Back in the good old days (Clinton was still president!) I put together an online Zappa quiz with the aid of the ever helpful SOFA. Due to my terminal redesignitis it had long since disappeared from these pages. Until now…
Introducing The Quiz Of Your Dreams — so you think you know yer Zappa eh?
What better way to kick off the last day of the year than with some Roxy-era music! Have a good one…
Everything you always wanted to know about “The World’s Greatest Sinner” (see also), but were afraid to ask.
This week’s Friday Boot, as you will note, turned out extra-big: 24 tracks (thanks Gilles!). Wichita State University, April 11 1980 — enjoy, and have a Merry Christmas!
Some good reads in this Zappa appreciation thread. Noteworthy quote from one DonkeyRhubarb: “Has anyone thought about what it is that is exactly wrong with being pretentious? I’m pretentious all the time, I enjoy it. I have a good job, a stable relationship, a loving family and lots of friends. So what if I sit in the pub disscusing the artistic merits of Don van Vliet every now and then. And I wear a beret, a full length brown leather jacket and smoke Giantes.”
What can you do that’s fantastic?
I have another 4 gmail invites waiting to be sent out. In good procrastinator fashion, the first 4 respondants who comment with what they consider a good way to announce that one has 4 gmail accounts waiting to be sent out, will –erh– get the gmail accounts.
Update: I now have 10 of these to give away. Get them off my hands, please!
Now, who is Mathilda..?! (off to watch “Keeping Up Appearances” on BBC1. Ah, sweet holidays…:^)
“NOTE WE COLLECT FRAMES AND THE ONE THAT THIS ART WAS IN CAME FROM AN OLD gERMAN CASTLE -ITS VALUE HAS BEEN APPRAISED AT THREE THOPUSAND DOLLARS SO IT IS NOT INCLUDED –ALSO WE GUARANTEE TWO HUNDERED PERCENT CHEERFULLY -MONEY BACK RETURNED IF THIS IS PROVEN TO BE A COPY”.
What to buy for the person who knows everything:
— if they correctly pronounce “Shostakovich”: a bottle of good wine. (via The Funk Files)
On a day like this, 1940, at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland…
In a baffling turn of events, Doreen, Joe Travers’ chicken that was apparently kidnaped last week was caught by papparazzi in revealing attire, along with one of her captors. The perpetrators had previously sent a ransom note demanding the famous Vaultmeister release the Roxy dvd, considered the pearl of FZ’s vault-oyster, in exchange for setting her free. Brainwashing? Gigantic hoax? See for yourself. Regardless, Joe can now breathe relieved as life goes on…
I’ve been re-playing this video back and forth: Zappa on Crossfire, ’86 (direct QT link). The John Lofton/FZ confrontation is downright hilarious, and in it FZ uses the, dare I say it, prophetic words “fascist theocracy”. Amazing stuff.
“As soon as she opened the door, we marched in and set up all of our equipment in the hallway outside of Frank Zappa’s bedroom and we started playing. The song’s like halfway through and the door opens and a hand comes out and goes like this,” he said, motioning to quiet down. — Dennis Dunaway of Alice Cooper recalls how the band got its first record deal.
