Caraways - named after the narrator in The Great Gatsby, was the New York, Long Island, dream night club operation of Barney "East Frisco" Gierkes. Gierkes was hoping to combine his passions for 1850's Western Plains design and 1930's art deco trim. His choice for the color background of the wallpaper was a light red.
Located in the famed "village" of Riverhead, Gierkes believed his night club was destined for success. Opening night was well advertised through out the boroughs. When only fifteen people walked through the door ( six left immediately), he was not discouraged. He thought that the business would soon pick up. Two months later, boarded up, Caraways began its dark time.
Eight years later, Janet Whalely, bought the remains, kept all the fixtures, put sawdust on the floor, advertised steak dinners, and closed in eleven months.
Current owner, Blade Ting, came along a dozen years later - moved all the offices and storage into a new second floor, made the ground floor one large dancing area serviced by three bars, including the famous central "Circle Bar" with its spiral staircase - kept the Western Art Deco motif and began to make money. Capacity is 1350, which is sometimes inadvertently exceeded during Bogus Slogan concerts.
Bogus Slogan Poster #44 - Inside View
Bogus Slogan American Tour 2006
Closing Date
Bring your best music attitude. Bogus Slogan closes their run through America this September 17th. Come to Chrome Valley, California to spend the beginning of Fall without sleep. Hear songs from the Band's beginning days. Unreleased bootleg favorites. And all of the latest hits.
Opening acts Gooey Chunks (of Love); Inside Decay; Part Time Rain will play extended sets. Bogus Slogan is scheduled for the stage at 10pm. Last year, the closing number, "I'm Not Impressed," clocked out at 4:08am. So get your nap in. 
The El Dorado Amplitheater is an historic relic of the California gold rush. A natural earth formation, Bogus Slogan will bring in the infrastructure of a small town and uses the open air setting to say farewell to the tour.
Bring your own foods and drinks - On site food services will close at midnight. Bring blankets and warm clothing as temperatures will lower to the 40's.
Bogus Slogan Poster #43 - Inside View
Normally, Bogus Slogan uses the Vertex World Crime League as their concert promoters. The VWCL rarely seeks public recognition - in fact, the harder it is to find them, the better.
When the Crime League is unavailable, the Band is not adverse to using local promoters who are willing to use bonds and escrow accounts to verify the flow of monies. They'll be glad to trust you after proper compensation and all the bills have been paid. Bogus Slogan wants even the little guy who stands the concession in the bathroom to get his minimum wage.
Incomplete and Understated Productions of Laguna Beach, California were two surfers who thought Bogus Slogan were the best band in the world. They were determined to get them to play their home town. The Canon Amplitheatre is at the back of the city. No ocean view, rather, the smell of native California sagebrush is predominant. This was the city's first rock and roll concert since the late 60's and the whole town wanted the event held in a neighboring town.
But with art grants, bonds and maybe some compromising pictures, the boys got their concert, with one proviso - Acoustic only - A warm winter night, a thousand good friends, and the coyotes as backup singers.
Here's to our music heroes, Charlie Parker (Bird Lives), Eric Clapton (Clapton is God), Jimi Hendrix (Hendrix Forever), Duke Ellington (Nothing but the Duke)... They make the prettiest graffiti.
Linear Style
The Alternative Skirt Compilation
MixTapes.
Every proliferation needs a niche.
If you need a distraction for about 30 minutes - walking the dog, catching up on the cardio, taking a nap, escaping the disappointment of an inept socio-political world; then Linear Style is for you, Baby!
Music sharing at its best. Click on the Poster Image and enter DJ MumbleHand's pre-programmed world of Music. Nothin' but the hits. Hit after hit after hit. No time to reflect on your soul.
Hear music you might have missed.™
Photos: SP "Bull Ring" Rail Yard • Los Angeles, CA
In the early 1990's, I spent a few months photographing the final train movements on the ATSF Pasadena Subdivision. The route was a secondary line from San Bernadino into Los Angeles. Because it ran at grade level through fully developed land, running the line became more and more difficult. Speeds through Highland Park were down to 20 mph. It is now an electric line for passenger light rail (Pacific Electric revisited).
One of my favorite locations was the N. Broadway bridge which overlooked the LA river rail bridge. When no trains were coming, I looked around for other interesting shots. The above photo is of the Southern Pacific "Bull Ring" rail yard. The rail yard was the first to serve the incoming railroads. In the background is downtown LA. The building with the spire, all by itself on the left, is City Hall. Some day this area will be filled in. An NFL stadium has been suggested.
Bogus Slogan Poster #42 - Inside View
Since everyone has a dream of being rich and famous and popular and desired and... well, insert everbody's want list here. If you can make it in New York or Los Angeles, you can... well, now you can make it from anywhere, but keeping it... well...
But where else can you find the Whiskey-a-Go-Go? Only in beloved Hollywood(land). The home of all dreams. Most people have to come here to begin. Bogus Slogan started from the motherland. All five members grew up in between the oil wells, orange groves and bean fields; listening to the white interpretations of black R&B, backtracking to the originals and then succumbing to the inevitable Beatles.
Yet Southern California had surf and sand. All year long, every year. Add cars and girls, maybe that's why Cali is the home of all dreams.
From the poster, take Vine Street North, to the Hollywood foothills, turn left on Sunset Boulevard, cruise about 2 miles, park and pay the admission fee - Bogus Slogan is playing two shows nightly, Thursday June 20 thru Saturday the 22nd. Get there early, don't miss the opening act, The Topless Vixens. Oh yeah...
Abstracts: Zero Baseline (1) (2004)
And Round Marble Butterflies,
Nature's Abundance.
Bogus Slogan Poster #41 - Inside View
Since humans are independent souls with free will, how can you deny the desire of men to dress in drag. And with the new found popularity of body art, no tattoo is out of place. Makeup and glitter - sure, why not.
Our two "ladies" are from a photograph by Justin Lundgren's Greetings from New Orleans web site. GfNO is a postcard project that showcases the vibrancy of the city of New Orleans and Mardi Gras. "Queen for a Day," brings us a 'Laurel and Hardy' pair who are delighted to be out and about in the latest Spring fashions.*
Bogus Slogan looks forward to playing the 'Big Easy.' Nearly every American tour of the Band includes a stop in the greater New Orleans area. The 2006 concert tour played a small club bar, Pale's Cosmopolitan, in the downtown district.
The Original Music Hall concert was a SRO BYOB bruiser. 750 people in a 475 space. No one got out alive.
*Is not that white fan with peacock feathers to die for?
Washes: Homemade Crumble (2004)
Putting texture onto a two dimentional canvas means the surface needs to be prepared with the peaks and valleys of a neutral base coat. Layer one shows this result.
Layer two brings the first groupings of color. Soft blues recall a morning sky or possibly the gingham dress of a young child. Layer three refines the color alignments, raising the composition toward its last level.
As completed, Homemade Crumble uses red as a defining marker - Letting the viewer sense the floating nature of color over color.
SysOps Notice 2006.08.01
People always ask me what are my musical influences are. Where do I come up with all those wacky songs. Do I really hear those sounds in my head. These are not stupid questions. I ask them myself. I could print a list of my music collection, but since nearly everything I have is a commercial release, it is not like I have a private source of inspiration.
For the impatient out there, start with " I Feel Fine" (the Beatles) (1964). Obviously, nearly everything they released is a classic - but try to imagine hearing them in real time - comparable to following the career of a current favorite band of yours. But in that era, there is no advance information or leaked mp3s on music blogs. It is just one day a real disc jockey says he has the new single from the Beatles.
I'll keep the analysis short, but... I am mesmerized by Ringo Starr's performance on the drums. In the verses, he plays a fast tempo "surf" beat, but the ride cymbal stickwork is a latin jazz overlay. Incredible. The choruses are a straight 4 beat, which gives the song a schizophrenic propulsion. The song's apex is after the stop time middle solo where Starr starts up the song with a percussive flam using the snare over the bass drum. More incredible.Trying to keep it short- Simple, infectious, sophisticated, optimistic, original. A 2:18 minute pop gem. Oh yeah - even today, the feedback opening is way cool. And Harrison's clear guitar, McCartney's "tuba" bass figures, Lennon's vocal joy...
Then go to "Gonna Send You Back to Walker" (the Animals) (1964). GSYBtW is a cynical up tempo blues, that was released as a single, but was not a public hit. Eric Burdon's vocal distain rides over Alan Price's prototype garage organ and Hilton Valentine's sparse, treble thin, guitar fills.
As much as the Beatles were feeling fine, the Animals are disappointed that their women can not remain faithful. Here in two songs, are the opposites of life, and the diversity that recorded sound provide us. The Animals continue with nearly a dozen more popular hits, but musical differences break the band apart in 1967. Reforming the Animals with new members, Eric Burdon, embraces the Psychedelic sound of the late 60's.
Bogus Slogan Poster #40 - Inside View
From the same first national tour as BS Poster #39, poster #40 promoted the Band's appearance before the mayhem of 1,350 college students at the infamous Darmouth University Annex. Experiencing individual freedom for the first time - old enough to convince others to get into mutual trouble - well, even Bogus Slogan was learning about life on the road.
To get the Band on the road, Mason Kimmers (vocals, guitar), had found an old 1930"s big band touring bus. The mileage meter displayed 831,233.4. Everyone figured that this was, at least, the dial's second time around. Up on blocks, with shredded rubber for tires, a thick coast of dust through out the interior (a victim of too many Santa Ana winds); the prospects were not looking good until the band met mechanic deluxe Nicky "Va-Voom" Konopolis.
Also know as "Kono," he had wandered backstage after a local club gig, raving about minor 9ths against walking bass lines supporting the octatonic scale. Somebody started him with a beer and for the next 30 minutes he ruminated on music theory, comparing the turn of the century classical avant-garde with the middle Musique Concrète period.
When he finally glanced down at his empty beer bottle with a look of dismay, Kimmer, with omniscience from outer space, asked Kono if he knew how to fix a bus.
ZenithPointStudio PopWorks 5
