Archive for January, 2009

Charles Mingus Cat Toilet Training Program (or, How My Brain Works qua Wikipedia)

January 31st, 2009 | Category: [pop]!culture, music

Charles Mingus Cat Toilet Training ProgramI was researching a very useful type of drug, and an article mentioned it “… decreases release of acetylcholine in cat brain“. So, I thought, “Is that a part of the brain, like a frontal lobe, or are they referring an actual cat brain?” Cat brain. Strange phrase. On Wikipedia, Cat Brain relocates to “Cat Intelligence”. Fascinating topic. It turns out that “Cat Brain” is more like “Human Brain” than other domestic animals, as “they have the same lobes in the cerebral cortex (the “seat” of intelligence) as humans do”.

Another interesting fact: apparently the legendary jazz bassist, Charles Mingus, in addition to being musically brilliant, also had a method for teaching felines how to use the toilet, the Charles Mingus Cat Toilet Training Program.

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Siouxsie and the Banshees, “The Killing Jar”

January 31st, 2009 | Category: music

This is less boring than most music videos, and one of my favorite Siouxsie and the Banshees tracks. She looks beautiful here.

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John Lydon? You “butter” believe it.

January 18th, 2009 | Category: [pop]!culture, music

While listening to some old PiL tracks, and reading a Mojo article and pondering whether Second Edition, a.k.a. Metal Box really is the best album ever (it’s one of the greatest, no question) …

I stumbled onto this:

Is Mr. Lydon a sellout? That’s besides the point. (Does he look like an “arse”? More to the point.) The Sex Pistols, who were a self-proclaimed sellout by intention and definition, mattered and changed a lot more because of it. The name “Public Image Limited” is literally a parody and commentary on commercialism and perception of celebrities. And yet it’s also a business directive. The band started out very avant-garde (listen to Second Edition and Flowers of Romance) and became more pop-sounding and “commercial” with each album starting with the aptly titled This Is What You Want… This Is What You Get. When they were anti-music, and when they were pop, they were often brilliant. This is just another

My favorite Lydon quote of the moment: ā€œLove is 2 minutes and 52 seconds of squelching noises.ā€

Very punk rock. Also sounds like he’s describing a large portion of my music collection.

What is the cultural significance of this butter commercial? I don’t know. While you ponder it, here’s another:

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