Tight enough for you ?

Tight w/ Michaela Watkins from Diablo Cody

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Alessandra Marques, Andre Garcia and Jota

Alessandra Marques is a darker Latina that fucking loves to have both of her holes plugged at the same time. Andrew Garcia and Jota start off with one shaft in her mouth, and the other stuffing her holes full of his fingers. However wangs soon replace those fingers, and videos porno br you would be ale to hear Alessandra screaming at the top of her lungs with the pleasure of it all. She is filled beyond the level that she has ever been filled before, and she doesn't care who hears how much she is fucking enjoying herself.

Breaking News : Some BUllSHIT Happening Somewhere !

This is exactly how the Main Stream Media keeps us stupid enough to buy their stupid shit !

Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening Somewhere


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Towson Book Sale

We diddled and dawdled about too long this morning to make it down to the Full House Saloon in Sparrows Point for the 5th Annual Toilet Bowl between Dundalk (which I'm officially rechristening "Fundalk") and Essex to see who would claim ownership of the Back River Waste Water Treatment Plant (aka "The Golden Eggs," Baltimore's golden-domed anaerobic digestion facility) for another year, so instead Amy and I headed north to Baltimore County Public Library's Towson Book Sale. (Does anybody know who won? This shit's important!)

It was more than we anticipated and much better than any thrift store score, because instead of ratty and dog-eared used library books, scratched CDs, and demagnetized videos, all the stuff was new or nearly new - all from donors and "friends of the library." Neither of us really need any more books, CDs, videos or DVDs, but at $1 dollar an item, how can you go wrong with the following haul:

Pet Shop Boys - Very CD ($1)

I couldn't remember if I had this Lego tactile cover edition of PSP's hit-packedVery ("Can You Forgive Her," "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing," "Liberation," etc.), so I picked it up just in case. I did. Now I have very many. Or many Very, if you like.

Squeeze - Singles: 45's and Under CD ($1)

All the hits. Essential.

Various - 80s Metal Mania CD ($1)
All the hits. Not essential - but loads of fun! Drove off listening to Poison singing "Ain't Nothin' But a Good Time" followed by Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and by the end of the record had done enough head banging to justify popping a 500mg-strength Naproxen for the resulting neck pain.

Evelyn Glennie - Her Greatest Hits ($1)

Two CDs containing over two hours of Evelyn Glennie? Yes, because you can never have enough of Scotland's greatest deaf percussionist-babe.

Derek Bell - Carolan's Favourite CD

Amy scored this solo album by the late great Chieftains harp player because she likes instro backround music that's more conducive to reading than 80s Metal Mania. Soothing harp is good for book-worming. Good call, that one.

Red Army Choir - Red Army Choir Sings Russian Favorites CD ($1)

C'mon - how can anyone seriously pass up the "Volga Boatman's Song"??? Amy picked this up for her Dad, who speaks fluent Russian (apparently well enough to impress the Russian summer-help waitresses at Burke's Restaurant). Never say nyet nyet Soviet to a rousing chorus of "The Volga Burlock Song" or "The Brave Lads of the Don"!

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer Lee (2008) ($1)

Amy got this because, well, Amy likes food. Especially Asian food. 'Nuff said!

Let There Be Light (1946) - directed by John Huston, video ($1)

This somewhat obscure WWII documentary - Huston's third war doc - about "shell-shocked" (today we call 'em "post-traumatic" ) vets was suppressed by the U.S. guv'ment for over 30 years. Filmed in an army hospital after the war had ended, it showed that the casualties continued to pile up even after all the shooting stopped. The mind is a terrible thing to waste, and many were wasted by the psychological toll of "the war to end all wars.".

TV Book: The Ultimate Television Book, edited by Judy Fireman (1977) ($1)
Glad I grabbed this really cool, detailed book of essays by various writers that covers every aspect of television, from its invention and history to paens to some of some of its most obscure TV shows. It's discussion about the coming battle between Beta and VHS clearly dates it (although I get a feeling of deja vu given today's similar speculation over blu-ray and HD and whatever other upcoming technology is around the corner), but I'm glad I got as it's long been out-of-print.

The Golden Age of B Movies by Doug McClelland (1978) ($1)
With an introduction by "Queen of the B's" Evelyn Ankers. I know what you're thinking - who the heck is Evelyn Ankers??? I didn't know either, so I had to pick this one up - if only to find out this 1940's actress starred opposite Lon Chaney, Jr. in The Wolf Man and with Basil Rathbone in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror!

50 from the 50's: Vintage Films from American's Mid-Century by David Zinman (1979) ($1)
This one was my personal fave rave of the day, chock-full of info and pix for some great '50s flicks from the knowledgeable author of Saturday Afternoon at the Bijou. Great review of Jack Arnold's existential sci-fi masterpiece The Incredible Shrinking Man. Out-of-print, natch.

Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantock ($1)

I always wanted this interactive romantic postcard mystery, and they had lotsa copies!

The Beatles Album: 30 Years of Music and Memorabilia by Geoffery Guillano ($1)

The steal of the day. I made a waffling Amy (yes, she - the Beatles completist!) pick up this fascinating guide to "All Beatle Product" and I'm glad I did, as it's currently out of print.

The Rough Guide to the Beatles ($1)

Essential guide and inexcusable to pass up for a buck.


***

...and from the "Specially Priced" book sale table...

Lovers of Cinema: The First American Film Avant-Garde 1919-1945, edited by Jan-Christopher Horak (List price $24.95, bought it for $10)

My one indulgence of the day. Wasn't sure about the availablity of this academic press tome; I'm not even that much into early experimental filmmakers, but the inner Librarian in me saw it as a potentially rewarding reference guide. You never know when you're gonna need a good reference book on Dudley Murphy, Man Ray, or Robert Florey. Really.

*** The Deal's Keep Coming... ***



Later, after we had Shepherd's Pies for lunch at Slainte in Fells Point (2nd only to those of the Brit-themed Go Fish pub in Rehobeth Beach!), we stopped in Soundgarden and I scored a used copy of The Firesign Theatre's out-of-print How Can You Be in Two Places at Once (When You're Not Anywhere At All)? for $5.99. I have all the records, but Firesign Theatre CDs are an endangered species and this is the famous 2nd album with the (Groucho) Marx-(John) Lennon cover and the first appearance of "Nick Danger, Third Eye." Another essential pickup!

CANDICE SWANEPOEL - GQ - Sexy in South Africa

 More of Candice Swainpoel here

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Buzzcocks at Ottobar!!!

Buzzcocks play the Ottobar
2549 N. Howard Street, Baltimore, MD
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 @ 9 p.m.

Be there or be square!

Here's the backstory of Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle's current tour (the rhythm section's new, but the core songwriters/guitar-slingers are what the 'Cocks are about, right?), with verbiage taken from something called the Brooklyn Vegan (whatever the hell that is!), with highlights courtesy of moi:

"Manchester punk legends the Buzzcocks are mounting a 22-date North American tour where they'll play their first two albums, Another Music in a Different Kitchen and Love Bites (both released in 1978) in their entirety "plus other hits"...One of the truly greats, The Buzzcocks bridged punk and powerpop and their tuneful tales of teen angst were the blueprint for pretty much all all popular pop-punk from Green Day on. If you don't own (or haven't heard) Singles Going Steady, you should stop reading this blog right now and rectify that. Not just one the most essential documents of the punk era, it's one of the greatest records ever.

That compilation is such a classic, people sometimes forget the Buzzcocks actual studio albums from the same era. Mute recently reissued the band's first three LPs, Another Music in a Different Kitchen, Love Bites, and A Different Kind of Tension, all with bonus discs containing b-sides, demos, Peel Sessions, live versions, etc...

What's amazing, beyond the quality, is almost all of this was written and recorded in a two-year period. As almost all of their songs dealt with matters of the heart (and other body organs), their music hasn't really dated at all. Their records since main men Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle reformed the band in the early '90s, while less essential, are pretty good too.

Live, The Buzzcocks have still got it (or at least they did the last time I saw them, mid-'00s.) Diggle especially seems to truly still love playing these songs. I wish they could coerce original drummer John Maher (arguably UK punk's greatest drummer, along with Rat Scabies) to go back out with them, but their rhythm section is tight. And, of course, those songs, many of which have probably never been played in America before."

Nostalgia for an age yet to come

OK, now about those Mute double-CD reissues - Another Music in a Different Kitchen (1978), Love Bites (1978), and A Different Kind of Tension (1979) - that came out February 9, 2010 and serve as the perfect "Raison d'Etre" for the current "Another...Bites" tour...you're probably wondering why you should upgrade if, like me, you already have all the records or purchased the 1989 triple-CD import box set Product (Restless Retro 7723772in the US, EMI CDPRDT1 in the UK)...


Some Product Carry On

Of the 123 total tracks, 33 are never-before-heard versions (demos and live recordings). Demos are all fine and dandy, but for my money the main reason - the crux of the biscuit, so to speak - to get the reissues is the live performances, for the Buzzcocks walked the walk as well as they talked the (Martin Rushent-tweaked) studio talk.

I just wish they'd included the original four-song Spiral Scratch EP, which somebody released years ago but which is now back to being out-of-print.



OK, but now you do get the entire October 1977 live performance from Manchester's Electric Circus club; previously only "Time's Up" - my favorite Buzzcocks song - was excerpted on the Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus vinyl recording of this show (the only other versions of "Time Up" I knew of were the Spiral Scratch EP studio original and the 1978 live recording at London's Lyceum that appears on Disc 3, "Many Parts," of the Product box set). But now you also get: "Fast Cars," "Boredom," "Sixteen," "You Tear Me Up," "Orgasm Addict," "Moving Away From the Pulsebeat," and "Love Battery" (a beloved song my old band Thee Katatonix used to to cover - mainly because I think its sexual charge appealed to Adolf's AC/DC tendencies).



The 'Cocks Electric Circus performance was previously only available on the vinyl bootleg Best in Good Food (released Dec 1978 on Edible GF001).


Best in Good Food

This was a great record, the first and one of the most well-known Buzzcock boots that presented snippets of various of radio and TV sessions and live performances, including original vocalist Howard Devoto on the "Boredom" segment and the Troggs cover "I Can't Control Myself" from the 1978 reunion TV Special on the Beeb. (I remember the boot had a great "the Golden Age of Big Band music" radio intro that I used to excerpt and use as the intro to countless mix tapes)

Best In Good Food
Intro [a]
Fast Cars [b]
Fiction romance [b]
Boredom [b]
Sixteen [b]
You Turn [sic] Me Up [b]
Orgasm Addict [b]
Pulsebeat [b]
Love Battery [b]
Time's Up [b]
What Do I Get [c]
Noise Annoys [d]
Walking Distance [d]
Late for the Train [d]
I Can't Control Myself [e]

[a] = 'Boredom' segment from "Band On The Wall" Nov 8, 1976
[b] = Oct 2, 1977, Electric Circus, Manchester (see Short Circuit)
[c] = from 1st Peel Session" mid-1977"
[d] = 2nd Peel Session, BUZZCOCKS #3.0
[e] = "What's On" TV special, broadcast Jul 21, 1978 w/Howard Devoto - vocals, Pete Shelley - rhythm guitar, vocals, Steve Diggle - bass, John Maher - drums

The only other great live recording I had heard - prior to these Mute Record reissues - was the 1978 London Lyceum performance that was included on Disc 3, "Many Parts," of the 1989 Product box set release.



Many Parts (Product Disc 3, 1989)

Live At The Lyceum, London 1978, Mixed by Martin Rushent
Pete Shelley notes: '10th March 1978

Breakdown
Fast Cars
Noise Annoys
Moving Away from the Pulsebeat
Fiction Romance
What Do I Get?
Whatever Happened To?
Time's Up

For 'cocks completists, Many Parts also included the (less than spectacular) final vinyl transmissions called Parts 1,2,3 - the last three singles that were also collected on the "Parts 1, 2, 3" EP (1981)...

Are Everything (1980)
Strange Thing (1980)
Running Free (1980)
Why She's a Girl from the Chainstore (1980)
Airwaves Dream (1980)
What Do You Know (1980)

...as well as "I Look Alone," a 1981 cassette release from New Music Express magazine.

***



OK, now about those new double-disc Mute releases. This is the digital manifold, album by album:

Another Music in a Different Kitchen



CD1:

01 Fast Cars
02 No Reply
03 You Tear Me Up
04 Get on Our Own
05 Love Battery
06 Sixteen
07 I Don't Mind
08 Fiction Romance
09 Autonomy
10 I Need
11 Moving Away From the Pulsebeat

Associated singles:

12 Orgasm Addict
13 Whatever Happened To...?
14 What Do I Get
15 Oh Shit

BBC Session: John Peel Show 9/7/77 TX 9/19/77:

16 Fast Cars
17 Moving Away From the Pulsebeat
18 What Do I Get

CD2:

Demos:

01 Boredom
02 Fast Cars
03 No Reply
04 You Tear Me Up *
05 Get on Our Own *
06 Sixteen
07 I Don't Mind *
08 Fiction Romance
09 Autonomy
10 I Need
11 Orgasm Addict *
12 What Do I Get *
13 Whatever Happened To...?
14 Oh Shit

Live at the Electric Circus:

15 Fast Cars *
16 Fiction Romance *
17 Boredom *
18 Sixteen *
19 You Tear Me Up *
20 Orgasm Addict *
21 Moving Away From the Pulsebeat *
22 Love Battery *
23 Time's Up

Love Bites



CD1:

01 Real World
02 Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)
03 Operators Manual
04 Nostalgia
05 Just Lust
06 Sixteen Again
07 Walking Distance
08 Love Is Lies
09 Nothing Left
10 E.S.P.
11 Late for the Train

Associated singles:

12 Love You More
13 Noise Annoys
14 Promises
15 Lipstick

BBC Sessions:

John Peel Show 4/10/78 TX 4/17/78:

16 Noise Annoys
17 Walking Distance
18 Late for the Train

John Peel Show 10/18/78 TX 10/23/78:

19 Promises
20 Lipstick
21 Sixteen Again

John Peel Show 5/21/79 TX 5/28/79:

22 E.S.P.

CD2:

Demos:

01 Love Is Life (Lies) *
02 Just Lust
03 Operators Manual *
04 Ever Fallen in Love *
05 Nothing Left *
06 Sixteen Again *
07 Raison D'Etre *
08 Real World *
09 Nostalgia *
10 E.S.P.
11 Lipstick
12 Children (Promises)
13 Mother of Turds

You also get the entire Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall live show from July 21, 1978 that was organized by Factory Records (and 24-hour Party Person) Tony Wilson:

14 Breakdown *
15 What Do I Get *
16 I Don't Mind *
17 Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) *
18 Noise Annoys *
19 Nothing Left *
20 Get on Our Own *
21 Love You More *
22 Fiction Romance *
23 Autonomy *

*previously unreleased

A Different Kind of Tension



Still my fave Buzzcocks album (as opposed to those superlative singles)...I can still recall the awe I felt hearing the sterophonic left-channel/right-channel division of those Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley guitars...the lyrical genius of the split-channel vocals on "Tension" and the imagery of "I Believe."


I'm a Believer

OK, enough effusing...here's what you get:

CD 1:

01 Paradise
02 Sitting 'Round at Home
03 You Say You Don't Love Me
04 You Know You Can't Help It
05 Mad Mad Judy
06 Raison D'Etre
07 I Don't Know What to Do With My Life
08 Money
09 Hollow Inside
10 A Different Kind of Tension
11 I Believe
12 Radio Nine

Associated singles:

13 Everybody's Happy Nowadays
14 Why Can't I Touch It
15 Harmony in My Head
16 Something's Gone Wrong Again

CD2:

Associated singles:

01 Are Everything
02 Why She's a Girl From the Chainstore
03 Airwaves Dream
04 Strange Thing
05 What Do You Know?
06 Running Free
07 I Look Alone

Demos:

08 You Say You Don't Love Me
09 I Don't Know What to Do With My Life
10 Harmony in My Head *
11 I Don't Know
12 Run Away From Home
13 The Drive System
14 Mad Mad Judy *
15 Jesus Made Me Feel Guilty
16 Something's Gone Wrong Again (backing track) *
17 You Know You Can't Help It
18 I Believe July 1979 Indigo Arrow-Chronology

BBC Sessions:

John Peel Show 18/10/78 TX 23/10/78:

19 Everybody's Happy Nowadays

John Peel Show 5/21/79 TX 5/28/79:

20 I Don't Know What to Do With My Life
21 Mad Mad Judy
22 Hollow Inside

DOUTZEN KROES - Numero Tokyo - May 2010

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Separated at Birth?

Is Dave Cawley Really Pat Fenlon?


This photo from the current issue of World Soccer magazine would certainly put to paid any lingering doubts about whether the wild-mannered Cockysville insurance claims adjuster is actually none other than Pat Fenlon, wild-mannered coach of Dublin's Bohemians Football Club. Who knew that Dave Cawley led a double life - one involving athletics, of all things?


"Oh c'mon, Tom, I see NO resemblance."

Related Dave Cawley Lookalike Links:
Project Cawley: Flying Under the Way-dar

J-Pop/Rock Stars @ Sakura Matsuri 2010

The highlight of Saturday's Sakura Matsuri (aka, the Cherry Blossom Festival) in Washington, D.C. was discovering two new Japanese pop bands: NYC-based punk rockers Uzuhi (the name means "Sun" in Japanese) and dance-friendly popsters Jonetsu Mary & Shabon High School from Kyoto, Japan. Uzuhi are the natural Oriental descendents of the Sex Pistols, while Jonetsu Mary carry on the pop stylings tradition of the classic Japanese GS (Group Sound) bands.

Sakura Matsuri, which stretches for six square blocks through downtown DC between 10th and 14th streets and Pennsylvania Avenue...



...is the largest one-day exhibition of Japanese culture in the United States, drawing a record 160,000 people in 2009. Now in its 50th year, the festival took place on Saturday, April 10, 2010 from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, right after the Parade of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, and this year boasted over 30 hours of live performances on five stages. But the highlight was definitely hearing these exciting new rock bands.

(To see the beaucoup pictures I took of these groups, see my Flickr photostream or "Sakura Matsuri 2010" photo set. And BTW, thank Got-in-Himmel for Flickr's Picnik editor - it cleans up my amateur snaps into something almost presentable!)

First up was Uzuhi (oo-zoo-hee), who we saw on the J-Pop Stage. They were yet another J-Rock band from NYC; last year we saw some Twee-Shoegaze-Emo J-Pop band called American Short Hair and the Flip Video I shot of them has gotten more hits than any video I've ever posted to YouTube, something like 1,700 hits - even more than my brilliant experimental film "A View Askew" (which, at some 30 views has clearly gone viral). So, naturally my Flip camera was out of battery juice; undeterred, I took advantage of my stage-front location and whipped out my still camera to get pix of a band that was gathering quite a crowd as they were setting up. I wasn't disappointed - Uzuhi was AWESOME!

UZUHI



Uzuhi is:

Gosha: Vocals
Tsubasa: Keyboard
Katsuragi: Guitar
Shu: Drums

Official Web Site: www.uzuhi.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/uzuhi
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Uzuhi/22872071530
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Uzuhinyc1

I didn't know what to expect of these guys. Watching the cool-looking guitar player setting up, I figured they could have been indie shoegazers, mod (after all, he did have a skinny tie and white shirt on), retro-60s GS, or even a J-noise ensemble.



Then the girl keyboard player came out and put a little stuffed bunny toy on her mic, so I thought the cutesy-kawai prop might indicate leanings towards Pizzicato Five-ish or even Puffy Yumi Ami-sh fun-dance-pop.



The drummer looked like a drummer, neutral flavoring.



Then I saw singer Gosha come out and I knew: Punk Rock all the way!


Knucklehead Gosha says "Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!"

Imagine Curly from the Three Stooges only with peroxide blonde hair, skateboarder kicks, and a big-ass biker chain-wallet attached to one of those triple studded belts they sell at S&M shops and at Hot Topic shops in the mall. Now imagine him speaking with a Japanese accent. This guy looked intense and highly inflammable and I just knew that the minute he opened his mouth it would be with an ear wax-clearing Primal Scream the likes of which I hadn't heard since the days of Iggy Pop and his Stooges.

I wasn't wrong.


Tell me how you REALLY feel, Gosha.

But far from being one of those one-dimensional straight-edge/hard core punk audio-assaults, Gosha and Uzuhi hit you with their best hard-rock shot, with Katsuragi riffing away on power chords and shredding the frets on solos...







...and then pull back with downright melodic hooks, imaginative time changes, nursery rhyme chants and singalongs, even some straight-ahead emo-balladry, all augmented by an array of eccentric/electric pop sounds from Tsubasa's keyboards (which, a la Ray Manzarek in the Doors, also provided the bass sound for the band). I guess Tsubasa and her symbolic bunny (her name, I found out later, is "Peach Matsuda" - and she has her own Facebook page!) balance out Gosha's bulldog vocal assault with some cute, some Ecstacy to his adrenalin, some yin to his yang. Tsubasa is the rock-steady anchor who holds Uzuhi all together; if Gosha is the heart of the band, then Tsubasa is surely its soul.

Whatever the formula, the end result was simple: Uzuhi rocked!


"Ready Steve? Yeah. Andy? Uh-huh.
All right boys, let's go!"







One thing was sure, Gosha is teeming with charisma and boundless energy (a future sponsorship deal with Red Bull seems inevitable). He knows how to work a crowd like any good frontman does, easily running a 5K during his sneaker tread-wearing forays into the crowd. He's, um, a people person.







And even though he later told the audience that his inspiration was Johnny Rotten and that he had an epiphany when he first heard the "Sexu Pistols," Uzuhi is a lot less cynical than those London louts. Uzuhi may not sound much like the Beatles, but their bottom line philosophy is surely: All You Need Is Love. Of Rock & Roll, that is!

This is a FUN-FUN-FUN band! They stayed afterwards to personally meet and greet their fans and shake their hands.


Gosha & Shu inspect Katsuragi's penmenship during autograph session

There, by the side of the stage, I stood in line with a teeming mass of obnoxiously Otaku teenage girls to buy a Peaches the Bunny t-shirt (for me) while Amy more sensibly bought both of their CDs (a Recession-friendly bargain at 2-for-$15!) - the new one, 2009's Ongaku (Japanese for "music"), is in English, while its predecessor 2008's self-tiled Uzuhi is in Japanese (except for the last song "Dear My Honki Friends"). I think I like being in the dark lyrically because it's Uzuhi's vibe and sound that leaves the lasting impression, much more so than the actual simplistic rock lyrics.


Uzuhi ("Sun," 2008)


Ongaku ("Music," 2009)

Uzuhi truly seem to be loving life and living in the moment, and it comes through in their live show. No wonder one of the songs on their CD is called "Pura Vida." The perfect band for a beautiful sunny day. Which is totally appropriate since Uzuhi means "sun." Sun from the Land of the Rising Fun.

Ah, but don't take my slightly biased word for it. Watch the "Uzuhi" Music Video and see for yourself!



(To see more Uzuhi pix, see my Flickr photostream or "Sakura Matsuri 2010" photo set.)

JONETSU MARY & SHABON HIGH SCHOOL


Jonestu Mary rock out in their "Happi" coats

Jonetsu Mary & Shabon High School are:

Mariko Passion/Jonetsu Mary: Vocals
Takuma Okamoto: Bass
Takashi Miyahara: Guitar
Koji Furuta/Hurata Hirohura: Sax
Kazumi Kuriyama: Keyboard
Ishi/"Nissy": Drums

Official Web Site: http://jonetsu-web.com/top.html
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jonetsumary

Something is definitely lost in translation with this fun, colorful band from Kyoto, Japan. Like their name, which translates roughly as Mary Passion and Bubbles High School (Jounetsu is Japanese for "passion," while Shabondama is Japanese for "soap bubbles").

Unlike the NYC-based Uzuhi, it's hard to find out anything about Jonetsu Mary unless you know Japanese (which I don't), but they caught my eye because:

a) the singer was female,
b) the singer was a sexy-looking female, and
c) they wore festive "Happi" coats, which they then took off to reveal matching red-striped jackets and bow ties that made me think of Old Timey Barbershop Quartets and the Shakey's Pizza Band (ah nostalgia!)

The singer was very energetic and looked like she worked out (lead singer fitness always impresses me!), and I was fascinated by her attire, which consisted of a day-glo orange halter top with matching pants - of which one leg sleeve was missing to reveal black hosiery (as shown below).


Mariko Passion gets a leg up on the competition


Mariko Passion, upon closer inspection

Then there was her broken Engrish introduction to the crowd in which she confided, "In Japan, I am called a sexu symbol."

People laughed and I muttered to myself (so my girlfriend wouldn't hear), "Baby, you're a sexu symbol in any language, anywhere!"

I watched the rest of their set in awe, digging the drummer with his little yellow beret (he reminded me of Japan's beret-bearing King of Manga, Astroboy creator Osamu Tezuka)...



...the wonderful posture and Audrey Hepburn facial resemblance of alluringly alliterative keyboardist Kazumi Kuriyama...



...and the Geek Cool stylings of bespectacled guitarist Takashi Miyahara (who bore an uncanny resemblance to Pizzicato Five leader Yasuharu Konishi), not to mention the Abe Lincoln tophat-wearing cool sax player who looked like a Japanese Alexis Kanner (in his guise as The Prisoner's rebellious Number 48).



To get an idea of what they look and sound like, check out their official music video below:
Watch " モーレツ!!調教ママ/情熱マリーとしゃぼん玉ハイスクール" music video



I liked their performance so much that afterwards I bought these two Jonestu Mary EPs...





...but passed up their debut album (too much money)...


JM&SHS album featuring smash hit
"Violent! Mom Torture"

...which I think is self-titled, but I don't know kanji or kana, so who knows (it may very well be called "Obamacare is Satan" for all I know, though I doubt it). Here's a broken Engrish review from their web site that I love, if only for referencing a song called "Violent! Mom Torture" (OK, maybe I shoulda shelled out $20 for the album!):

"From Kyoto! I miss New! 　Stupid but cool! 　Entamebando new generation of pop! 1st ALBUM Mariko Passion Entamebando headed sex symbol of Kyoto Song, "Marie and Bubbles High Passion," the 1st ALBUM! Educational late boasts 10 generations of 20 SM-popular song "Violent! Mom Torture", a cool pop music acts "dazzling" hidden Tiaki Naomi classic "race to the last man" is recorded! Stupid Ppoku Ppoku shiny new pop music, but the old proposes."

Hmmm...actually I think "Violent! Mom Torture" might be a clumsy translation of "Moretsu! Cho-Kyo Mama," a nifty rocker that appears on their EP and sounds like a vintage soundtrack from one of Toei's '70s "Bad Girl"/Pinky Violence films.

Afterwards, the band made their way to the Artist's Tent to sell their CDs and sign autographs.


"Hurry, line up, Tom-san is coming to greet us!!!"

I got my stuff signed and when I reached Mariko Passion, I told her I had a pair of scissors on me and could cut off her other pants leg to create a cute pair of hotsu pantsu, but she politely refused my goodwill offer of sartorial spiffyness.


A bubbly Mariko Passion says, "Peace out, baby!"

(To see more Jonestu Mary & Shabon High School pix, see my Flickr photostream or "Sakura Matsuri 2010" photo set.)