So raps Spohkes, Boston-based rhyme slinger in a piece he penned (or should I say thumbed, as he composed it on his Blackberry?) specifically for our second episode of the LoveTheCool Show. Any apprehensions about covering gangsta rap in Randolph, MA with blogger babe Michelle McCormack were quickly allayed; Spohkes and the rest of his Flicker Gang are deeply committed, and gentlemen to boot. Don’t tell them I told you though.
And if you’ll briefly excuse this white Jewish suburban boy’s fantasies, I’d like to now irrevocably crush any respect from anybody I may have ever earned. So, here goes nothin:
The flicker gang/ are seeking bigger fame/rising like a crane/ avoidin the chain gang/ they’re quick with the wit/ no spitting or lip/except when they’re rapping/when they shoot from the hip/like the man with no name/killing without any shame/working quotiodian/ without any ritalin/ layin down beats/ like halloween candy/ ubiquitous treats/ with a mac they be handy.
Don’t forget. LoveTheCool. Every two weeks. Fashion, music, social media. You can subscribe to the LoveTheCool show’s Youtube page quite easily by going here and clicking “subscribe.” Now, wasn’t that easy? And you can now become fan of the show on Facebook. We have 103 fans. Wait a second. I don’t even have that many friends on Facebook!
Are you fond of the extraordinary?
Are you partial to the sublime?
Do you love the cool?
Then drop everything you’re doing immediately (that means you!) and watch the first episode of our felicitously named LoveTheCool Show, featuring three of the hippest cats you may ever feast your eyes upon — Michelle Mccormack, Certified Coolologist and social media connoisseur — and Andria and Jessen, haberdashery experts and purveyors of the finest headwear this side of the Alamo.
Andria and Jessen opened up their eclectic emporium, the addictive Salmagundi in Jamaica Plain. Watch! as Michelle gets her groove on. Listen! as they all wax social media.
This is the LoveTheCool video series. Fashion. Music. Social Media. And then some. Every two weeks. What are you doing (or not doing) in social media? Do you Love the Cool?
And he willblow your mind, guaranteed. The indefitagable, ineffable Ricky Jay is on tour with his new stage show, “Ricky Jay, A Rogue’s Gallery,” described as “An evening of Conversation & Performance.”
His website describes him as
a writer and speaker on subjects as varied as conjuring literature, con games, sense perception and unusual entertainments.
He is perhaps best known as an actor, in Deadwood and perhaps in all of the con films directed by David Mamet (who directs this show, and on whose films Jay is often credited as a “consultant.”) But he is world-renowned as a manipulator of cards. Mark Singer, in his excellent New Yorker article writes,
Studying videotapes of him and observing at first hand some of his serendipitous microbursts of legerdemain have taught me how inappropriate it is to say that “Ricky Jay does card tricks”-a characteri- zation as inadequate as “Sonny Rollins plays tenor saxophone” or “Darci Kistler dances.” None of my scrutinizing has yielded a shred of insight into how he does what he does. Every routine appears seamless, unparsable, sim- ply magical.
A former carnival barker, he has garnered as much envy for his skills with his hands as he has of his aural dexterity, evidenced by his performance and patter, somehow both anachronistic and fresh. To pick a couple more accomplishments out of the proverbial hat — in his case surely a 10-gallon — he once held the Guinness Book of World Records for card throwing, a subject upon which he based his first book. His last media release was a CD compendium celebrating “the history, the art and the music of poker,” for which he was nominated for a Grammy.
There’s plenty of good Youtube clips to choose from, from his talk show appearances in the eighties on Letterman and Arsinio, from his network special Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women (inspired by his second book), but below are a couple of film clips that bespeak many of his charms.
Ricky Jay’s website is here. From his homepage, you’ll find links to the stellar New Yorker profile (as good a profile as I’ve ever read, on anyone), and about a year’s worth of radio essays Jay recorded for KCRW.
Then check out the video I directed for the Ford Fiesta Movement. My subject was the lovely and talented @MichelleMMM, AKA Michelle M McCormack, social media consultant (we met through Twitter), blogger, photographer, and designer. Her social media, hip-hop and fashion blog is at lovethecool.net. I tried to communicate her energetic, passioniate personality through the shooting and editing. Lots of jumpcuts and obtuse angles, inspired mostly by Errol Morris. Thanks HandCancel for the beats.
All Things Considered recently covered Israeli viral VJ Kutiman. His claim to rightful fame? Mashing up musical Youtube clips of musicians of variable talent in divergent settings. People singing to their isight and hokey musical instructional videos and locked-off piano rehearsals and old school keyboards. The result is a fun, marvelous swampy soul-funk groove video album that has to be seen (and heard) to be believed.
Currently, he’s the third most popular Israeli on Youtube. The late-night crooners and percussion practicioners he appropriates are now getting thousands of hits. In his Youtube comments, fans claim he has invented a new genre. I’ve certainly never seen anything like this.
Entertainment Weekly has alerted me that thirteen.org is providing episodes of their 1968-1973 black variety hour, Soul!, online. Mostly comprised of musical performances, the show also showcased a wide range of black entertainment, from poets to political figures (Louis Farakhan, Jesse Jackson). Of the six shows currently online, the most cohesive is the Tito Puente and Willie Colon episode, whose performances are nicely framed with a variety of vignettes (free-form raps, poems, even documentary clips).
I can’t wait to see more of the artists of this era that explored the intersections of psychedelia, jazz, and soul. Current highlights include Earth, Wind, and Fire in their heydey, and Rahassan Roland Kirk, who often plays multiple saxophones at once. My favorite number is one in which Kirk, with his Vibration Society starts off with an gorgeous Ray Charles-style ballad and climaxes in a free-form jazz explosion while Kirk destroys a metal chair. Somewhere in there he madly blows his whistle, bangs his gong and plays the conch.
I’m always putting stuff off because my camera’s not good enough. I don’t have enough sound gear and my lights are crappy and my computer is old. Well, none of that stopped Mike McVey. He went ahead and made a movie without spending a dime. After storyboarding and scripting for weeks, he ended up using a sorry excuse for a home video camera, friends for actors and whatever sound and lighting equipment he could borrow from his school. Which wasn’t much. A knowing spoof of b-movie cliches shot with urgency and edited with panache, Galloping Gertie shows that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Mike Mcvey. While you’re on his youtube page, check out his impressive collection of 20th century pop culture fragments, a world of cult movie clips, film history excerpts, comedic mash-ups, indie documentaries, comic books and superheroes and sci-fi curiosities.
The promotional video for Microsoft’s Songsmith is so atrocious that parody would be redundant. Sleep well, knowing that you had nothing to do with this ad, or for that matter, this product.
No wonder the recent trend of post-modern meta-art inspired by this karaoke machine from hell. This extremely catchy bluegrass Billy Idol cover is my favorite so far. I dare you to get it out of your head after a listen.
I like how it’s done straight. You can find more form the artist at his blog, entertainmentweekly.com. I’m beginning to become I am a big fan of eighties pop videos. They are like the American version of Bollywood, unapologetically surreal, bombastic, and ostentatious. Sort of like, er, Songsmith. I think I may be becoming a convert. Thank you, Laughing Squid.
I’m always putting stuff off because my camera’s not good enough. I don’t have enough sound gear and my lights are crappy and my computer is old. Well, none of that stopped Mike McVey. He went ahead and made a movie without spending a dime. After storyboarding and scripting for weeks, he ended up using a sorry excuse for a home video camera, friends for actors and whatever sound and lighting equipment he could borrow from his school. Which wasn’t much. A knowing spoof of b-movie cliches shot with urgency and edited with panache, 
