Later!

All set.
I'm leaving for Naples tomorrow morning, 7:36 train from Monfalcone station. So of course don't expect too many updates in the next day or five. Will be meeting with a Falco or two, a Janos, a Roberto "MIT" Carli but not with that Gri guy whom i owe 10£. Hopefully also with some other ex-uwcers, or even current ones, who knows.

Ok, ahem, i have a little announcement to make.
Earlier this year, when Alan Moore turned 50, he announced he would cease writing comics and become a magician.
Likewise, when Captain Beefheart was 40 and had just released what was to be his final album, he announced he would abandon the music industry and devote all his time and attention to his paintings. He's still there, painting, somewhere in the Mojave Desert. Hope he's fine.
Anyway, i would never compare myself to those last two Great Creators. I am but 25, but i still have something to announce. Earlier this autumn i have decided i shall become an artist, and have been working towards this goal ever since. This will not be news for the closest among you, who had already heard it from my own lips, or seen the consequences splattered around duino. And i also suppose it will come as no shock to all those who have already known me for some time.
I'm just making it official. That's all.
As soon as i get around to finding some free webspace(the old digilander one is now inaccessible and kaputt) i'll try to post some images of what i'm up to. Apart from that, blogging will continue as always.

Ok, that's that. Now, i just wanted to say another thing. I don't really believe in christmas, nor do i give much importance to the New Year, if not as an opportunity to get thoroughly sloshed. Still, i believe this time in the year to be symbolic of the ending of one thing and the beginning of another. Whether it's through a calendar resetting itself, a child being born, the winter getting at its worst possible so you're certain it'll be better from now on and the days starting to get longer, or anything, it's still important.
So i would just like to wish a bright new beginning to all readers out there.

And that's all. I'll have some more new year considerations, er, next year!

Happy new year.

RLF, 29.XII.2003

...

So i haven't updated much these days. Hey, i was kind of busy. And tomorrow i'm leaving for Rome or Naples to spend the new year there(wherever it may be, nothing's definitive yet). So unfortunately posts will continue to be scarce during the holiday season. But i hope to make up for it afterwards.

Some news: I've been paid! Or at least, i think so. Which means i can finally give Gri those 10£ i owe him.
Of course i still have to understand if the bank says i have that money, or if i just owe it to them.

Interesting...

Verrry interesting.....
(Tnx to Pino)

Something amazing

Here!

evaristo is the 47

Whoami

Actually, at least 15 of these are true.

recycled presents

...And if you weren't satisfied with what ol'skankybones brought you, well, that's where i come in!
Download a complete 1990 Elio e le Storie Tese gig, audio and some video, here!
Download several different versions of Yo Mama, George Duke's 1974 exploits and some actually non-cheesy christmas songs at this site!
And finally, Here is where you can still find Zappa's killer Sidney'73 concert, featuring Jean Luc Ponty, Ruth&Ian Underwood, George Duke(again), Sal Marquez, Ralph Humphrey and a couple of Fowler brothers!
But hurry! that last one will probably only be available until tomorrow, and the others for an indefinite amount of time! Get them modems a-buzzin'! Unless of course you have DSL. Lucky Bastards.

Christmas Spirit

Wanna see how Santa Claus looks like nowadays?
Well, as we all know, Old Saint Nick currently -ahem- resides in the beautiful XII century Church of Saint Nicholas of Bari(BA), where he has been ever since he was, er, brought from Constantinople back in 1087AD (Not BC of course. That would be just daft). Actually, some Bari sailors broke into the cathedral in Constantinople one night and outright stole him, but that's of no interest to us at the moment. Although the whole idea of kidnapping the mortal remains of Santa Claus does seem rather original.
Anyway, here are the most recent pictures of that Santa guy, taken between the 5th and the 6th of May, 1953. I was going to include them here directly, but just decided some people might not like what there is to be seen. Instead, here's another picture of my lamp! (just joking)

So anyway, hope the skull-and-crossbones guy brought you all enjoyable presents, i'll be raving about mine later this week.
Although i must mention this amazing pair of penguin-themed socks that just added themselves to the collection. So cool.

errata

..and by the way, the bonus track on the album i was going on about here isn't Dental Hygiene Dilemma, it's Does This Kind Of Life Look Interesting To You?
Sorry! Could've happened to almost anyone. Almost anyone who's interested in this kind of junk, anyway.

So that you'll forgive me, here's a nice link Scott McCloud pointed out to today: Mr. Picassohead!

sometimes three is better than four

I'll forgive the imperfect panel layout on Today's Dieselsweeties only for the cute zappa quote!

Paolone, 12.VII.1962 - 23.XII.1998

It's been five years since the passing of Feiez.

Not much i can say about this. For those of you who don't know it, Feiez, a.k.a. Mu Fogliasch, a.k.a. Paul Branigade (etc.etc.) was the Saxophonist, percussionist, second guitarist, backing vocalist, just-about-everything-elseist of the great band Elio e le Storie Tese. And overall great guy.
I only had the fortune of seeing him perform once (Pordenone Rototom, April 1998), and i wish i had some great behind-the-scenes anecdote about meeting him after the show. But that night, after meeting all four "core" members of the band, realizing that i had some friends anxiously waiting for me in a van somewhere in the parking lot, and noticing the uncanny amount of people surrounding him, i decided i could even just give Feiez a miss, because "i can meet him the next time". Sadly and stupidly, there was no next time.

But what i can say is this: that night, he and the other five members of the band played their hearts out on stage, giving us one of the best, most surprising and thoroughly enjoyable shows i've ever witnessed. That's my personal memory of the man. And it's not that bad at all, come to think of it.




...and by the way, two days ago would have been FZ's birthday. Pop over to Zappa.com to check out the festivities!

Village of the sun, son

i've been asked for the url for that picture i posted earlier today of a certain nearby star we seem to be going round once in a while. Here it is. I assume the image changes automatically once in a while, haven't bothered checking.
I still think my lamp is more interesting. I think i'll post its picture again. Hey, it's my blog, ok? i can do what i like!


(p.s.: Michael, do i know you?)

This is what i owed my comic book pusher 20€ for. Well spent money, well paid credit.
And while we're at it, here are some more sites on Dave McKean.

The Loudest Noise Comes From The Electric Surrealist.

The Advertising Slogan Generator.

These are nice, but not as nice as these.
(first link courtesy of Pino, second one courtesy of Yours Truly, who finds cool sites on his own sometimes too.)

There may be some strange things happening to the sidebar and general layout of this page in the next few days. I'm trying out some new solutions and stuff. Stuff, Isn't that a great word? Stuff, stuff, stuff. I could type it all day.
Oh, and from now on, if i've reviewed or commented on a recently acquired book or cd, the sidebar will link to the post where such a thing occurs. If i don't, it'll just remain unlinked and if you want more info you can go out there and find it.

Which Batman villain are you?

It's pathetic quiz time again!


You are: THE JOKER!


Which Batman Villain Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

(Yes, i really got this result. I'm extremely glad there's no such thing as a "which batman sidekick are you?" quiz. Really.)

some similiarity

This

,
which they tell me sits somewhere above our heads,
looks very similar to this

,
which is currently lighting up my room, and has been doing it for the past seven years or so.
Cool.

Just love the way this one's progressing...

Bayeux

As promised, even though almost every comic-related site has been linking to it ages ago, here's the Historic Tale Construction Kit!


P.S.:Watch that button!

Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein! It's a way of life!

In case you hadn't followed the link from that Michael Moore article i pointed to the other day, here's where you can view the famous picture and most of all download the video of Donald Rumsfeld Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein!

Dental Hygiene Dilemma

This is what i bought yesterday:


And this is what i chose not to buy:


Even though it took me over an hour to choose.
Actually, i didn't even expect the Baby Snakes DVD to reach italian retailers. Imagine my surprise upon seeing it there. And imagine my despair upon discovering they *also* had that ensemble modern CD and that i could only take one. But the CD sounds great, the arrangement for trombone, violin and percussion of FZ's guitar solo on Revised Music For Low Budget Orchestra is enticingly lyrical, and the Civilization Phaze III tracks, which even i believed to be humanly impossible to perform, come out glimmering and without a scratch. The real treat, however, is the 20-minute-plus Adventures of Greggery Peccary, featuring Omar Ebrahim and David Moss(!) on voices. I'd only ever heard the piece in the version Zappa would perform with his Grand Wazoo orchestra in '72, where it was performed as a suite, the concluding section(New Brown Clouds) serving as concert-opener. The Greggery story is at the same time farce, social commentary, and nonsensical humor, but most of all it's very explicative of Zappa's fascinating idea of Time.
The only little flaw in the cd is the inclusion of Peaches En Regalia, which just feels out of place among these pieces. Don't get me wrong, it's one of my favourite tunes ever, but this orchestral version just doesn't click it in for me.
Lucky we also get a bonus track! Dental Hygiene Dilemma from 200 Motels! Looking forward to an EM reinterpretation of that masterwork!