to be executed. She waved, but he didn't wave back. He just walked away.
The name Sally Rand was in no way familiar to me until 60 minutes ago, and now I feel compelled to write a blog about her.
I've been doing research on West/Central Texas in the early 1930s because I'm writing a book that takes place there and then.. I might as well being doing research on Texas in the 2030s because I'm clueless to what was going on there, what they dressed like, and what type of modern advancements they were using. (by the way if you know anyone who would like to talk to me about what they know about the 30s in Texas, send them my way)
I've found a few stories that took place at this time. One was about the arrival of Sally Rand to Fort Worth Texas. She was a hit at the Chicago and New York World's fair in 1933 with her "Feather Dance" burlesque routine.
Once a condemner of Sally Rand, after hearing of the huge success the World's Fair had with her addition, the Fort Worth's council decided she would be a great investment for entertainment for the Forth Worth Frontier Centennial.
Dallas (the rival) would also be holding their Centennial and this would surely win a victory over them. For months, in 1936, billboards all over Texas read "FOR EDUCATION GO ELSEWHERE, FOR ENTERTAINMENT COME TO FORT WORTH". In a 90 day period, over 900 articles were written about her in Texas. The billboards were of her and her girls dressed suggestively in western settings. There was a theme of a "Nude" Ranch.
Here she is, hangin' out at the Nude Ranch.
2 weeks ago I watched THE RIGHT STUFF. In the film there is a beautiful scene of the Astronauts being celebrated in Dallas. After eating food and sitting down Sally Rand performed the famous "fan Dance". At the time, she was in her early 60s. I didn't know it was an actual dance and there was one woman who created it. Now I know.
This is her famous "bubble dance".
I think this is a spoof from Chaplin's the Great Dictator (1940)
