Some days I wish there were a door behind which lay another world or a pill one could take to transport one’s self to another time and a different place. My workmate, Sue, brought up the color puce this morning and in my search for what exactly this color was, Kenneth Anger’s short movie, “Puce Moment”, came up in the search results. It provided speedy transport this morning…

Hollywood or outer space? I’m not sure where, but this psychedelic video—after the initial floating dresses scene—carried me into a state of dream-like memories of Béatrice Dalle in “Betty Blue” or Isabella Rossellini in “Blue Velvet”.

The movie is accompanied by two really wonderful, lo-fi psychedelic folk rock songs too which I’ve never heard of before. According to the comments on YouTube:

@tailendcharlie
The music is by Jonathan Halper, who mysteriously appears to have done little else.

@withlotsabutta
Anger talks about him on the BFI blu-ray of the Magick Lantern Cycle, and he says that Jonathan Halper has lived in a monastery in Scotland since the 1960′s, and the ‘I am a hermit’ line is exactly what he did.

It’s a really cool disc, actually – Anger’s stories are wonderful.

A bit of further research revealed that the film was made in 1949. Initially, the score was by Verdi and was changed by Anger in 1966 to Jonathan Halper’s “Leaving My Old Life Behind” and “I’m a Hermit”.

I came across more wonderful commentary about Kenneth Anger’s “Puce Moment” and Jonathan Halper in what is my favorite blog title of the month, Biannual Haircut—the post actually quoting another blog called WFMU…more tracks to follow. Happily the library has “The films of Kenneth Anger. Vol. 1″, now reserved.

My folks birthed me in a fine year indeed. This vid gave me precious respite from a difficult day at work this week. Jimmy’s moves are especially tight. Watch to the end to see what he’s got.

This is the outfit too! Dope as it gets. Check the boots and the 4-button cuffs. Hey Stickman, what do you say to this? Did he take a page from your book? Did you take a page from his? Or was it mutual compulsion to move???

I finally found it! Bevin and I loved this song as children. I sing it frequently to my kids and they love it, but could only remember the first verse and certain lines mashed up and combined with whatever I can invent for the second verse. But lo! there are not two but five verses. Will have to roll out the full debut tonight!

I believe the song is called “The Super-Supper March” by John Hamblin, but this is unconfirmned.

Hungry, hungry I am hungry
Table, table here I come
I could eat a goose-moose burger
Fifteen pickles and a purple plum

I could eat three bowls of goulash
Half a pound of wuzzled wheat
I could eat a peck of poobers
Then I’d really get to work and eat

Oysters, noodles, strawberry stroodles
French fries, fish hash, one red beet
Lamb chops, wham chops
Huckleberry mish mash
Oh, the things that I could eat

Doughnuts, dump-a-lings
Blueberry bump-a-lings
Chocolate mush-mash, super sweet
Clam stew, ham stew,
Water melon wush wush
Oh, the stuff that I could eat

Deep dish rhubarb, upside-down cake
I could eat a frittered flum
Hungry, hungry, I am starving
Table, table, here I come

John Hamblin

According to Wikepedia, John Hamblin is an Australian children’s television presenter and actor, best known for his role as a presenter on Play School from 1970 to 1999. He’s co-authored a book within the last few years, and on the back cover, it reads: “Wherever he went, whatever he was doing… John had a talent for attracting quirky situations, questionable associates — and always beautiful women!”

Can’t remember how I discovered these guys something like 10 years after the fact…I guess when I lived in NYC, it was before their time in the spotlight. I fell completely in love with Camp Lo over their jam, “glow”, which has a great video too–hittin like the first time I heard Outkast. It quickly became a staple in my dance party set.

Last party I played, I spoke with a woman after who dj’d in NYC in the mid-90s and was a huge fan. She said I’ve got to check out “swing” with Butterfly of the Digible Planets. That has in turn lead me to this jam and I’ve decided I need to go out an find “Uptown Saturday Night” pronto…Enjoy.

Zola Jesus came drifting across the wires and into my eardrums sometime ago on Last.fm. The music was good, but I instantly had a rockstar crush on lead singer, Nika Roza Danilova, and some of the captivating photos of her. Reading a bit about this band, I came across this gem:

…warped caberet chanteuse vocalizing of Nika…Zola Jesus stirs up a charming mix of synth-mired darkwave and lo-fi bedroom haze with charisma to spare.