Five 10/22/15

Five (things of interest to me and maybe to you)
Stealing a page from Greil Marcus’s Real Life Top Ten
10/22/15

1) Cold Brew Coffee - I don’t consider myself a coffee snob even though I have many coffee making devices (two French Presses, a stovetop expresso maker, a half dozen drippers, a Chemex, an Aeropress, several kinds of grinders, assorted scales, and at least two Vacuum/Siphon pots). Until recently I felt that the best way to brew coffee was with a Vacuum/Siphon pot (also the most work). For the past few months have been making Cold Brew - it’s simple to make, just coffee and water in a mason jar, over night in the fridge, strain through a coffee filter (might take a bit of trial and error to get the right coffee to water ratio). Great full flavour, no bitterness. On par with Vacuum pot. Even Starbucks can make a good Cold Brew (how come after 12PM they only brew Pike Place, a truly awful coffee and often burnt). Still searching for the perfect Coffee Cup.

2) Roxy: The Movie, Frank Zappa - I’m a big Zappa fan. That being said I’ve listen to so much of Frank’s music that a few years ago I took a break, an exended break. (my albums/cds are in Toronto, with most of my coffee paraphernalia, and I’m in LA). Recently I saw the four decades in the making Roxy: The Movie at the Egyptian (LA’s best place to see a movie). It’s a straight forward edit of 3 nights of shows from December 1973 - no animation, no skits - just presented as a one concert. Boy, does this band swing - George Duke, keyboards; Ruth Underwood,  xylophone, marimba, Percussion; Tom Flower, bass;  Bruce Flower, trombone; Ralph Humphries, drums; Chester Thompson, drums; Napoleon Murphy Brook, saxophone, vocals; and Frank Zappa, guitar, vocals. The musicians knew this music inside and out, they were tight, able to change direction on a dime (or on the wave of Zappa’s pinky finger). There’s Joy in the playing and Joy in the listening (and watching).The instrumental version of Cheapnis is one of the best pieces of music I’ve heard from one of Frank’s groups.

Written, directed, and conducted by Frank Zappa, as well as produced by him, Gail Zappa, Ahmet Zappa, and Jeff Stein, Roxy: The Movie stars Zappa, The Mothers, and their mesmerizing musicianship.

3) The Mask, Julian Hoffman, 1961 - Billed as the first Canadian horror movie (before Cronenberg), The Mask (aka Eyes of Hell), is a lot of fun (and not to be confused with Canadian Jim Carrey’s The Mask). Shot partially in anaglyph 3D (red blue/green glasses), a voice commands the viewer to “put on your mask on now” for(quoting the trailer) “the weirdest nightmare world that man has every dreamed or the screen has ever dared show”. These sequences were supervised by Slavko Vorkapich, pioneer of the montage (David Copperfield, Mr Smith Goes To Washington). This is one film you want to see with audience, thought the Blu Ray comes out next month with a bunch of cool extras (shorts by Vorkapich and a new 3D horror short, One Night In Hell with music by Queen's Brian May).

4) Sacri Cuori - Don’t much about this Italian group, Sacri Cuori (Sacred Hearts). I first heard them on KCRW - a little 60’s psych, a little Italian soundtracks from the 60s and 70s, a little blues, a little world - a stew of sounds. I have their recent album, Delone, need to find the rest. Reminds me of Calexico. http://www.sacricuori.com

5) Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, Elvis Costello, 2015 - Read this pretty much in one go. It jumps around a bit (which seems to be the norm for rock bios these days) but his writing on his influences and likes is pretty great, so’s his writing on his own songs. http://www.elviscostello.com

Playlist

Five 10/22/15 by Knottserious on Mixcloud

1) Java Jive, The Ink Spots
2) Delone, Sacri Cuori
3) The Blue Mask, Lou Reed
4) Cheapnis, Frank Zappa
6) Radio Radio, Elvis Costello

Side note: I drive a scooter around LA. Having to play close attention to the car in front of me, I've noticed that there are more Barney stickers then Hilary stickers on car bumpers

Active Surplus on Toronto's Queen West To Close

Another Queen West landmark closes (following Pages, the Silver Snail, Stem, Bakka, many others - at least the Black Bull and the Queen Mother are still there).

From the Torontoist

Active Surplus’ Queen Street location is closing. The distinctive electronics retailer has been on Queen for over 30 years, and its second floor store has been a magnet for techies, DIYers, geeks, and weirdos. It was an excellent place.

The retailer was a reliable source of LED lights, USB sticks, and odds and ends like plastic baby legs. The store revelled in its offbeat personality.

Perhaps most well-known for its gorilla mascot, Professor Banana, Active Surplus is one of the last vestiges of a bygone era on Queen Street. Now the domain of medium to high end mass retailers, that stretch of Queen has long ago shed itself of the independent and gritty spirit that was once its calling card.

Active Surplus maintains a location on Steeles, and according to their website, they’re looking for another storefront. In the meantime, all items at the Queen Street location are 50 per cent off, although they make a point of mentioning Professor Banana is not for sale.

Active Surplus