Music to archaeology by

Archaeology inspires a diverse playlist! Here's 50 songs related to archaeology. McShanty points if you find the bogus link to an old-timey learn and know video (Ahhh the ubiquitous flute music - I remember it from Hinterland Who's Who).

Alice in Chains-Them Bones (from the album "Dirt", note that the song "Dirt" isn't really about dirt)
Arrogant Worms - History is Made by Stupid People (FYI the Arrogant Worms actually have an album called Dirt! but none of the songs are archaeology-related)
B52s - Mesopotamia (I also like "Rock Lobster")
Bangles - Walk Like an Egyptian
Bauhaus - Hollow Hills (also the song "In the Flat Field")
Because - Archaeology
Billy Talent - Rusted by the Rain (because, you know, shovels rust if you leave them out in the rain. Also, I wanted a new song on here)
Boz Scaggs - King of El Paso (from the album Dig)
Cannibal Corpse - Buried in the Back Yard (This is about zombies and cannibalism, I just figured I had too much indy stuff on the list)
Chris Rosser - Archaeology (the album is also named "Archaeology")
Clutch - Bottoms up, Socrates
D-Tent Boys - Dig it (Holes)
Don Henley - If Dirt Were Dollars
Downchild Blues Band - Dig Myself a Hole
Godsmack - Voodoo
Greenella - Archaeology With Dynamite
Gruff Rhys - The Court of King Arthur
Harvey Dent - Archaeology Today
Honkey Dorey - Archaeology
I Mother Earth - Levitate (Album: Dig)
Jack Johnson - Traffic in the Sky
Jars of Clay - Dig
JayZ - Dig a Hole
Johnny Cash - Hurt
John Williams-Indian Jones Soundtrack (of course)
Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver (Think about it! You may remember this song from previous posts)
L.B. Rayne - Indiana Jones (Ha Ha Ha! 80's theme song. Weee!)

Mediocre Folk - Archaeology
Millennium Falcons - Archaeology
Misfits - Dig up Her Bones
Modest Mouse - So Much Beauty in Dirt (this isn't about actual dirt but I think the feeling behind it is appropriate)
Mystery School - Archaeology
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig! Lazarus! Dig! (crazy song, mostly not at all about digging, but I like it anyway)
NOFX - Dig
Paper Lions - Bones
Peter Gabriel - Digging in the Dirt
Popacatepetl - Archaeology
Randy Travis - Diggin' Up Bones (Ha! Just like at the track!)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - I Like Dirt (We want Chilly Willy!)
Skinny Puppy - Dig It (weird song with an incomprehensible video, but it repeatedly commands you to dig so it's OK)
Spinal Tap – Stonehenge (In ancient times, hundreds of years before the dawn of history...)
Steve Cruickshank - Archaeology
Steve Earle - Way Down in the Hole (I love this song so I put it on, even though it is more about putting Satan into holes rather than digging/taking things out of said holes)
The Hidden - Archaeology
The Mock Turtles - Can You Dig It?
The Problems - Archaeology
Thunder Lords - I Like Dirt (Unlike the Chili Peppers song, this one is actually about liking dirt)
Wintersleep - Archaeologist

I Want to Marry an Archaeologist from the old computer game Laura Bow II:

p.s. There are artists out there who have engaged in archaeology and then wrote songs about it (like this guy).
p.p.s. Also, here's some bands, albums, and/or songs named archaeology (but actually have nothing to do with archaeology): Archaeology (album: Archaeology), Archeology (album: Change of Address), Pop Archeology Transmission (album: It Is What It Is), Archaeology (album: Booming Fiction), Mike Gibbons (album: Archeology), The Rutles (album: Archaeology), Thinking Machines (album: A Complete Record of Urban Archaeology). Also, the song named "Archaeology" by artists Salt Shaker, Dj Spooty, Lennie Buck, Mike Shorthouse Experience, Abortive Gasp, or Grumblefish. Further, I omitted an abundance of instrumental jazz, classical, experimental, electronica, etc. songs that have no lyrics, so I wasn't sure how they related to archaeology per se other than having an appropriate title like "Archaeology" or variations thereon (e.g. by National Boulevard, Charlie Reinertsen, the Rob Brown Trio, Roberto Anselmi, Chinese Puzzle, Lafayette, Wilgira, Shitmat, Indoor Life, People Of Water, etc.) Forbidden Archaeology's self-titled album. Also, curiously quite a few electronica bands have albums named "Artifacts".

Cute With Chickens! #4

By popular demand...gratuitous chinchilla photos! Now people are going to think that Chickens! espouses some sort of pro-chinchilla agenda! D'oh! Thanks to Lurker for the pics (keep 'em coming people!).

Quipu chewing on her volcanic block (mmmm, tasty pumice)
Quipu playing tug-of-war with her leash. Aww she thinks she's people.

Simpsons Spoofs: 20th Century Art

It's time once again for The Simpsons spoofs. Today we're going to learn about famous 20th Century (mostly) art/artists. Woohoo! There have been quite a few art parodies produced officially by the Simpsons people over the years, mostly for posters.

To start with the most recent we have the ubiquitous "L'Enfant" poster of a photograph of a male model holding a baby. Taken by photographer Spencer Rowell in 1987, the poster has sold over 5 million copies since it was first published. Hmmm... I wonder who it's target audience is?

Inching our way back in time we have Lisa as Roy Lichtenstein's "Hopeless" image painted in 1963. Lichtenstein is most famous for his 1950's/60's comic book inspired pop art images. Though the images are painted in oil and Magna paints they will often depict Benday Dots to mimic the appearance of printing.

Continuing in the pop art vein we have a homer painting in the style of Andy Warhol. This most closely resembles Warhol's celebrity paintings made during the 1960's when he was focusing on iconic American symbols, excepting that Warhol's portraits would typically depict 4 (or more) identical poses with altered colour schemes.

Next is a spoof of Edvard Munch's The Scream (Norwegian: Skrik). This was actually a series of images that Munch made featuring this theme (and variations thereon) in different media starting in 1893 and continuing into the early 1900s (so it's still 20th century). It is painted in the expressionist style in which the artist will tend to distort reality to achieve a truer image of the emotional reality (usually angst-ridden). The painting depicts a happy little character expressing himself, bystanders in the background, and a landscape in Oslo at sunset.
Next we have a spoof of Georges Seurat's painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte). Painted in 1884 it is one of the most famous examples of the style of pontillism, in which a mosaic of distinct dots (using a reduced colour palette) forms the image. OK fine this painting isn't 20th century... and Seurat died in 1891 so I can't even say he still painted in the 20th century. Oh well.

Finally, just to bring us back into the 20th century, we have "Nighthogs". A spoof of Edward Hopper's most famous painting "Nighthawks" which was painted in 1942 (oil on canvas) and depicts a diner that used be on Greenwich Ave. in New York. Edward Hopper's art is some of the most recognizable of all of America's 20th Century realist painters. Meaning his paintings look like the things they look like - mostly scenes and people from 50's America, which makes sense.

A Bit of Fry and Laurie

What's all this then? Delightful British humour with young versions K's homies Stephen and Hugh. A Bit of Fry and Laurie was a BBC sketch comedy show that aired for four seasons between 1989 and 1995. Some of the comedy is Monty Python-esque in its approach, there's a lot of dead pan humour, random misunderstanding-based jokes thrown into the broader story lines of the short sketches (for cheap laughs), sparkling wordplay and dry British wit. The sketches are interspersed with parody "vox pops" and the sketches often "break the fourth wall" by making asides, interacting with the audience, or breaking character (sometimes to discuss the sketch itself). There is also some hilarious musical parodies by Hugh. Embedding is disabled on the BBC YouTUBE channel but here's a link to the "light metal sketch" - it's like heavy metal but without the weight. And here's Hugh's Bob Dylan impersonation - all we gotta do is mnghffmnnn.

Learn the lingo (I learned 2 things!):
"Breaking the fourth wall" - in which actors (in a movie, play, etc.) cross the imaginary boundary between the audience/reality and the fictional setting of the story. Makes reference to the invisible wall that separates the audience from the action and through which the audience watches.
"Vox pops" - refers to "man on the street" interviews, usually featuring unrehearsed opinions and answers to questions in a public format. From the latin vox populi meaning "voice of the people" (also a song by Sepultura form the 2001 CD "Nation").

Cute with Chickens! #3

Some people may or may not have suggested that we espouse some sort of pro-kitten/dog agenda. Well that's just plain not true and said unnamed individuals should pass on the chinchilla photos they promised! Although the argument could be made that I am pandering to the small but important little cp demographic by posting gratuitous photos of her cat. That said, how about some older cat photos:

Thea the cat. Dignified.

Thea the cat. Undignified.Fuzzy the cat. Chillaxin'.

Simpsons References for Moms #8

"Yoink"
Usage: 1) Onomatopoeia referencing a common cartoon sound effect played to enhance the action of an object being quickly taken (esp. if being stolen).
2) Exclamation uttered when taking or stealing an object (esp. if in front of the original owner).

Reference to: first appearance in Season 4 Episode 16 ("Duffless"), but is a recurring Simpsons-ism). Click here for a Yoink list.

Other Simpsons-isms first seen in this episode:
"Pretty lame, Milhouse"
Usage: Whenever something is lame.

Other other references in this episode:
-parody of Sinatra's "It was a very good year"

Also,

Marge: Do you ever drink alone?
Homer: Does the Lord count as a person?
Marge: No.
Homer: Then yes.

Educational Sidebar: The Tilt-A-Whirl

aka. "tilted world" (according to Mom) is my Mom's favorite fair ride (also, a song by the Insane Clown Posse). The Tilt-A-Whirl was invented in 1926 by the Sellner Manufacturing Company, which continues to be the only source of new rides. A new Tilt-A-Whirl ride costs about $300,000 (depending on the options you get) and takes 4 people about 3 hours to set up (assuming they know what they're doing). It features seven cars that can seat 4-6 people per car meaning it can give rides to as many as 500 people in an hour.

The ride follows a chaotic orbit-like motion. The seven cars are each fixed to a pivot pin on a circular platform. These platforms follow a circuitous track with 3 hills and 3 valleys at a set speed of 6.5 rpm. This orbit causes variable centrifugal and gravitational forces to affect each car, which will rotate clockwise or counterclockwise on it's set pivot point at different speeds depending on multiple variables (e.g. where on the track the car was when the ride began, where it is on the track at a given moment, how much weight is in the car and where it is situated, the friction of the various contact points between the car and the track, etc.). Good times!

It has been calculated that when the platforms travel at very low speeds each car will complete one backward revolution as its platform goes over each hill. Whereas at high speeds each car will be stranded at its outer edge (like swinging a bucket of water around). But at intermediate speeds (say 6rpm?) the movement of the cars is so unpredictable it has even been used by mathematicians in chaos theory! However, as any Tilt-A-Whirl veteran knows the ride can be manipulated by strategic leaning or if the ride's operator decides to mess with you.

Simpsons Spoofs: Album Covers

It's time for super-fun Simpsons spoofs! Album cover edition. Hurray!
First, here is the spoof of The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album that was done for the cover of the Simpsons' "Yellow Album" (which featured the "Hail to Thee Kamp Krusty" song and a bunch of stuff not from the show). Besides this there are quite a few album cover spoofs kicking around that were done up as alternative magazine covers for the Rolling Stone. These included three of the most influential albums of all time: The Beatles' "Alley Road", Nirvana's "Nevermind", and Springstein's "Born in the USA".





























There was also the rejected Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" spoof










and David Bowie's "Aladdin Sane".










Educational Sidebar: Origins of the word 'spoof' from Dictionary.com
Dates back to the British comedian Arthur Roberts (1852-1933) who invented a game called Spoof, which involved trickery and nonsense. Later, the word spoof took on the general sense meaning of nonsense or trickery (first recorded in 1889). The verb spoof is first recorded in 1889 as well, in the sense "to deceive." These meanings have fallen out of use in favour of the noun form meaning "a light parody or satirical imitation," first recorded in 1958, and the verb sense "to satirize gently," first recorded in 1927.

Cute with Chickens! #2

Some people may or may not have suggested that Chickens! espouses some sort of pro-kitten agenda. Well, that's just plain not true! We are heartily in favor of all kinds of cute animals! How about some interspecies friendship photos:

Thea the kitten with Cameo the dog. Sure it's cute, but they were only friends because the other cats hated Thea while Cameo was relatively indifferent.

And here we have Cameo, poodle of the wild!

p.s. You may remember these other past posts that featured cute animals. Please note that not all of these were kittens.

Chickens! Concert Series - little cp Edition (#1 - #3): Musica en la Bolivia

Little cp has taken to attending various concerts at the Estadio Ramon Tahuichi Aguilera in Santa Cruz. It's an open air stadium, suitable for football matches and other things. Turns out she's been able to witness some of the who's who of well-known and influential South American artists. Lets have a look...

April 30: Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
-part of the Satanico Pop Tour 2009, El Tour del Regreso (comeback tour)
-one of the most influential bands of the Latin rock world. They've been around since 1985 and released some 15 albums until 2001 when they took a break. They got back together in 2008 and are currently promoting their most recent album, La Luz del Ritmo ("The Light of Rhythm").
-little cp's impressions: good times, danced it up all night long
-also, had a crazy beer called Paceña (brewed with pure Andean mountain water)

April 24: Bruno & Marrone
-They are some of the most popular Brazilian artists of modern sertaneja (a genre of Brazilian country music). They produced their debut albumin 1995 and have been producing at least one record a year until 2006.
-little cp's impressions: had fun, slower music but danced it up all the same

May 13: Franco de Vita
-the Simplemente La Verdad album tour 2009
-Latin pop artist. Born in Venezuela to Italian immigrant parents in 1954. Released his first album in 1984 and has since released many Spanish albums and has also recorded in Italian and Portuguese.
-super awesome concert...that's all I got
Update: -crowd was hilarious! Everyone was screaming like little girls...even the Moms :)