Sonny J, Can’t Stop Movin’, Mirwais Mix, 2009.

You can find Movin’ on Sonny J’s 2008 debut record, Disastro. The Mirwais Mix version (above) came out last week. Sonny J will be spinning in Osaka, Japan on Valentine’s Day.

The DLR Edition of Assteroidz. Quite possibly the most awesome thing ever.

I don’t know what’s more awesome about this new online version of the classic arcade game, Asteroids. Is it that your asteroid smashing firepower comes out of DLR’s famous, flying spread-eagle crotch? Could it be that the vintage pounding bass sound of the original game has been replaced by the crotch-rattling intro to 1978’s, Runnin’ With the Devil? Or, is it the Sammy Hagar head shaped asteroid that randomly taunts DLR by floating across the screen screaming, “55!”? I say it’s all of the above.

The Diamond Dave Edition of Assteroidz (not a typo) is only a click away. Be ready to kiss anything productive you had planned for today goodbye.

Magnum Force Trailer, 1973.

Clint Eastwood’s seminal bad-guy shooter, Dirty Harry Callahan, may be coming to Broadway. Musician Robyn Hitchcock, a self-described Magnum Force addict, says he has signed on to write the musical score for a musical production of Eastwood’s 1973 flick, Magnum Force. Hitchcock’s Dirty Harry confessional to the UK’s Guardian went something like this…:

It’s a film that seemed to be on all the time when I was on tour. By the fifth time [I saw it], I became addicted to it. It’s taken a very strange hold on my life.

In 2006, the Eastwood obsessed Hitchcock even penned a song about the 1973 film Magnum Force called A Man’s Gotta Know His Limitations. Hitchcock will perform at The Triple Door in Seattle on February 21st. His latest record, Goodnight Oslo comes out on February 17th, 2009.

Consider your mind blown, Punk.

Coney Islands lease expired today, January 31, 2009.

All that will remain of Coney Island after today will be the Cyclone roller coaster and the 150-foot-tall Wonder Wheel. Both have been land marked by the city and will remain open in the future.

The first time I ever drank a beer in a bag was at Coney Island. Those were good times.

1/31/09 Update:

Thanks to those of you who emailed me to let me know that the news regarding New York’s historic Coney Island was closing are bunk.  Which is awesomely good news. Here is the scoop:

The Wonder Wheel is in a separate amusement park and not a part of Coney Island. Astroland is the only amusement park currently closed in Coney Island. The true Coney is 4 miles long.  Deno’s Wonder Wheel (amusement park) has a lease for the next 20 years.  Behind Deno’s is a kiddie ride park. The Elderado is OPEN – not Closed – The Sideshow by the Seashore & Freak Show is also OPEN they are separate owners and have not sold out to Thor Equities.  Several businesses on the boardwalk will be open next year.

I have loads of friends that live in places that are considered “radio wastelands”. Places where flipping on your radio can be hazardous. To your ears. Below, in no particular order, are my picks for the 10 greatest songs about the radio, that don’t get played on the radio…:

Cheap Trick, Heaven Tonight, 1978.

Cheap Trick: On the Radio

You can find On the Radio on Cheap Tricks’s 1978 record, Heaven Tonight. It’s safe to say that the only Cheap Trick songs you will hear on the radio are Surrender and I Want You to Want Me. Now ain’t that a shame...

The Earaches, Get the Revolution Out of Your Head, 1995.

The Earaches – Fake Radio

One of the greatest bands to ever emerge from a Seattle garage, The Earaches, recorded their one-finger-salute to commercial radio, Fake Radio for their 2005 record, Get the Revolution out of Your Head. The record is full of sweet, smash ‘em up tracks like Radio, and is arguably the bands best record. After 10 years together, the band members have moved onto different things. Vocalist August Henrich now fronts the Radio Rockets. Former Earaches bass player Oni Timm is still jamming with the Holy Name Dropouts. Sadly, like their predecessors The Sonics, the bands impressive catalog doesn’t get radio play. Radio: FAIL.

Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, 1988.

Public Enemy – How to Kill a Radio Consultant

It boggles my mind how one of the greatest hip-hop  groups of all time gets ignored by radio and is often vilified for their blunt, straight up lyrics. Of course, it’s not really surprising that Public Enemy’s, How to Kill a Radio Consultant never got any airplay, despite the fact that it’s a first class jam. The groups 1988 record, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is full of classic PE lyrical grenades. The record went Platinum thanks to heavy MTV video rotation of, Bring the Noise and Don’t Believe the Hype. Take that vapid radio waves.

The Kinks, Give the People What They Want, 1981.

The Kinks: Around the Dial

I am proud to say that this song from The Kinks 1981 record, Give the People What They Want, is a permanent resident on my iPod. The songs lyrics were a prelude to the mid-80’s demise of radio DJ’s that gave a shit about music. When money hungry programmers and computer generated play-lists began their hostile takeover of the radio waves, DJ’s who knew better would refuse to play the crap they were being spoon-fed. Which generally led them to fall into obscurity following a quick stop at the oldies station in town where all DJ’s are sent to die. True story.

Queen, The Works, 1991.

Queen: Radio Ga-Ga

If you were not familiar with Queen’s prolific catalog you might think that the band was only a a two-hit-wonder with Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are the Champions. Released 16 years after Rhapsody, The Works has some of my favorite Queen songs on it, like Hammer to Fall and Tear it Up. And you can bet you’ll never hear either one of those songs on the radio either. Someone might still love you commercial radio, but it ain’t me.

Tesla, Psychotic Supper, 1991.

Tesla: Edison’s Medicine

I refuse to be apologetic about including Tesla on this list. Especially since this song praises Thomas Edison and his early contributions that helped make modern radio a reality. As a matter of fact, if you’re in Tesla’s hometown of Sacramento, California tonight you can catch the band live at Sacremento Memorial Auditorium. Take that Nickelback.

LL Cool J, Radio, 1985.

LL Cool J: I Can’t Live Without My Radio

I couldn’t agree more with LL Cool J on this one. In 1985, LL released his first record, Radio on Def Jam. I blogged about this song a few weeks ago while extolling the hip-hop virtues of the movie Krush Groove. In a sea of amazingly bad mainstream hip-hop these days, you could pull out anything from LL’s 20+ year catalog and not go wrong. Shame on you commercial radio, you suck harder than a whore on Saturday night.

The Buzzcocks, A Different Kind of Tension, 1979.

The Buzzcocks: Radio Nine

A few months ago, I was rolling downtown with a couple of musically enlightened, good-looking friends when The Buzzcocks 1978 smash, “What Do I Get”, came on the radio. This car-radio anomaly prompted our handsome male companion to say “When is the last time you heard The Buzzcocks on the radio?”. Even though Radio Nine consists of 49 seconds of radio fuzz and random guitar licks, it doesn’t change the fact that they still don’t play The Buzzcocks on the radio. And that’s not okay.

The Clash, Capitol Radio, 1977.

The Clash: Capitol Radio One

Over 30 years later, the only band that matters, The Clash, still get radio play. However it’s the same songs over and over again like 1982’s Rock the Casbah or London Calling from 1979 or, um, Rock the Casbah. Capitol Radio One is from the bands 1977 EP, Capitol Radio.

Eazy-E, Eazy-Duz-It, 1988.

Eazy-E – Radio

Eazy-E released Eazy-Duz-It in July of 1988, one month before NWA’s groundbreaking record, Straight Outta Compton. The record includes stellar contributions from Eric B & Rakim, Ice Cube and MC Ren, who also appears on the cover of Eazy-Duz-It. Still, for some reason I keep seeing the image of Eazy, holding a sign saying “Will Rap for Food” in the video for Dr. Dre’s jam, Fuck Wit Dre Day. But that’s besides the point. The point is that they don’t play Eazy on the radio or Eazy’s Radio, on the radio.

Taylor Dayne, Tell it to My Heart, 1987. I’m not saying you should, but you can skip ahead to 1:09 for the actual vid.

I, like you, occasionally need to obtain food to eat like oranges and Vodka. My question to you is, why does the supermarket always smell sound like Eddie Money? While shopping for sustenance today, this is what I was forced to listen to:

Eddie Money: Take Me Home Tonight. On February 2nd, you can hear Eddie do Take Me Home live in North Myrtle Beach, SC. Or you could just head to the supermarket and listen to the song there. Tough call.

Taylor Dayne: Tell It To My Heart: Please see the 80’s fuckery that is currently stuck in my head at the top of this post. You can catch Taylor Dayne and Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees on the new season of Gone Country. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

Journey: Separate Ways. Of all the Journey songs in the world, this one has to walk into my supermarket. Please Sam, don’t play it again. Or I’ll cut you.

John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band: On the Dark Side. I think they play this song as you descend into Hell and while shopping for food. Wait a minute. Everyone knows there isn’t any difference between shopping for food and descending into Hell. My bad.

Dr. Octagon, Earth People. From Dr. Octagonecologyst.

Earth People is from Dr. Octogon’s 1996 release, Dr. Octagonecologyst. Dr. Octogon is Kool Keith, former member of one of the most influential hip-hop groups ever, the Ultramagnetic MC’s. Octogonecologyst, produced by Dan the Automator, was so crazy-great that shortly after it’s release, Dr. Octogon checked himself into Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital.

Keith’s new record, Stoned is set for release on March 17, 2009. Kool Keith will be in Seattle at Neumo’s on February 20th.

Gene Simmons and his giant Meatball…

Gene Simmons and his giant bowl of meatballs had dinner in Las Vegas last night. Steroidal funny man Carrot Top joined Gene for dinner and at one point fed Gene for the cameras. In addition to eating meatballs, Simmons was in Vegas for the launch party for his Moneybag line of apparel. Carrot Top is in Vegas performing at the Luxor for $65 bucks a head (!) through January 31st.

You can see the rest of the pictures of Gene’s date with Carrot Top at Dlisted.

Turn my iPhone into what…?

myVibrate is a brand new iPhone application that turns your iPhone into a mini vibrator. myVibrate lets you set the duration (up to 30 minutes) and the type of vibration, such as a continuous vibrate option. It will suck the life out of your iPhone battery pretty quickly (yes, I’ve tested it) but be forewarned, even with your sound turned off, it’s still fairly audible. But for 99 cents, you can go wrong.

In other sexy iPhone news, the folks at OhMiBod recently upgraded some of their toys, like the Naughtibod, the OhMiBod and GSpot to be compatible with the iPhone.

Scarlet Johanssen covers Jeff Buckley’s Last Goodbye. For Freddy Pants.

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!

Seriously Ms. Johanssen, with all due disrespect, please stick to what you do well. Such as acting, displaying your gravity defying cleavage on the red carpet and screwing your hot husband. My ears, and the ears of countless other Jeff Buckley fans thank you in advance for not taunting them with your tone-deaf musings anymore.

Fuck you very much,

Cherrybomb

Strychnine Sisters pendant featuring a photograph by Joshua Hoffine.

Photographer and full time horror enthusiast, Joshua Hoffine (who is often featured on this blog) has joined forces with jewelry makers Strychnine Sisters for a series of pendants featuring three of Hoffine’s photos.

Strychnine Sisters pendant is scaring me. Which is completely awesome.

Each pendant is nearly 2 inches wide, and sells for only $25 including shipping in the U.S. You can order one of these creepy pendants on Hoffine’s website or at the Strychnine Sisters Myspace. Check out more of Strychnine’s Sisters evil handiwork like, their creepy cameos or, their sinfully scary skull & bones pendants. The Sisters also do custom orders and promise to “scour the floors of hell” to make your creation a reality.

I am in love.

David L. Mackie’s Nick Nolte Mug Shot Credit Card.

Credit Card company Capital One actually issued this credit card with Nick Nolte’s 2002 mug shot. David L. Mackie is completely awesome.

James Brown’s 1988 Mug Shot vs. Wesley Snipes’ (aka Monroe Hutchen) 2006 Mug Shot.

Director Spike Lee re-confirmed that Wesley Snipes is set to play James Brown in Lee’s upcoming James Brown bioflick. Providing of course that Snipes wins his appeal of his 2008 tax-evasion conviction. I didn’t really see the resemblance between Snipes and Brown until I saw their mug shots side-by-side. Anybreakin’thelawway, so far there’s no release date for the movie. Mostly due to Lee having two movies in production this year and the uncertainty of Snipes’ availability. Despite Snipes’ offer of $5 million dollars of good faith money at the end of his trial in 2008, the Feds said it wasn’t enough to put a dent in the $15 million they say Snipes owes in back income tax. If Snipes looses his appeal, he will serve three years in Federal Prison.

Ludwig’s Bun E. Carlos 2009 model snare drum. For LP.

Legendary skin beater, Cheap Trick’s own Bun E. Carlos latest creation with Ludwig is this yet-to-be-released, sweet snare drum (above). Carlos has worked with drum maker Ludwig for over 30 years and features snare drums from his own personal collection in a monthly post on the Ludwig site called “Snare drum of the month”. Ludwig recently celebrated 100 years in the drum making business with the re-issue of the Gold Triumphal Snare, originally created in 1928.

So that’s how you use a cock docker! Hahaha! Silly me, I was doing it all wrong…

The National Science Foundation is a Government agency that is supposed to promote the progress of science, the advancement of our national health, prosperity, and welfare as well as ensure the security the national defense. Instead, according to NSF’s semi-annual report, it seems that many of the NSF’s employees spend their time watching Internet porn. One employee even complained to NSF’s IT Department that his Internet camera wasn’t fast enough. Apparently the soon-to-be-former NSF employee used the camera to film himself having sex at work. Nice.:

The report says they were watching, downloading and e-mailing porn, sometimes for significant portions of their workdays, and over periods of months or even years. In one particularly egregious case, the report says one NSF “senior official” was discovered to have spent as much as 20 percent of his working hours over a two-year interval “viewing sexually explicit images and engaging in sexually explicit online ‘chats’ with various women.

The NSF has already received a $3 billion dollar stimulus but Iowa Senator and Senate Finance Committee member Republican porn hater Chuck Grassley, won’t fork another $3 billion until a full review of NFS’s semi-annual report. Of specific interest is a document within the report titled, “Abuse of NSF IT Resources” .

Phosphorescent, Reasons to Quit. From To Willie.

Phosphorescent’s new record, To Willie, a collection of Willie Nelson covers, comes out on February 3rd, 2009. Reasons to Quit originally appeared on Nelson’s 1983 collaboration with Merle Haggard, Pancho & Lefty.

Phosphorescent is Athens, Georgia native and Brooklyn, NY transplant, Matthew Houck and a revolving troupe of talented musicians out of Brooklyn, NY. The band will be out supporting Willie, starting on February 26th at the awesome Iron Horse in Northhapmpton, Massachusetts. Other stops include my favorite venue in the world, The Middle East in Cambridge, MA on February 27th. Phosphorescent drops into Seattle on March 10th at the Nectar Lounge. Houck will also do a free solo-show at Sonic Boom in Ballard at 6:00 the same day.

Mickey Rourke strikes his “Jesus Christ is my hand in my pants again?”, pose.

Here’s future Oscar winner Mickey Rourke looking like someone who just got caught with his hand in his own cookie jar. Props to Mickey’s shoes, as they are badass and appear to match his belt.

Mark Ryden, Fur Girl. From The Snow Yak Collection. Oil on Canvas.

Artist and Oregon native, Mark Ryden will open a new solo show, The Snow Yak Show at Tokyo’s Tomio Koyama in Japan on February 9th. I’ve always been a huge fan of Mark Ryden and saw his Wondertoonel show in 2004 several times when it was at The Frye here in Seattle. It’s safe to say that you should never miss an opportunity to see Ryden’s work up close.

Mark Ryden, Heaven. From The Snow Yak Show. Oil on Canvas.

On January 31st, Ryden will be in LA at MOCA signing copies of his new book, The Tree Show. The Tree Show features images from Ryden’s 2007 solo show at the Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles.

The Truth, Jake One featuring Brother Ali.

A recent trip through my massive iTunes library reminded me how sweet this jam is. Seattle’s Jake One teamed up with the badness otherwise known as Brother Ali for The Truth, from Jake One’s October 2008 record, White Van Music. The record also features vocal assistance from MF Doom (!) and Posdnuos of De La Soul. Check it…

Obama gets Mad…

Yeah, that looks about right. All that seems to be missing a bottle of Hennessy 44. He probably keeps that in the drawer. Anyway, you can read Mad Magazine’s take on our 44th Presidents first 100 minutes in office here.