possibly maybe

a fantastic cover of bjork’s song “possibly maybe” (one of my favorite songs) by final fantasy and ed droste can be found here. bee-ooo-tiful.

xm

a bunch of old photobooth snaps…

from the 90’s. when we lived in noe valley (s.f.) we had a photobooth at a place down the street from us, and took full advantage of the proximity.

with love
m

campout 2008 sketch

good morning everyone – finished this last night. i’m pretty happy with it. let’s see what the pitch-a-tenters say… they will (eventually) be for sale in the wertzateria shop!

xm

do you yazoo?

my darlings,

just saw yazoo re-unite and play a show at the (most lovely) paramount theater this week, and was delighted not only by the performances (alison moyet can belt out a tune like none other, and vince clarke’s new arrangements left me breathless) but by the crowd’s reaction to the show, which was overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

i have seen hundreds of live shows in my time, and it takes a lot to get a (somewhat stoned/jaded) bay area crowd moving. not this time. the crowd was on its feet right away, screaming as loud as they could for as long as they could.

there was just the two of them on stage, but there was plenty to look at – what seemed to be levolor blinds in the background (how very 1980’s prince!) transformed into screens onto which were projected lovely bright new-wave graphics.

lots of gay boys and girls in the audience who, like me, were clearly raised on this stuff. i remember sneaking into my older sister’s room (who was at the show too – i love you, julie) and discovering the two yazoo records and playing them until the grooves wore out. didn’t they bring my love down? all night.

all night long i keep on getting overwhelmed and emotional (like during mr. blue) because when these records came out, i was in high school. and this music kept me company until i could find a date. alison’s voice is so lovely, and so plaintive, and vince’s music is so perfectly angular and spare. compare this music to any recording by ac/dc and remember why it seemed so revolutionary. those were the two choices.

for those of you who don’t know yazoo, here’s a little snippet from their upcoming (remastered and remixed) box set. turn it up and get out of your chair.

Bring Your Love Down (Didn’t I)

x, m

‘what it is’ is on sale

good morning ladies!

i’ve been reading the new lynda barry book what it is – it’s based on the writing class she teaches for non-writers, and it’s fantastic. i’m just now scratching the surface. every time i read one of her books, i have to be careful not to inhale the thing too quickly, so i’m trying to spend time with every page to breathe it in slowly.

pick yourself up a copy from drawn and quarterly (or support your local bookstore, and buy one there!).

do you wish you could draw?

do you wish you could write?

do you wish you could paint?

do you wish you could dance?

do you wish you could sing?

when did you first notice you were bad at something? then what happened?

here’s a podcast from the free library of philadelphia featuring lynda reading selections from what it is

here’s an article from lynda in tricycle magazine about using the paintbrush and making images by hand

a couple of previews from the drawn & quarterly wesbite

lynda’s myspace page where new writing the unthinkable classes are announced! and she always has great music playing on there, too.

love.

m