Cultural Moment: The Marriage of Figaro (and more!)

Well it's time to start dragging Wade to some sweet, sweet cultural moment worthy events! This weekend he saw his first opera, The Marriage of Figaro, at the Remai Arts Centre (aka. The Persephone Theater). A fantastic opera! Live orchestra, great singing and loved everyone's voices and interpretations of the music and roles. Plus lots of leg room! Good stuff! Even Wade liked it!

The Marriage of Figaro is a pretty nice intro to opera I think. It has a funny story, one or two songs that are recognizable from pop culture, and is one of the few operas where no one dies. Although Wade pointed out that that is how you know when an opera is over...when there are no more characters left. Ha!

Officially, "Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata" (The Marriage of Figaro, or the Day of Madness), K. 492, is an opera buffa (comic opera) composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a 1784 stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais ("La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro"). The play itself ended up being banned because of it's satirical view of the aristocracy (a no-no in the pre-French Revolution days) but the opera is considered one of Mozart's most successful works (and that's saying something!).

The opera was written in Italian but takes place in Spain near Seville. Actually, the opera is part 2 in the adventures of Figaro as it continues on two years after the events in "The Barber of Seville" (actually there were three Beaumarchais plays about these same characters, the third being "The Guilty Mother"). The Barber of Seville was also turned into an opera by multiple people (not Mozart) although the most famous version wasn't done until 1816. That's the version used in "The Rabbit of Seville". Love that! But I digress...


The overture from The Marriage of Figaro is probably the most recognizable (often played separately as a concert piece), although the music isn't featured within the opera itself. You may remember the overture from the 1983 Dan Akroyd & Eddie Murphy movie "Trading Places", in which it forms the opening theme music over the intro scenes.


Lovers of the film The Shawshank Redemption may also remember the duetto (a short duet) piece between the Countess and Susanna from Act 3 called "Sull'aria...che soave zeffiretto". In it the Countess (singing first) dictates a fake love letter to her husband, the Count, in a zany plot to expose his intended infidelity with Susanna (the Countess's maid and Figaro's fiance). Not sure if that is "something so beautiful it can't be described in words". More amusing than beautiful and, in fact it is described in words...they're just Italian words.


Anyway, the story for Marriage of Figaro comes of as pretty convoluted (and it is) when you try to explain it but trust me it's easy to follow when you're there (if they have the subtitles that is). But, here goes: Figaro (the Count's valet) and Susanna (the Countess' maid) are engaged. The philandering Count has the hots for Susanna and "wants to get all up in that" (but the Count and Countess still love eachother and everything). The count has a page named Cerubino who keeps getting in trouble because he loves love too much and it incites the Count's enraged jealousy (repeatedly, it's a running gag). Also, Marcellina, an old chick that Figaro owes a significant sum of money, wants to marry Figaro and gets Dr.Bartolo (who hates Figaro from back in "The Barber of Seville") to help her with the legal matters. It seems Figaro can either pay her or marry her. But it turns out that Figaro is Marcellina and Bartolo's bastard love child so that doesn't pan out, which makes the Count mad because he's been trying to thwart Susanna's marriage to Figaro due to his aforementioned desire to tap that. Mayhem ensues, but eventually they trick the Count into thinking that he's meeting Susanna in the garden for a tryst, but really the Countess meets him there. And he's sorry for his alternating adulterous/jealous ways and will never do it again and everyone is happy. Yay!

On the whole I recommend it highly. Especially since it was good enough to get Wade to concede to seeing another opera!

p.s. To Wade: Yes you did!

p.p.p.s. Last summer my annual opera outing with Talina was La Traviata. But last year was a bit of a wash blog-wise as I was super busy with new job and romance and what-not. That in no way reflects on the quality of La Traviata, as it was delightful, but I've decided not to pretend I have a time machine and I'm going to start fresh with new stuff. But for the record, thumbs up on La Traviata! And I reserve the right to pretend I have a time machine in future if I ever come across the program and it reminds me.

p.p.s. I also dragged Wade to the ballet (Swan Lake) in Regina last winter. Which should also have been a cultural moment post (refer to p.s. above about starting fresh). It was pretty cool as Wade had never been to the ballet before, but it was unfortunate because the performance wasn't the best I've seen. Made worse by the lack of live music and the so-so supporting cast of dancers. But still enjoyable, I may just be becoming a snob.

Meep in the Wind

Also a little Habanera (from Car-meep) for little CP:

p.s. Habanera is a form of Cuban dance music (popular in the 19th C) following this basic rhythm, which is considered the simplest and most commonly heard of latin rhythms (Boom...ba-bop-bop):

Chickens! Concert series (#31): Priestess

You may remember Priestess from previous posts, in which I almost saw them but was trapped in the line that was 1 million kms long. But that injustice was redeemed last night! I must say that I like their first album (Hello Master, 2006) a lot more than the newest album (Prior to the Fire, 2009). I was getting a little worried when they got through almost their entire show without playing any of my favorites songs from Hello Master, but then they did "Lay Down" (some of you may know this song from Guitar Hero 3) and "I am the Night, Colour Me Black" plus "Talk to Her" and I was all happy.

The new songs are much heavier and more "progressive" sounding. That's OK, but I wouldn't have liked the band as much if their new album was the first I had heard of them. Although their new songs are interesting to listen to, often with twists and turns in the music. The openers were pretty decent too. I liked Trigger Effect's music more, but Early Man had a tighter performance.

This is the setlist from the Ontario concert but it seems like it was the same from what I remember (except I'm sure they played Run Home at the beginning somewhere):
-The Gem (this was like a 10 minute song!)
-Raccoon Eyes
-Two Kids
-It Baffles The Mind
-The Firebird
-Trapped In Space & Time
-Lay Down
-Sideways Attack
-Lunar
-I Am The Night, Colour Me Black
-Lady Killer
Encore:
-Everything That You Are
-Talk To Her
-Communicating Via-Eyes (this one is about werewolves...good times)

Bohe-muppet Rhapsody

A (late) BD present for those of you who love muppets:

p.s. Is it me or is animal looking a little funky?

Misheard lyrics #3

Manfred Mann's "Blinded by the Light" (cause we talked about it yesterday). Weee!

What you actually heard:

[Chorus]
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
[repeat 2x more]

Madman drummers bummers,
Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder, feelin' kinda older,
I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasin', sneezin' and wheezin,
the calliope crashed to the ground
The calliope crashed to the ground
But she was...

[Chorus - repeat 4x]

Some silicone sister with a manager mister told me I go what it takes
She said "I'll turn you on sonny to something strong,
play the song with the funky break"
And go-cart Mozart was checkin' out the weather chart to see if it was safe outside
And little Early-Pearly came by in his curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride
Asked me if I needed a ride
But she was...

[Chorus]

Blinded by the light
She got down but she never got tired
She's gonna make it through the night
She's gonna make it through the night
But mama, that's where the fun is
But mama, that's where the fun is
Mama always told me not to look into the eye's of the sun
But mama, that's where the fun is
Some brimstone baritone anticyclone rolling stone preacher from the east
Says, "Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in it's funny bone,
that's where they expect it least"
And some new-mown chaperone was standin' in the corner,
watching the young girls dance
And some fresh-sown moonstone was messin' with his frozen zone, reminding him of romance
The calliope crashed to the ground
But she was...

[Chorus - repeat 9x]

Blinded by the light

Madman drummers bummers, Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder, feelin' kinda older,
I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasin', sneezin' and wheezin,
the calliope crashed to the ground
Now Scott with a slingshot finially found a tender spot and throws his lover in the sand
And some bloodshot forget-me-not said daddy's within earshot save the buckshot, turn up the band
Some silicone sister with a manager mister told me I go what it takes
She said "I'll turn you on sonny to something strong"

Misheard lyrics #2

The Clash's "Rock the Casbah" has always baffled me. In all honesty, I only learned the real lyrics just now.

What they actually said:

Now the king told the boogie men
You have to let that raga drop
The oil down the desert way
Has been shakin' to the top
The sheik he drove his Cadillac
He went a' cruisin' down the ville
The muezzin was a' standing
On the radiator grille

CHORUS
Sharif don't like it
Rockin the casbah
Rock the casbah
Sharif don't like it
Rockin the Casbah
Rock the Casbah

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy Casbah sound
But the Bedouin they brought out
The electric kettle drum
The local guitar picker
Got his guitar picking thumb
As soon as the sherif
Had cleared the square
They began to wail

CHORUS

Now over at the temple
Oh! They really pack 'em in
The in crowd say it's cool
To dig this chanting thing
But as the wind changed direction
The temple band took five
The crowd caught a wiff
Of that crazy Casbah jive

CHORUS

The king called up his jet fighters
He said you better earn your pay
Drop your bombs between the minarets
Down the Casbah way

As soon as Sharif was
Chauffeured outta there
The jet pilots tuned to
The cockpit radio blare

As soon as Sharif was
Outta their hair
The jet pilots wailed

Chorus

Sharif don't like it
Rock the casbah
(He thinks it's not kosher)
Rock the casbah
Sharif don't like it
Rock the Casbah
(Fundamentally he can't take it.)
Rock the Casbah
Sharif don't like it
Rock the Casbah
(You know he really hates it.)
Rock the Casbah

CP sez "increase your wordiness":
Casbah - specifically the citadel of Algiers and the traditional quarter clustered around it. More generally, a kasbah is the walled citadel of many North African cities and towns.
Muezzin - a chosen person at a mosque who leads the call (adhan) to Friday service and the five daily prayers (salat) from one of the mosque's minarets.
Sharif - a traditional Arab tribal title given to those who serve as the protector of the tribe and all tribal assets. Can also refer specifically to a descendant of the prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima.
Bedouin - desert dwelling predominantly Arab ethnic group (previously nomadic but presently mostly settled).
sheikh - Arabic honorific term commonly applied to an elder of a tribe
rāga - refers to melodic modes used in Indian classical music

Misheard Lyrics

Spurred by a recent discussion of the incongruous nature of misheard lyrics, I had to share this video highlighting the hilarious reality of singing along with the often incomprehensible Eddie Vedder. I especially like the "I said I don't want a whale in a box or a bag". Fantastic.

FYI here are the real lyrics to Pearl Jam's "Yellow Ledbetter" (curiously, I can't really tell which lyrics make more sense):

Unsealed
On a porch a letter sat
Then you said I wanna leave it again

Once I saw him
On a beach of weathered sand
And on the sand I wanna leave it again

On a weekend wanna wish it all way
And they called and I said and I want what
I said and I call out again

And the reason oughta leave her calm I know
I said I know what I wear that a box or the bag

Oh yeah can you see them?
Out on the porch
Ah, but they don't wave
I see them
Round the front way, yeah
And I know and I know
I don't wanna stay

Make me cry

I see
I don't know there's something else
I wanna drum it all away
And I said
I said I don't know where there's a box or the bag

Oh yeah can you see them?
Out on the porch
Ah, but they don't wave
I see them
Round the front way, yeah
And I know and I know
I don't wanna stay
I don't wanna stay
I don't wanna stay

p.s. You may remember Pearl Jam from this post.

The Shock House 2009 (plus Zombie musings)

Scary fun for everyone. The Shock House is in Regina this year (it was in Melville the last 3 years). It was 8000 square feet of zombie fueled good times.

To go along with this theme, I will also share some zombie-related tidbits I've been saving up.



You know, I recently read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" (which is funny and also inspired me to finish reading Pride and Prejudice so I could compare and contrast).










As a taste, here is the first line comparison:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession
of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

vs.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

And so it goes. Anyway I enjoyed it for sure.

It also reminded me of how I promised LP I'd do a post on the Zombie Survival Guide (which he gave me for Christmas last year). Thanks to this book I size up houses I see for potential survivability in a zombie attack. I'm ruined forever now (but I love it). For example, when picking a house to hole up in during a zombie outbreak, remember to find one with a second floor that cannot be accessed from the ground, then you destroy the stairs and voila! Safe zone (but be sure to fill up the upstairs bathtub with water and stash as many tools and provisions upstairs as you can get your mitts on beforehand). For practice, here's a link to a fun flash zombie survival game.

Lastly, here is a link to Jonathan Coulton's song "Re: Your Brains". He did a project where he wrote a song every week for a year. This song is my favorite (careful it gets in your head...much like a zombie... hahaha! Weee.), but he has many other awesome ones. It was featured in How to Succeed in Evil "Cheap Labor" Part 2 (there is also part 1 and 3). How to Suceed in Evil is a podcast/comic book about Edwin Windsor, evil efficiency consultant.

Früli and Pneumatic Transit (Chickens! Concert Series #30)

Sweet, sweet Früli (link, link, link). The best pseudo-beer ever. Tasted at Beer Brothers whilst on a mini-pub crawl with the peeps to celebrate my first week in Regina (Update: they now have this on tap!). This was the first stop, then to O'Hanlon's pub for crazy grape-flavoured vodka. Then to the Freehouse, where we had weird ginger beer based drinks and some sweet potato fries and heard a good Canadian band called Pneumatic Transit (accidental concert series entry). And finally to Crave, a martini bar, for fruity martinis. We sat on the patio under a heat lamp. Then we got sleepy and had to drag ourselves home. What a super-fun night! Thanks guys!

Fun things to learn and know:
Pneumatic tubes are systems in which cylindrical containers are propelled through a network of tubes by compressed air or by vacuum such as those used in large plants and office buildings. A pneumatic transit system functions in this way to transport cars full of people. The creation of such a public transit system has been attempted repeatedly but always abandoned as economically unfeasible.

Chickens! Concert Series: LP edition (#1)

LP had the good fortune to enjoy the Virgin Festival in Calgary as an early birthday present from his buddies this year. Unfortunately he is worse than his little sister at giving me blog post fodder so I'll wing it. I know he got to see such bands as Pearl Jam, Billy Talent, Mother Mother, and Metric. I believe they were all good. Umm... and they may or may not have played some old or new songs. Also, LP went into the mosh pit, which made the security guys sad because he is big and hard to drag down from up there. Stay tuned for updates if they become available (hint hint).

p.s. Pearl Jam has a new song that I like. Have a look as they performed "The Fixer" at Calgary Virgin Fest 2009 on August 8th.

Red Harvest

2009 is the 80th anniversary year of the first publishing of the book "Red Harvest". This was author Dashiell Hammett's first novel and arguably one of the most influential works of American literature of the 20th century. Hammett was also the author of such books as "The Maltese Falcon", which gave rise to the character of Sam Spade the hard-boiled private eye - sometimes confused with his contemporary Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe character, which is understandable because they were both played by Humphrey Bogart ("The Big Sleep" is also considered a seminal work of American 20th century fiction). Anyway, Red Harvest started the gangster novel genre and blurred the lines of mystery and detective/crime fiction. While employing Western elements, he painted his characters in shades of grey, which contrasted sharply with the stereotypical white hat/black hat western mentality. And it was the originator of the pervasive "man with no name" antihero archetype and the plot device of the hero playing both sides to achieve his ends (and coming out victorious, but a little the worse for wear). This book gave rise to many influential movies including Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo", Sergio' Leone's "Fistful of Dollars", and the 1996 Prohibition era period film "Last Man Standing" (to which Kurosawa contributed his writing talents).

Name related ramblin's:
Red Harvest is also a decent Norwegian heavy/industrial metal band. And it's the title of the second album by the alternative metal band Bloodsimple (who clearly read the book because "blood simple" is a quote from the last line). I like them, they're vaguely Metallica-y and Godsmack-ish. "Blood Simple" is also the title of the neo-noir crime thriller that was the Coen brothers' directorial debut. The term describes the addled mindset in which people find themselves after periods of prolonged immersion in violent situations. The film is lesser known but it did make Bravo's list of film's 100 scariest moments.

Six degrees of Bruce Campbell:
Did you know Joel Coen also worked as an editor on Evil Dead? It's true. He also worked on Spies Like Us (1985) with James Daughton who was in Animal House with Kevin Bacon! Hahaha! Bacon number of 2! Click here for the Bacon Oracle, which can be used to connect anyone to anyone in the movies. It's default setting is Kevin Bacon but I think I'm going to start connecting people to Bruce Campbell just because mentioning Evil Dead just now reminded me of him (in fact I may make this into a sub-section called Six degrees of Bruce Campbell...there I did it). Let's see... Dashiell Hammett wrote The Maltese Falcon, which was made into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart who was in Deadline - U.S.A. (1952) with Dabbs Greer who was in Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1990) with Bruce Campbell! Booyah!

Chickens! Cultural Moment: Evil Dead The Musical

Weee! So much belated birthday fun thanks to my awesome bro LP (all it took was a whirlwind weekend drive to Calgary. FYI Drumheller had the cheapest gas by far). The story of Evil Dead: The Musical was actually a combo of the 3 Evil Dead movies with some poetic license. For example, many of the characters from "Evil Dead II" are missing and "Army of Darkness" was relegated to a few quotes (like the "boom stick" monologue) and a statement at the end. Also, Ash's hand gets bitten by the demon moose head instead of evil Linda and that's why it turns evil. Anyway, especially amusing in the play were all the inside jokes making reference to Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi, or horror movie standard plot devices. The show is put on by Ground Zero Theatre and Hit & Myth Productions at the Playhouse at Vertigo Theatre Centre in Calgary (which I had never been to before) and it is the first Canadian EDtM show outside of Toronto.

The fist half of the show basically covers the first movie (Evil Dead) in which our main characters Ash (sole survivor who, as such, loses all loved ones and his own hand to evil forces and is covered in blood repeatedly), Scotty (Ash's friend, man slut, coward), Linda (Ash's love interest and fellow S-Mart employee come evil demon), Shelly (ho that Scotty picked up in a bar), and Cheryl (Ash's sister, accosted by trees while following mother's advice to always investigate scary nigh-time forest noises alone with out waking the others) head to a cabin in the woods for some romance and relaxation (1 - Cabin in the Woods, Housewares Employee). They find a recording in the basement which turns out to be translations of the "Necronomicon" by the ill-fated Professor Knowby. [Side note: This was actually called the "Naturon Demonto" in the first movie and renamed "Necronomicon Ex-Mortis" in the sequels. Both are translated to mean "book of the Dead".] They then inadvertently bring on their own personal zombie laden gore-fest by playing the recording and all of the main characters proceed to by horribly killed except for Ash (2 - Look Who's Evil Now, What the F^%# Was That?, Join Us). Now the first movie ends around here with Ash destroying the book but with a cliffhanger of a demon coming out of the forest to get him.

Fun facts about Evil Dead:
The film was shot over a period of 1.5 years with an operating budget of $375,000 (even though it went on to be one of the highest grossing horror movies of all time). Not surprising then that the inconsistencies within the film are both rampant and glaring (imdb has a big list of them), but I think that adds to the humour. It was non-union so a lot of the actors used stage names to avoid penalties from the screen actors guild. Bruce Campbell was basically the only actor who stuck with the project to the end and was available for re-shoots so Sam Raimi resorted to using "Fake Shemps" for replacements. Although it featured a lot of slapstick, the movie was before its time in gore level (and also featured an infamous "tree rape" scene that garnered it wide disapproval), which got it banned in several countries including the UK (and an X rating before that). Although Quebec rated it 13+, go figure.

In the second half of the play we got mostly Evil Dead II plot stuff but they basically culled the characters down to Annie and Ed (archaeologists) and Jake (reliable). Features a lot of people running out of the cabin and coming back dead and Ash gets his chainsaw hand (3 - I'm Not A Killer, Bit Part Demon, All the Men in My Life Get Killed by Candarian Demons). Annie explains how to summon/kill all the demons then gets demonized herself (4 - Ode to an Accidental Stabbing, Do the Necronomicon, It's Time). Finally Ash kills everyone and all the demons spray blood on the people in the "splatter zone" and we find Ash back a S-Mart telling of his adventures (5 - Blew That B@#%* Away). The review "play enjoyed by all" speaks for itself.











Fun Facts about Evil Dead 2:
Goofs continue to be rampantly hilarious. Did you know that you can see the clawed Freddy Krueger glove at various points during the movie? They did that because the Nancy character in Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street" can be seen watching Evil Dead while trying to stay awake near the end of the movie. Which was in reference to the torn 1977 "The Hills Have Eyes" (also by Wes Craven) poster visible in the cellar in Evil Dead. Oh movie types and their inside references.

History of the Necronomicon:
Made up by horror writer H.P.Lovecraft and included in several of his short stories. Lovecraft also wrote a fictional "History of the Necronomicon" story. Pop culture references include "Evil Dead" (duh!) and the Simpsons (of course) in which Bob Dole reads a snippet at the Republican party meeting in the first 2 minutes of Season13Episode7 (Brawl in the Family). Also the crux of a low budget movie called Necronomicon (1993).

1307

I love the spoof advertisements of posters for the Broadway mainstays Les Miserables, Hairspray, and Mama Mia! that were done up for the Toronto incarnation of the musical (click to embiggen):










Original "Evil Dead" (1981) Movie Trailer

Original "Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn" (1987) Movie Trailer

Original "Army of Darkness" (1992) Movie Trailer

p.s. I don't know how many of you watched the cartoon Reboot but they did an homage to Evil Dead 2 and the Evil Dead series of games (and there's also a Michael Jackson reference in there - RIP). The various games actually added significantly to the storyline. And speaking of games did you know that Bruce Campbell does the voice over instructions for the Spider Man movie games? Funny times.
p.p.s. FYI a movie version of the musical is in negotiations. Also, an Evil Dead 4 movie is in the works with Sam Raimi in the process of writing the script.

Music to Archaeology by (Part II)

It seems an Indiana Jones inspired song list is warranted (by popular demand). So, here are 10 more songs about Indy (remember we already have the movie theme song (by John Williams) and the L.B. Rayne 80s spoof mentioned in the previous "Music to Archaeology by" post):

Aqua - Dr.Jones (Here you go D):

Clouxcover - Indiana Jones (a metal cover of the theme song)
Guwumpkis - The Indiana Jones Boogie (a punk version of the theme song with some hollering in it)
International Superheroes of Hardcore - Just Like Dr.Jones
The Crystal Skulls - Dr.Jones (a spoof of counting Crows' Mr.Jones)
Lemon Demon - The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny (just for fun, because Indy gets sacked by Chuck Norris)
Venom - The Ark (this one's for Tam! An Indiana Jones song from the seminal Black Metal band, the song is from the "Tear Your Soul Apart" album)

And some Spanish songs for the little cp (I'm pretty sure they're mostly about Indiana Jones, but she'll have to double check):
PAMELA JONES - Indiana Jones
Csi - Celluloide
Hombres G - Indiana

p.s. There are a pile of songs that mention Indy in passing as a pop culture reference too (e.g. Oi to the World by No Doubt, You Dreamer by Big Country, Regional Girl by The Monkees, etc.) but I didn't count them. Also, FYI you get 177 hits on myspace if you search for Indiana Jones as a song/band title. Most appear to be techno instrumentals or offensive rap. If we filter out the junk, there are a few that are decent songs from little groups like small city (doesn't actually mention Indy until the very last line), Echoe (they're from the Poland and they're fung-kay), Vermont, or Matthew Ridenour. Note: Holy cow there are a LOT of techno songs that are called "Indiana Jones". Although most are for no discernible reason some use the theme song somehow, like Speaker Chemicals.

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".

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.

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 :)