Darkest of the Hillside Thickets CD release party

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets is a pop punk (maybe) band that sings about Lovecraftian themes. I think that in some respects they were a bit ahead of their time, and deserve greater respect among Science Fiction fandom. Anyway, they are still going strong, and here is a press release for their CD release party.
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Saturday, September 1st I.M.U. presents THOR & The DARKEST OF THE HILLSIDE THICKETS Double CD Release Party @ The Media Club, 695 Cambie. Doors 8pm / $12 Advance @ Zulu, Scratch, Scrape, Neptoon Records & online @ http://www.imuproductions.com/tix . $15 Cover at the door

PLEASE NOTE: Presale tickets purchased at Record Stores and online for originally scheduled Aug 18th show @ The Lamplighter will be honored at the door this evening or you can redeem tickets at point of purchase.

The Rock Warrior THOR is about to take you on a thunderous, epic quest where he and his band journey to the center of the mind on his new concept album 'INTO THE NOISE' (SDR Records). With a live show set to showcase a new look with new costumes, the mighty Asgardian THOR will be unleashing metal to the masses with an all digital release and a limited edition collector's CD, available at his CD release show this evening! Joined by fellow masters of fantasy The Darkest Of The Hillside Thickets, who are celebrating the release of their new CD 'THE SHADOW OF TIM', it's a fantastical double header come to life!

THOR is an enduring icon of glam rock/metal and one of the true originators of rock theatre. His enviable career got off the ground with an appearance on the Merv Griffin Show and he's maintained a steady pace ever since, selling hundreds of thousands of records. Starting out in Vancouver, THOR first made waves in the bodybuilding world, becoming Mr. Canada and Mr. USA, always using heavy music as an intensive training tool. He has become a movie actor and producer, turning out collectible cult classics like "Rock & Roll Nightmare", "Zombie Nightmare", "Graveyard" and others. Most recently, THOR appeared in the USA Network movie "Murder At The Presidio" and stars in "The Intercessor" (both are available on DVD), and appeared in the Lifetime Network movie, "A Family Lost" to rave reviews. Long a champion of environmental causes, Thor is proud to be associated with Smog Veil Records, a label which has embraced an all-Green, environmentally friendly office HQ. With videos being filmed for the title track and the song "Evil Twin", stay tuned to Thor's adventures on YouTube and download free tracks from the album on myspace.com/thorrockwarrior! http://thorcentral.com

The DARKEST OF THE HILLSIDE THICKETS - When is an H.P. Lovecraft story not a book? When it's an album by The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, of course! Following their seven year tour of outer space in support of "Spaceship Zero: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack", The Thickets return to Earth and the waters off New Zealand in a very special operatic adaptation of Lovecraft's "The Shadow Out of Time." In HPL's original tale set in 1913, Professor Peaslee of Massachusetts has his mental faculties swapped by an alien mind and learns terrible truths about life on Earth and beyond. The latest full-length Thickets CD "The Shadow Out of Tim" features modern marine biologist Dr. Timothy Vess' descent into madness brought on by similar circumstances. The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, a cult mainstay since 1992, take you on a rock'n'roll tour through space and time, painting sonic pictures of the ocean deep, mysterious ruin-covered islands, and Paleocene jungles. Five out of five Cthulhu scholars agree - "The Shadow Out of Tim" is the perfect soundtrack to occult investigation! The single 'A Marine Biologist' was recently released as a free download on MySpace and thickets.net. http://www.thickets.net

Incas in Norway, coal miners.

• Weirdo archaeology news from Norway:
  The remains of two elderly men and a baby were discovered during work in a garden, and one of the skulls indicates that the man was an Inca Indian. - There is a genetic flaw in the neck, which is believed to be limited to the Incas in Peru, says arahaeologist Mona Beate Buckholm. The Norway Post suggests that maybe the Vikings travelled even more widely than hitherto believed? Why could not the Viking settlers in New Foundland have strayed further down the coast on one of their fishing trips? Well, that seems rather... unlikely. A quick web search didn't find any other material than that presented in the Norway Post article. Anyone have any futher information on this?
  
• My ancestors. (Link to photo displayed at Vintage Photos Livejournal Community.)
  

Memory: celebrating the end of high school

• I graduated from Milnerton High School in 1986, and had a quite satisfying celebration thereof at the beach. I first bought a 12-pack of beer then boarded the Melkbosstrand bus up the coast. The beer of choice at that time would probably have been either Castle or Carling. Anyway, I got off at a stop somewhere along the coast road, then walked until I was alone on the beach, something easier to do in those days.
  It was a hot afternoon, and the beer very enjoyable. I kept it cold by burying it in the sand, just a little ways into the water. I then proceeded to relax, contemplate my life, and drink beer. Doesn't get much better.
  At about my fourth beer, a dog approached me. I petted it a little, but it wasn't interested in scratches behind the ear. It seemed to want to tell me something. Actually, it was kind of like a stereotypical "dog wants me to follow him" scene in a movie. The dog would come close to me, bump me with his head or suchlike, then trot off down the beach and look back at me expectantly, as if to say, "come on, come on!"
  It must have been a little frustrating for the dog, as I did not in fact follow it. Perhaps someone had fallen down a well, perhaps he was a spirit guide. I dunno. I proceeded to carry on drinking beer, and started discussing philosophy with the dog. And telling him my thoughts. He became my confident.
  When the dog realized that I was not going to follow him, he wandered off, presumably to find someone more receptive.
  And shortly thereafter I lost my beer. I had not marked the spot in which I had buried it well enough, and very little distinguishes one piece of beach sand from another. Soon the beach was full of holes as I tried to find the remaining cold cans. But to no avail.
  So I got the bus back home. I got quite a sunburn, but it was a good time.
  
  

• It's a little unfortunate, but some of the best South African musicians have not received broad appeal outside of that country. Of course one is always nostalgic for the music of one's youth, but in my opinion the South African music scene in the 80s was a match for anywhere in the world. Some of the bands of the period worth remembering include Psycho Reptiles, Falling Mirror, No Friends of Harry, V.O.D. (the original punk Radley Clack lineup), Dog Detachment.
  But of course there is also some damn exciting music happening in South Africa right now. Perhaps this internet age will allow South African musicians to get the exposure that they deserve, without the help of the big US record companies. My favourite of the lot, Fokofpolisiekar, may be hampered by the fact that they sing in Afrikaans, a language not widely spoken outside of South Africa. On the other hand, punk has universal appeal, so perhaps they can still break through.
  Thank god for youtube. Here is a couple of good 'uns.
  Kalahari Surfers, which really consists of Warwick Sony and whoever he is working with at the time, has been around for donkey's years but is still producing excellent material. Here is a youtube clip of Gangsta, courtesy of African Dope Records.
  
  And here is the brilliant Rastaman Teba, also courtesy African Dope:
  
  

Fokofpoliekar photographic exhibit and Bilbo video

• Photographer Liam Lynch has an photography exhibition called 'Open to Misinterpretation' on the brilliant South African punk band Fokofpolisiekar. A few samples can be found here.
  
• Favourite Youtube short of the day: the Leonard Nimoy 'Bilbo Baggins' video, with audio from 'Pay to Cum' by Bad Brains.
  

foodways and BBS

• Foodways: communal beer drinking in Uganda.
  The BBC has an article on how a new practice of 'one man one straw' is keeping alive the practice of many people sharing a common pot of ajono (millet beer.)
  ..ajono drinkers now buy their own epi (drinking straw), which they can decorate or label, or hire ones that are sterilised with hot water after use. The straws are made from the dried stems of a common creeper found growing in trees and bushes in the area. Judging from the increased number of the brewers, their policy has reaped rewards.
  
• I cannot recommend Jason Scott's lyrical BBS Documentary highly enough, and will have more to say about it in future blog entries. For the moment, suffice it to say that this history of the BBS phenomenon is fascinating, and I was sad when I came to the end of the last episode.
  

The golf articles is monoplied

The golf articles is monoplied
Originally uploaded by Alhazred

For all your monoplied golf articles needs.
This is an older photo, from my short stay in Shanghai.