Thursday, December 28, 2006

MR. BROWN










When I was 12 or 13, I snuck away with a friend to the Cleveland Arena to see James Brown. I had already played a few JB tunes in a band I was part of in a New Hampshire camp the previous summer, but here was a chance to see The Man in person. I think the tickets were like $3 or something, and that was for the full three-hour-plus revue.

There were some other white folks there, but not many. I had already started hanging around with some black kids, one of whom would be the lead singer in the high school band I’d later join. This seemed like no big deal to me, and only became one when the other school kids began to shun my crowd and me. This was my first taste of being an outsider, of there being an Other Existence that was little represented in my suburban Clevo community.

I had no real sense of racism until that moment, or of there being an entirely separate life experience that was being lived in huge parts of the Clevo area/inner city that we white kids just never got exposed to.

Here also lived the coffee house poets, folkies, artisticbohosquarepegfreethinkingsoontobepotsmokingfreefucking kids who got bent early and stayed bent for the rest of their/our lives.

This all started with a $3 ticket and a sweating, screaming black man with a killer band behind him.



NP: XM’s ‘Soul Street’ tribute to JB. fav quote: "It's all about the hair and the teeth!"

PEEVE DE JOUR: did NOT make January’s rent at the roulette table.

JOIE DE JOUR: crazy cab driver’s animated story ‘bout how her previous fare had been a child molester she was taking to court, and how after trying to stiff her on the fare, the cop she called paid it for him. And the smiling, joking Elevator Driver at The Stratosphere Tower on The Strip. And the ‘damn I’m in a good mood’ electric cart driver at Clevo-Hopkins who gently announce his presence vs. running over all the somnambulant travelers who were always blocking his way. All transportation sector folks who had their gigs down, and were gonna be happy on Dec. 27th no matter what.


cb…where are you?






OHIO

Saturday, December 23, 2006

STUDIO 360









TUNE IN TO STUDIO 360's

"REDESIGNING CHRISTMAS" episode

for pal Trey Kay's wonderful take

on the Bebe Bleue story:

http://www.studio360.org/episodes/2006/12/22

merry ho!

cb...where are you?







ON THE RADIO!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

PEACE ON EARTH








...or at least peace with NPR.

thanks to the the intervention of a saved-my-ass elf, NPR is going to run its version of the Bebe Bleue guitar story after all.

maybe there really is something to this Christmas magic business...thank you.

THIS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE IT'LL AIR

WEDS. DEC. 20th/TODAY ON

"ALL THINGS CONSIDERED"

my PODCAST version is still available at:

CLICK HERE (WITH PIX)

- or

CLICK HERE (WITHOUT PIX)

cb...where are you?


ON THE RADIO!


Wednesday, December 13, 2006

OFF THE AIR

JAMMED ON ON is going away for awhile.

meanwhile - 10 million trivia points if you know who this is:



leave a comment!

best...

cb

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

COAL IN YOUR STOCKING FOR CHRISTMAS










PEEVE DE JOUR:
cb vs. NPR

hey...here's an idea: let's take a fun, true story about buying back a guitar that was sold in 1987, tell the story with real interviews, all recorded in real time [with some retakes to get a little more detail]. a little journalism, a little fun with sound cues, etc.. something to commemorate the 25th anniversay of the release of a song that a lot of people love.

let's make it as entertaining & clever as possible. oh...since it's entertainment, and in the interest of making the story's twist at the end work...let's recreate a segment that couldn't be taped because the law sez no taping. BUT BE DAMN CAREFUL THAT THE RECREATION IS 100% ACCURATE AS IT WENT DOWN. ethics, you know...

no attempt at deception/no exaggeration/no lying.

i'm talking about the custom agent segment at the end of the Bebe Bleue podcast i've been flogging heavily on this blog. yes, that particular exchange was not 'real' - it was recorded word-for-word, but after the fact.

big deal - no harm, no foul.

but let's jack the 'story' of the story up a notch. the piece came out kinda good, and i thought...gee, this is like a This American Life segment or something...and maybe NPR would be interested. so i sent it to a producer at NPR who works in the NEWS DIVISION. he likes it. he chops it down to a manageable size for air. puts a lot of work into it, which is much appreciated. i repeatedly tell him that i am new to this type of thing, and that i don't know NPR's guidelines...and i ask him for his input. very little of this get's sent to me - the guy is probably nutz busy and doesn't have time to train me via email.

but the piece gets edited and there is a sense from him that it's good & fun...then he asks me casually how to characterize this piece - is it 'real' or is it a recreation? i am an honest person, so i tell him that the entire piece - all the events, interviews,...all of it - is true, but the custom agent's segment had to be recreated because they would not let me tape in the Customs Hall.

well, this turned out to be a trap, 'cause producer then goes ballistic. he says now they won't use the piece. trust has been violated. he thinks i wasted his time with a bogus piece of 'news'. he implies i was deceptive on purpose.

WTF????

so i write him the following:

AS -

you're kidding?

there was no attempt at deception here. i resent the implication that i falsified any of this - the events/meetings/etc.. yes, the customs agent bit is a recreation, and was done after the trip - everything else is as i've stated is 100% authentic. i am not the guy from the NYT or Washington Post falsifiying stories of crack babies or any of the other made-up journalistic stuff that's been in the news over the years.

the search for the guitar is real/the interviews are real/the incidents and live musings are real and ALL of it was recorded in real time. if i had thought in ANY WAY that i was wasting your time/compromising your or NPR's integrity, i would not have pursued this.

i can't believe this is happening, or that you now think i perpetrated a falsehood.

no fucking way...

i did this piece for myself. it was a thrill to have NPR interested, but the story was not assigned by NPR. i repeatedly asked you for help, input, guidelines...anything to make it conform to your standards WHICH I DID NOT KNOW. it is 100% my bad that i did not inform you upfront that the piece included a single 'recreation'...which i have seen or heard in many other light news/entertainment pieces. i am sorry, but i did not know that i had done anything wrong. i know NPR's ethical standards are high - so are mine. but i did not know that a recreation of a true event is not allowed.

any question of ethical authenticity can be fixed by inserting the line:

"i needed a miracle...and got one. it played out as in this recreation."

i hope this satisfies your concerns. [note: it didn't. the piece was spiked]

i know what i did, and what i didn't do...and i did not falsify anything. do what you have to do, but if you spike the piece, you are doing so based on a false assumption on your part. in the words of every reporter i've ever heard about who had to defend themselves in this situation:

"i stand by my story"


(aside: i have been listening to NPR since the middle '70's. it is my main source of news. i am a member of my local affiliate. i have many friends who work for NPR/WNYC in various capacities, and from time-to-time i have heard that NPR can be as much of a nest of vipers as any other corporate entertainment entity. i did not want to believe this...Mr. Panglossianidealisticpollyanna would not accept that a radio network that was capable of such consistant brilliance would fall prey to the same human crapola that plagues every other enterprise.)

apparently...i was mistaken.

pissed beyond pissed.

HEAR MY Bebe Bleue PODCAST with the 'offending' Customs Agent segment:

CLICK HERE (WITH PIX)

- or

CLICK HERE (WITHOUT PIX)

Sunday, December 10, 2006

"CHRISTMAS WRAPPING" lyrics









been asked about these in many an email - so...here ya go:

CHRISTMAS WRAPPING

bah! humbug! no...that's too strong, 'cause it is my favorite holiday
but all this year's been a busy blur, don't think I have the energy

to add to my already mad rush, just cause it's "'tis the season"
the perfect gift for me would be, completions and connections

left from last year, ski shop, encounter, most interesting...
had his number but never the time, most of '81 passed along those lines

so deck those halls, trim those trees, raise up cups of Christmas cheer
I just need to catch my breath, Christmas by myself this year
..............
calendar picture, frozen landscape, chilled this room for 24 days
evergreens, sparkling snow, get this winter over with!

flashback to springtime, saw him again, would've been good to go for lunch
couldn't agree when we were both free, we tried, we said we'd keep in touch

didn't, of course, 'til the summertime, out to the beach to his boat, could I join him?
no, this time it was me, sunburn in the third degree

now the calendar's just one page and, of course, I am excited
tonight's the night, but I've set my mind, not to do too much about it
..............
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas...think I'll miss this one this year
..............
hardly dashing through the snow, cause I bundled up too tight
last minute have-to-dos, a few cards, a few calls

because it's RSVP, no thanks, no party lights
it's Christmas Eve, gonna relax, turned down all of my invites

last fall I had a night to myself, same guy called, Halloween party
waited all night for him to show, this time his car wouldn't go

forget it, it's cold, it's getting late, trudge on home to celebrate
in a quiet way, unwind, doing Christmas right this time
..............
the A & P has provided me, with the world's smallest turkey
already in the oven, nice and hot, oh damn, guess what I forgot!

so on with the boots, back out in the snow, to the only all-night grocery
when what to my wondering eyes should appear, in the line is that guy I've been chasing all year!

spending this one alone, he said, need a break, this year's been crazy
I said, me too, but why are you...?, you mean, you forgot cranberries, too?

then suddenly we laughed and laughed, caught on to what was happening
that Christmas magic's brought this tale , to a very happy ending.

Yes, You Can Surf in Cleveland






CLEVELAND, Dec. 9 — They surf in Cleveland because they must. They surf with two-inch icicles clinging to their wet suits, through stinging hail and overpowering wind. They work nights to spend their winter days scouting surf. They are watermen on an inland sea.

Given its industrial past, Cleveland largely turns its back to Lake Erie, lining the coast with power plants, a freeway and mounds of iron ore to feed its steel factories. The shore is especially deserted in winter, when strong winds and waves pummel the land. In December, as temperatures dip into the 20s and ice gathers in the lake’s small coves, Cleveland surfers have Lake Erie almost entirely to themselves.

“Surfing Lake Erie is basically disgusting,” said Bill Weeber, known as Mongo, 44. “But then I catch that wave and I forget about it, and I feel high all day.”

Scott Ditzenberger hoped to experience the same feeling when he heard that the first blizzard of the winter was pounding across the Midwest.

“I was so excited I could barely sleep last night,” said Mr. Ditzenberger, 35, who quit his job as a lawyer in August to spend more time surfing and to film a documentary about Cleveland’s surf community.

It was the kind of day that lives mostly in Cleveland surfers’ fantasies. Pushed by the storm’s winds, water the color of chocolate milk rose 10 feet in the air before slamming onto a beach of boulders and logs. The temperature was 40 degrees and falling. One surfer, Vince Labbe, climbed onto his board only to get blown backward by 40-mile-an-hour winds.

Mike Miller, known as Chewbacca, managed to tuck his head and left shoulder into the barrel of a wave before being crushed by a wall of water.

“I haven’t seen a break this good in 10 years,” Mr. Ditzenberger said.

Go ahead and laugh. Cleveland surfers are used to it.

When Jamie Yanak sits at a stoplight with his surfboard atop his 1996 Ford Thunderbird, he said, people point and laugh. Every year a local television crew arrives on the beach to film surfers in the snow and make jokes about “California dreaming.”

But this is not California. And Cleveland surfers are not playing around. Many of the roughly 25 committed surfers here work nights all year to keep their winter days free for surfing. Mr. Weeber quit his job as an advertising art director and makes less money as a summer landscaper. He moved his family closer to the beach, to spend more time on the waves.

Sean Rooney, 31, said, “All I want to do is surf.”

The strongest winds and waves come in winter, just before Lake Erie freezes. Waves up to 10 feet have been surfed, but the largest swells are usually chest-high. Instead of curling into a vertical wall, the waves are round like haystacks, and they collapse onto the shore like soggy paper.

Surfers learn to avoid ice chunks the size of bowling balls. Some wear goggles to surf through freezing rain, which can sting their eyes like needles. That is a bad idea, Mr. Labbe said, because the goggles freeze to their faces.

Surfers watch their friends for signs of hypothermia, urging them to leave the water when their eyes glaze over and their words slur. Ear infections are a common affliction.

To reach the lake, surfers drag their boards across snowdrifts and beaches littered with used condoms and syringes, Mr. Ditzenberger said. The most popular surf spot is Edgewater State Park. It is nicknamed Sewer Pipe because, after heavy rains, a nearby water treatment plant regularly discharges untreated waste into Lake Erie.

Love and family obligations prevent most surfers here from moving to California or Hawaii. So they adapt. Mr. Rooney chose a surfboard that is longer and wider than most modern boards because it adds buoyancy in the lake’s salt-free water. He replaced its three small fins with one large fin, which helps him turn quickly on small waves.

Because the nearest surf shop is on Lake Michigan, 285 miles away, Mr. Labbe builds surfboards for his friends in his mother’s basement.

“Cleveland surfers have a reputation for being gritty and hard-core,” said Ryan Gerard, owner of Third Coast Surf Shop in New Buffalo, Mich. “They just don’t care what other people think about them.”

Except that they hate being compared with the modern California surf scene. Cleveland surfers believe they are the last remnants of the original surf culture in the 1940s and ’50s, when surfing was still a renegade sport of social misfits who scouted virgin breaks, surfed alone and lived by a code of friendliness to newcomers and respect for the water. They keep their best surf spots secret. They consider themselves part of an underground society. And they hope to keep it that way.

“Everybody surfs in California, which waters down the experience,” said Mr. Rooney, who grew up surfing in Orange County, Calif., before moving to Cleveland three years ago to work in his family’s real estate business. “Being here takes me back to that feeling of discovery that the founding fathers of surfing experienced.”

Occasionally there are days when the waves are good and the sunset falls into Lake Erie like a red fire and the Cleveland surfers bob silently in the water, alone in the city. And they laugh at their good fortune.

“Nobody surfs here to get noticed,” Mr. Ditzenberger said. “We surf here because we love it.”

- NEW YORK TIMES

Saturday, December 09, 2006

for NPR News, I'm Chris Butler.








Always wanted to say that…and today I got my chance. This morning, I taped a shortened version of the Bebe Bleue story. I think I did okay…we shall see if it actually airs (if I get an air date, I’ll pass it along)…but it was enough of a thrill to be able to say those words into a Neumann U87 with those three letters on it.

Thanks, AS.

The original version is still available:

CLICK HERE FOR THE PODCAST (v1.0) & TO SEE SOME PIX

-or-

CLICK HERE FOR JUST THE PODCAST (v2.0) ONLY















NP: The Velvet Underground/Spector Studios acetate of alternative takes & mixes for the Banana album. Thanks, MB.

Velvet Underground - 1966-4 Scepter Studios, Norman Dolph acetate, 42:41

1) European Son 9:03 (Diff Take)
2) Black Angel's Death 3:18 (Diff Mix)
3) All Tomorrow's Parties 5:56 (Diff Mix)
4) I'll Be Your Mirror 2:11 (Diff Mix)
5) Heroin 6:16 (Diff Take)
6) Femme Fatale 2:36 (Diff Mix)
7) Venus In Furs 4:39 (Diff Take)
8) I'm Waiting For The Man 4:14 (Diff Take)
9) Run Run Run 4:23 (Diff Mix)

PEEVE DE JOUR: is it the transmission or just a bad batch of watery gas that’s making my car stutter?

JOIE DE JOUR: "I want to make you happy, baby…” boy, is that ever great to hear. Thank you, IOJ.

NEVER BE AT THE WRONG PARTY:

Come see Purple k’niF at The Lakeside








We're the only band, one set at 10:45 PM Sharp! 'til midnight only!
162 Avenue B (between 10th & 11th Streets), NYC
212-529-8463
http://www.lakesidelounge.com

Purple k'niF on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mkn6XyOYZo

Ted Lawrence - '63 Fender Jazzmaster Guitar
Johnny Teagle - '62 Gretsch 6120 Guitar

Baker Rorick - '63 Fender Precision Bass

Chris Butler - '60s Premier Drums

cb…where are you?






NEW JERSEY

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

SURF'S UP!








Hard Twang & Maximum Surf!

Saturday, Dec. 9, 10:45 PM (SHARP!) @ The Lakeside Lounge! We're the only band, one set 'til midnight only! 162 Avenue B (between 10th & 11th Streets), NYC 212-529-8463
http://www.lakesidelounge.com

&

Friday, Dec. 15, 8 PM @ The Goldhawk! Opening for our good friends The Lost Patrol! 936 Park Avenue, corner of 10th Street, Hoboken, NJ 201-420-7989
http://www.thegoldhawk.com

NO Cover at either of these, but the tip jar will be passed!

Purple k'niF:
Ted Lawrence, '63 Fender Jazzmaster Guitar Johnny Teagle, '62 Gretsch 6120 Guitar Baker Rorick, '63 Fender Precision Bass Chris Butler, '60s Premier Drums

Purple k'niF on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mkn6XyOYZo


NP: The Complaints Choir of Birmingham on the BBC! this is just brilliant...putting your gripes to music. i've kinda been doing that, too, for 30 years, but this is a defter way to do it.



PEEVE DE JOUR: exhaustion. and one-by-one, the reasons for The Ohio Experiment seem to have evaporated and/or run their course.

JOIE DE JOUR: snow tires.

PODCAST NEWS

- new sound cues finished for national radio piece.

you can still hear my version @:

CLICK HERE FOR THE PODCAST (v1.0) & TO SEE SOME PIX

-or-

CLICK HERE FOR JUST THE PODCAST (v2.0) ONLY








NEVER BE AT THE WRONG PARTY:

TONIGHT - HOBOKEN CITY HALL - 6pm
an up-or-down vote on the fate of Rob Grenoble's Water Music building. your support & attendance is requested.

TOMORROW NIGHT - HOLIDAY BANDING
Hoboken's Culture Tzarina's annual fund-raiser for Habitat For Humanity























cb...where are you?







BRRR - HIO

Monday, December 04, 2006

A SHADIER SHADE OF PALE WHITE












From R. Stevie Moore:

Fandango Farrago Duncan Campbell, The Guardian • 25 November 2006

The court battle over A Whiter Shade of Pale royalties delivers painful lessons for musicians:

Why did the 16 vestal virgins leave for the coast? Exactly what did the waiter bring on a tray when we called out for another drink? And, crucially, just how plain is the truth to see?

None of these questions will mean anything to anybody who is not familiar with the words of the 1967 No1 hit A Whiter Shade of Pale, by the band Procol Harum. Yesterday saw the final speeches made in a high court action that has been intriguing everyone who has ever consciously or subconsciously or semi-consciously listened to that legendary/haunting/evocative/iconic/ magical – take your pick – song.

Matthew Fisher, the organist who played the familiar opening notes on one of the most played and most covered recordings of all time, believes that he should have been credited with its joint authorship, alongside Gary Brooker, the band's singer, and Keith Reid, the lyricist. Messrs Brooker and Reid disagreed. Hence the action, which, with a hearing lasting almost two weeks, must have run up legal costs far in excess of the total royalties most bands ever collect. (And here it might be worth sparing a thought, as a reader has suggested, for the late Bill Eyden, who played drums on the record and was paid a Musicians' Union rate of £15 15s.)

Mr Justice Blackburne, who has presided over the proceedings like an avuncular producer – George Martin in a wig and gown, perhaps – must now retire to his chambers, put on his headphones, light his sandalwood joss stick and come up with a judgment that will have ramifications for every group of musicians jamming away tonight and planning to record the results.

The action, which finally reached court nearly four decades after those haunting/evocative bars on the Hammond organ first floated out of a window on Tin Pan Alley, has been educational for all musicians and fans. It also painted a touching picture of those far-off, innocent days: Mr Brooker disclosed that he first played the song on his mum's piano in Southend, and Mr Fisher told how he was auditioned for the band at his mum's house in Croydon. But what, as people used to ask of the song's lyrics, does it all mean? Well, there do seem to be some painful lessons for musicians.

First, if you think that your delicate guitar solo that comes between the second and third verses is what lifts the song above the mundane, and you are thus entitled to a joint credit – speak now, even if this may create a certain froideur in the studio. Second, assume that the four bars you suggested as an intro may well become a ring tone in a couple of decades and, as such, could rack up substantial royalties. Third, keep a diary and a cuttings book so that if the matter ever comes before a court, you can quote from a contemporaneous note because the music papers of record can, alas, fade and die; Melody Maker, which catalogued much of the debate over the Procol Harum song, is no longer with us or – as Ronnie Scott would say – no longer with anyone. Fourth, find out who the Lovin' Spoonful are, so that you can answer that very question when, as happened in court last week, it is asked by a barrister.

It is very sad that a song that was deconstructed – although that would definitely not have been the word used – in the bedrooms and pubs and parks of the nation that summer should end up being dissected in court. But whatever the eventual judgment, we should be grateful to all the protagonists for that haunting/magical/evocative music and the enigmatic words, and we should extend our sympathy and understanding to the judge who now has the very difficult task of taking a sad song and making it better.

http://www.procolharum.com/awsop_lawsuit-39.htm

(aside: the law in America is clear – a song is defined as lyrics and melody…everything else is arrangement. It may be unfair…but there ya go.

And at this very moment, I am aware of another copyright fuck-up. Pre-1965 copyrights had a 25 year initial period, with a 25 year renewal. If you didn’t file…the song fell into the public domain. That’s if you registered with the Library of Congress as you’re supposed to do to get ‘official’ recognition that you wrote a song should the copyright ever be challenged. BUT…as it turns out, if said person had NEVER registered with the L. of C…the copyright protection does not expire. WTF????)

PODCAST NEWS:

- script massage. new VO's to be recorded this coming week. yahoo!

if you haven't heard it yet:


CLICK HERE FOR THE PODCAST (v1.0) & TO SEE SOME PIX

- or -

CLICK HERE FOR JUST THE PODCAST (v2.0) ONLY

















NP:
the Visa Check Card commercial with Raymond Scott’s “Powerhouse” as the music bed. Nice work, Irwin…major ka-ching!

PEEVE DE JOUR: …and a certain film producer wants to renew an option to turn “Christmas Wrapping” into a film…uh…gratis, of course. Thanks for putting me in the position of either being an asshole or a fool. And a Merry Christmas to you , too.

JOIE DE JOUR: great Purple k’niF rehearsal today. Major fun. Come see us this coming Saturday, Dec. 9 at The Lakeside, 162 Avenue B (btwn 10th & 11th streets), New York, 212-529-8463

NEVER BE AT THE WRONG PARTY:

"A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year. I'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob."

Scrooge says these words at the end of a Christmas Carol, and I've been obsessed with drinking a Bowl of Smoking Bishop for a while.....but I just haven't found the time to make it or a place that serves it. The recipe calls for 5 unpeeled oranges, 1 unpeeled grapefruit, 36 cloves, 1/4 pound of sugar, 2 bottles of red wine, and 1 bottle of port.

What could be more Christmassy than a hot alcoholic drink that Scrooge likes?!

I am returning to New York to hunt for the Smoking Bishop or maybe a Dog's Nose, which is hot stout, gin, sugar, and nutmeg.

I am also coming in to play a FREE show with Life In A Blender on Saturday, Dec. 16, at The Living Room (Ludlow near Stanton), at 9 pm. The full band--Dave Moody, Al Houghton, Mark Lerner, Rebecca Weiner, Ken Meyer, and me--will be there to leave a ring around the holidays. At 10 pm, Chris Rael will be playing a special anniversary show with all different members of Church of Betty. You should see Chris and Church of Betty at this show because......well it's top secret.

Also--Kenny Young and the Eggplants are playing at 7 pm earlier that night and Ed Pastorini and 101 Crustaceans will follow Chris.

So it's a big whoop-de-doo.

Also make room for the The Blowhole Theater Holiday Winterlude on Thursday, Dec. 28th at Barbes in Brooklyn. There will be skits and songs and indescribable acts. Puckerballs, the Garbage Can Elf, will be in Italy, unfortunately. Can Olivier make a Smoking Bishop or a Dog's Nose?

And I'm due to sing with Ed Pastorini at Barbes on Sat., Dec. 23, at 7 pm. So come on over...I think the show is early-ish and Ed will deliver his dark
holiday magic.

See you soon.

--Don Rauf


cb...where are you?






PENNSYLVANIA (travel day)

Saturday, December 02, 2006

'WRAPPIE" HONORABLE MENTIONS













Ray Nissen won the 2006 "Wrappie" Award - he was the first person to report hearing The Waitresses' "Christmas WRapping" song in a public space. i've dropped off the $100 to the Hoboken Public Library in his honor.


but the reports keep coming in:

Chris, Don't know if there is already a winner, but Josh Roy Brown of Big Indian N.Y. heard Christmas Wrapping at the Toyota Dealership in Kingston NY today Dec. 5th at 2:20 EST as he reported to me to forward to you. Take Care. Betsy Friedman of Betsy and Baker

hey Chris-
how are you?
did anyone win the contest yet?
I heard Christmas Wrapping while driving on 95 South from Boston in the snowstorm this morning.
I figured someone else must have heard it before today.
Hope all is well-
Genie
cool story about the guitar


After all that emailing about Kansas, etc. I heard Xmas Wrappings at a bar called Kettle of Fish in the West Village near my work about an hour ago. Had a few in me and wasn't near a computer so I hijacked the owners cell phone and called you at home. Did I win? Hope so.

Me: (uncharacteristically excited) Is this Christmas Wrapping?

Bartender: Yeah. Why?

Me: I know this guy!

Bartender: Sounds like a girl.

xoxbb

It's 11:09 AM 12/1 and I'm hearing Xmas Wrapping on XM Radio here at work in our production dept.

Cheers,

Krys O.

WCBS am 880, 7:11 am, today!

SIDNORA

Hey Chris- "Christmas Wrapping" heard at 7:14 this morning on WCBS Radio. The only problem- it was the background behind a news story. It ran about 1:30 or so. So I can't take credit for hearing it in its entirety- but I can help you with the royalties!

Hope all is well.

Bill Corney
aka "Artie Fufkin, POS Records"

Hey Chris
I heard Xmas Wrapping at around 6:20pm today, 11/30/06, in the Toy Space toy store on 7th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Henry

I don't know if this qualifies but...

http://jerseybeatpodcast.blogspot.com

Jim Testa

Do I win for seeing something written about it on the internet?

http://www.avclub.com/content/node/55897/2

So far the what's the matter with Kansas is the food and the weather. Arf, arf, arf, bb

… wanted to let you know I heard yer xmas song at
Shop Rite in Livingston, NJ on Friday, December 1st.
Probably around 1pm as I was helping my mom out.

Hope yer well and the royalty checks are a flowin'!

Ken Beck
Bar/None Records

Hi Chris,

I was at my son Matthew's kindergarten class for a pre-Thanksgiving feast on Wednesday Nov. 22nd. The radio was playing at a low volume, but I clearly the horn section of "Christmas Wrapping," and I thought of you. It wasn't until yesterday that Nikki told me about the Wrappie Award, and I'm really pissed that I didn't know about it. (Just kidding).

Happy holidays, CB, see you soon.

Denise

PODCAST NEWS:

- revised radio script accepted by my advocate. Chris T...are you game to engineer?

if you haven't heard it yet:


CLICK HERE FOR THE PODCAST (v1.0) & TO SEE SOME PIX

- or -

CLICK HERE FOR JUST THE PODCAST (v2.0) ONLY

















PEEVE DE JOUR: let me see if i have this right - you get to treat me like shit...but i'm not supposed to get angry about it???

JOIE DE JOUR: IOJ-Day in T minus 19 days and counting...

NEVER BE AT THE WRONG PARTY: i LOVE the stuff they put on at The Tank!

Greetings All,

We Are Ready. over the last few days we have had artists arriving from japan, sweden, canada, and across the US, game boys in hand, ready to take the stage for four blistering nights of lowbit music and video. Did we mention video? good god. we have the most amazing video display unit now installed behind the stage, 13 feet wide, 8 feet tall, 50x20 pixels of pure bright magic ready to deliver nonstop lowbit action during the concerts.

The website is here: http://www.blipfestival.org

The details are below.

.: THE TANK and 8BITPEOPLES present ::
:: THE BLIP FESTIVAL 2006 ::
:: 38 music and video artists from around the world ::
:: 4 days of low-bit music and art :: 11 30 - 12 03 ::
.: NEW YORK NY US ::

TO BUY TICKETS, and to see the nightly schedule, head to:

http://www.blipfestival.org/schedule.php

TO HEAR MUSIC, visit our myspace page why don’t you:

http://www.myspace.com/blipfestival

Musical lineup:
-------------------------------------------------
Anamanaguchi [US], Aonami [JP], Bit Shifter [US],
Bubblyfish [US], Chibi Tech [US], Coova [JP], Covox [SE], Mark DeNardo [US], The Depreciation Guild [US],
Glomag [US], Goto80 [SE], Hally [JP],
Kplecraft [JP], Bud Melvin [US], Nullsleep [US],
Pepino [JP], Tristan Perich [US], Portalenz [JP],
Quarta330 [JP], Rabato [ES], Random [SE],
Receptors [US], Saitone [JP], Starpause [US],
Jeroen Tel [NL], TouchBoy [CA], Tugboat [US],
Virt [US], Neil Voss [US], Herbert
Weixelbaum [AT], x|k [US], YMCK [JP]

Visuals by:
-------------------------------------------------
The C-Men [NL]
C-TRL Labs [US]
noteNdo [US]
Voltage Controlled [US]
Dan Winckler [US]

Screenings:
-------------------------------------------------
_This Spartan Life,_ a talk show in game-space
_We Are The Strange_ exclusive festival preview
_8 Bit,_ a documentary about art and video games
_Super Mario Movie,_ from Cory Arcangel and Paper Rad

Workshops:
-------------------------------------------------
Nullsleep: NES Music: From Concept to Cartridge

:: BLIP FESTIVAL 2006 ::
:: http://www.blipfestival.org/
.: Thursday 2006 11 30 - Sunday 2006 12 03
.: The Tank Auxiliary Space @ 15 Nassau St.
.: http://www.thetanknyc.org
.: http://lmcc.net/art/swingspace/15nassau/overview.html
.: 15 Nassau St. | at Pine St.
.: New York NY 10005
.: $10.00 per night, $5.00 for screenings
.: $35.00 festival pass -- you really can't beat that.

.: BLIP FESTIVAL:
http://www.blipfestival.org/

cb...where are you?






NEW JERSEY