Squid Ink does Margaret and David...

Recently I happened to take in a pretty good movie, in DVD format, from the privacy of my corduroy couch. The Squid and The Whale is a top-notch piece of modern-day whimsy in the Wes Anderson style (Mr Anderson is actually the Executive Producer - whatever that means) and is a cut above the derivative stylings of pretenders to the genre like Garden State. I give it two thumbs up, four stars, and (for Modern Doug) no cock punches.

Not only is it well worth your coin, if you go to Video Ezy at Yarraville you can get it on New Release for just $1.95, Mondays and Wednesdays.

But the main reason I bring it into this forum is that it's the only film I can really think of in which both Pink Floyd and Squid feature as major facets of the plot. Anyone who has followed this blog will know just how relevant that makes it.

I commend this film to the band and its fans.

Squid Ink Does Politics

Here is the classic party-tune single ‘Gay Bar’ from The Electric Six's 2003 album Fire. The whole Lincoln thing is pure genius. The lyrics are nonsense and include the lines:

Let's start a war
Start a nuclear war
At the gay bar.

MTV censored them. Apparently using the words ‘war’ and ‘nuclear’ is too dangerous to use in a song.

Americans are insane.

Dr squid comes through...

Not everyone might know this but Mrs Squid is actually Dr Squid, she being a highly qualified leading intellectual of our times and shaper of the young minds of tomorrow.

To record her always-informative lectures and research interviews the house of learning has given her a grant, which she has used to purchase this impressive looking Marantz digital recorder. I, for one, think this could be fun to play with at future Midian sessions. Apparently it is ‘the first choice for podcasters’ and I can see the cut and thrust and sweet harmonies of a Squid Ink training session being a popular podcast with our growing band of fans.

Now if only I knew what a podcast was.

Summer Reading Guide

Upcoming books from Squid Ink Press:

Crafty Jerhcott, Art Attack: An Urban Guerilla Art Guide for the Stay at Home Professional.

Norman D, Dipping my Quill: A journalist's sexual journey.

Pborg Harpo-Collins, Swedish Keystrokes: A Guide to Massaging the Web.

Squid Pro Quo

Got squid fever? Can't stop thinking 'bout inking? Why not find out how much you know about nature's most loveable oceanic slimebag - the squid? Take the informative and challenging Squid Pro Quo quiz, and you'll be amazed at just how fascinating our eight-legged friends can be. Silky-D scored a disappointing 11/15, which is one above the mean score.

Santa's sack stinks

Sometimes, when I move about in the world, dudes say things like 'it must be cool to get sent cds to review and never have to pay for them.' In response I sometimes say 'It's fine, but it's not as cool as you think. You get sent a lot of shit.'

The dudes tend to roll their eyes, and I kind of understand why. Which is why I thought I'd give a little insight into a day in the mail life of Silky-D. Yesterday I got a hot little parcel of CDs from Sony BMG, Australia's market-leading music publishing company. This was it, the pick of their upcoming releases for the key christmas/holiday season.
Here's what I got:
1)Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel (with ltd edition DVD)
2)Dave Matthews Band: The Best of the Dave Matthews Band (this is a double album)
3)Guy Sebastian: Closer to the sun
4)George Michael: Twenty Five Greatest Hits
5)Dixie Chicks: Taking the long way
6)Jamiroquai: Singles 1992-2006 (also features two new tracks)
7)David Campbell: The Swing Sessions

And they say that the internet is killing the music industry. As an independent part-time music critic I strongly reccomend that Sony sign up Squid Ink immediately and rush out a Christmas release ASAP. Working title: 'Santa bring my hinny back (to me)' By the way, I'm wondering if we shouldn't do a swing album after we let the market cool down following our well received Motown covers series.

Change of direction?

I was thinking that we should start playing ska.

My reason is simply that ska has the best dances. I mean really. Check this out:

The Dog

1. Feet apart, with slightly bent knees. Arms a bit bent and extended in front of you.
2. Jump so you are facing front (in same position) with your arms which remain bent with clenched fists. Move them up and down to the beat of the music. Do the same with your body.
3. Continue motions while going lower until your arms are below your arse.
4. Continue motions upwards until your fists reach past your shoulders.
5. Jump to the side and repeat.

That is solid gold. And it continues, how about this one:

The Hitch-hike

1. Feet slightly apart, very slightly bent knee, arms loose by side, clenched fists with thumb sticking up (thus called the Hitch Hike)
2. Alternate arms over your shoulders and move your hips from side to side quickly.
3. Jump to side remaining in same position.
4. Repeat motions of arms and hips.
5. Then jump so you are facing front and repeat the same motions.

Damn. All we need are some sharp suits and a brass section. This is hot.

Viva le Calamar

The fine lads at Midian having failed us last night, we all retired to the Douglands for more recording and mixing. Beer, pizza and rhythm guitar was enjoyed by all. The Parks have been very generous with their home. There is a comments area here where, no doubt, Crafty will add his thoughts about the progress of the recording — it was the first time he'd heard any of it since he'd laid down his drums many weeks ago.

It was made clear to me that the video was too big so I've uploaded another version that is only 15M. Enjoy.

It was fantastic to have all the dudes around. It was the first of, hopefully, many band dinners!

Daltrey not paltry...

OK people. Before I leave Roger alone to enjoy his comfy spot in the rock and roll hall of fame I have just one thing to add. I've just been looking at the liner notes to the latest Who album Endless Wire and it certainly gives us food for thought re. the vexing subject of how to write liner notes. Here's Mr Daltrey's submission, which I will let speak for itself:

'I am a singer, an actor, an interpreter, an alchemist who turns words into emotions. Just like Olivier and Gielgud strove to connect the audience with Shakespeare, I strive to connect the listener with the soul of Pete Townshend's music ... my voice exists in the space that's created, where the heart of the song is. Somewhere between the ones and the zeros, the other side of the Mirror Door.'

Never mind the hinnies...

Whooaa, that's spooky. Please see above, the pic I had already selected for my return to posting life. I found this, the cover of Roger Daltrey's 1975 album, 'Ride a rock horse,' at Adelaide's premier second hand record emporium while away. It's described by some learned judges as 'the reason punk had to happen.' The record was competitively priced at $1 but I didn't purchase due to extreme scratching (and I don't mean in a cool, Grandmaster Flash kinda way). But it did strike me, faced as we currently are by tough decisions in these areas, that this is not just a human/animal hybrid (and therefore inspirational grist for Dave's arty-mill) but also possibly the worst album cover/title combo ever seen. Anyone got anything that can best my cock horse for the title?

The Satyrist

Things have been a bit quiet on the blog whilst we here at the Squid Ink Laborotories have begun work on our first human animal hybrid. We may get him in to play percussion if it works out (I'm not sure we could get pan pipes to rock...Acker Bilk has that market pretty much sewn up). And maybe one more for a sound engineer though I fear the mischievous scamp would too often leave the desk to steal kisses from sleeping maidens...but with any luck he would press record and play at the same time before making off.

Enter the Silk

After the solid foundations from Crafty and the studs and nogs from Paddy, last night we got the flying butresses from Silky-D. He said all he needed to rock was some greasy fish pasta and I obliged. Once more Nellie was on hand to add production advice but more to capture the strings of fury first hand. Norman, having had quite sometime outside the studio since Livin' Proof, (Livin' Poof possible album title?) was unsure how much work we would get through but between 8:00pm and 11:30pm eight tracks were nailed and the house rocked so hard that even Maisie, notoriously hard to impress, came in for a look. The Silk felt bad for leaving at eight until I related to him the story of p-borg and his uncharacteristicly direct statement "do I have to do this tonight?" at what become the end of his first session. And he gave us a great idea. He suggested another Band Carnival to record the vocals much like the one we had for the drums...and frankly I think it would be a great idea.