Sid & Susie a/k/a Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs: Under The Covers

By Jack Brummet, 20th Century Music Ed.

I only discovered the amazing Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs collaborations a couple of weeks ago.  I instantly went out and tracked down their works (bought local!), and have been gorging on them ever since.  Wow.  These are two artists I have very much liked independent of each other.  But together?  Unbelievable.  The voices, and their sensibilities are just stunning.  Go buy all their music!











Vol. 1

1. "I See The Rain" The Marmalade 3:45
2. "And Your Bird Can Sing" The Beatles 2:10
3. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" Bob Dylan 3:45
4. "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?" Fairport Convention 5:51
5. "Cinnamon Girl" Neil Young and Crazy Horse 2:47
6. "Alone Again Or" Love 3:35
7. "The Warmth of the Sun" The Beach Boys 3:08
8. "Different Drum" Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt 2:52
9. "The Kids Are Alright" The Who 2:50
10. "Sunday Morning" The Velvet Underground 3:26
11. "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" Neil Young and Crazy Horse 2:27
12. "Care of Cell 44" The Zombies 3:56
13. "Monday, Monday" The Mamas & the Papas 3:27
14. "She May Call You up Tonight" The Left Banke 2:24
15. "Run to Me" Bee Gees 3:06
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Vol 2

# Title Original artist Length
1. "Sugar Magnolia" Grateful Dead 3:32
2. "Go All the Way" Raspberries 3:33
3. "Second Hand News" Fleetwood Mac 3:13
4. "Bell Bottom Blues" Derek and the Dominos :02
5. "All the Young Dudes" Mott the Hoople3:52
6. "You're So Vain" Carly Simon 4:22
7. "Here Comes My Girl" Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 4:22
8. "I've Seen All Good People: Your Move/All Good People" Yes 7:29
9. "Hello It's Me" Todd Rundgren 3:51
10. "Willin'" Little Feat 2:59
11. "Back of a Car" Big Star 2:32
12. "Couldn't I Just Tell You" Todd Rundgren 3:27
13. "Gimme Some Truth" John Lennon 3:27
14. "Maggie May" Rod Stewart 5:32
15. "Everything I Own" Bread 3:09
16. "Beware of Darkness" George Harrison3:38
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Volume 2 Bonus Tracks

1. "Dreaming" Blondie 2:51
2. "Marquee Moon" Television 10:49
3. "I Wanna Be Sedated" Ramones 2:10
4. "Baby Blue" Badfinger 3:42
5. "You Say You Don't Love Me" Buzzcocks 2:55
6. "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" Nick Lowe 3:57
7. "You Can Close Your Eyes" James Taylor 2:34
8. "Melissa" The Allman Brothers Band 4:14
9. "Killer Queen" Queen 2:56
10. "A Song For You" Gram Parsons 2:59
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Volume 3
1.  "Sitting Still" (R.E.M.)
2.  "Girls Talk" (Dave Edmunds) [popularized by Elvis Costello]
3.  "Big Brown Eyes" (The dB's)
4.   "Kid" (The Pretenders)
5.   "Free Fallin'" (Tom Petty)
6.  "Save It For Later" (The English Beat)
7.  "They Don't Know" (Kirsty MacColl)
8.  "The Bulrushes" (The Bongos)
9.  "Our Lips Are Sealed" (The Go-Go's)
10. "How Soon Is Now" (The Smiths)
11.  "More Than This" (Roxy Music)
12.  "Towers of London" (XTC)
13.  "Killing Moon" (Echo and the Bunnymen)
14.  "Trouble" (Lindsey Buckingham)

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The Bare Tech Conference

By Mona Goldwater

While Jack did attend The Bare Tech Conference in San Diego, he failed to generate any actual material for his expense account-funded junket, other than one rambling, 133 character Tweet that he posted at 3:30 in the morning,

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Love poem

By Jack Brummet

drawing of Jack and Keelin by Jerry Melin, 1981

The unspoken

the unknown

the unstoppable
vs.

you & me.

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Drawing - Faces #797

By Jack Brummet

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The Wisdom Of Ken Kesey

By Jack Brummet, American Lit. Ed.

"You don't lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case."

"Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing."

Ken, on a bus trip heading east, stopped in Yellowstone and saw a sign that said "Beware of Bear" and said :  "This used to mean be aware of the bear.  But now, it means 'be afraid of the bear."

“Of offering more than what I can deliver,
I have a bad habit, it is true.
But I have to offer more than I can deliver,
To be able to deliver what I do.”

“Always stay in your own movie.”

“You're either on the bus or off the bus.”

“... you think this is too horrible to have really happened, this is too awful to be the truth! But, please. It's still hard for me to have a clear mind thinking on it. But it's the truth even if it didn't happen.”
― from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

"When Shakespeare was writing, he wasn't writing for stuff to lie on the page; it was supposed to get up and move around."

"To hell with facts! We need stories!"

“Okay, stand outa the way. Sometimes when I go to exertin' myself I use up all the air nearby and grown men faint from suffocation.”

“Good writin' ain't necessarily good readin'.”
― from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

"People think love is an emotion. Love is good sense."

"Loved. You can't use it in the past tense. Death does not stop that love at all."

"The trouble with super heroes is what to do between phone booths."

“He knows that you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy.”
― from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph."

"Nowhere else in history has there ever been a flag that stands for the right to burn itself. This is the fractal of our flag. It stands for the right to destroy itself."

"You've got to get out and pray to the sky to appreciate the sunshine; otherwise you're just a lizard standing there with the sun shining on you."

"There's something about taking a plow and breaking new ground. It gives you energy"

"Listen, wait, and be patient. Every shaman knows you have to deal with the fire that's in your audience's eye."

"The '60s aren't over; they won't be over until the Fat Lady gets high."

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The helpful neighbor - an almost Shakespearean tale, but, alas, a hoax/urban legend

Jack Brummet, Urban Legends Ed.

Alas, this is a hoax, or, urban legend.  But nonetheless, a good story.  It has been passed around under various guises, with different names and locales, but the crux of the tale is always the same. . .

Traute Soupolos needed a helping hand

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The fake town that hid Seattle's Boeing plant No. 2 from the Japanese during World War II

By Jack Brummet, Seattle history ed.

After Pearl Harbor, Boeing Plant No. 2 in Seattle (where B 17 bombers were built) was put under heavy camouflage to prevent a Japanese aircraft attack. The roof of the huge plant was covered with fake houses, streets, and trees. No Japanese planes came anywhere near the factory (my Mom was a riveter there before she enlisted). The plant is under the darker area in the center of the above photograph. The middle shot shows employees (allegedly, but they seem like models/actors) hanging out on the roof, and a view of the roof from street level.

A closer view of the 35-acre roof of Boeing Plant 2, with homes built of canvas, trees and shrubs made of board and mesh, and streets of oil and dirt:

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Remembering Governor George Wallace

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed.

I started out to write a piece on remembering Gov. George Wallace, and his legacy.  And then I thought "Remember George Wallace?  No, actually, I don't want to remember that P.O.S."

"In Birmingham they love the Governor..."

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Drawing: Susanna

By Jack Brummet

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Drawing: The Winged Monkeys

By Jack Brummet

[analog-digital hybrid]

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Fire hydrants in the summer in NYC

By Jack Brummet, Metro Ed.

One of the most iconic images of New York is seeing children (and adults) running through water shooting out of a fire hydrant. When I lived in NYC (77-82), people cranked open hydrants in the summer. If you went to the local police precinct, they would give you a hydrant sprinkler that you screwed onto the pipe (which helped keep the reservoirs and water pressure high).

From an article, "How To Open Fire Hydrants In NYC And Do It Legally":

"What's the best way to open a fire hydrant? The Department of Environmental Protections reminds New Yorkers that it's technically illegal--unless you have a city-approved spray cap.

"And these are easy to get! Spray caps can be obtained legally by an adult at your local firehouse. A firefighter will even come to your block's fire hydrant (there are 109,000 in New York) and open it for you.

"So get out on the streets New York! It's HOT out."

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Soil from Vlad The Impaler's castle (a/k/a Dracula)

By Jack Brummet, Ephemera Ed.

After finding this interesting piece of ephemera, I wondered if they were selling these many years later on eBay?  And the answer is, yes, they are.

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