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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Give Thanks...

Be Thankful.

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving
from Uptonking at Wonderland Burlesque




Photo Op: "Oh, Do Tell, Do Tell!"

Photo Op

"Oh, Do Tell, Do Tell!"

Who's got the 411 this Thanksgiving Weekend?
  
(My money is on anne marie in philly at From My Brain To My Mouth.  She's got great taste in music and always seems to know what's what.)

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Of Note: 'Carousel Ride' by Rubblebucket


Of Note: 
'Carousel Ride' by Rubblebucket

Rubblebucket is an American indie-dance band out of Brooklyn, NY, featuring bandleader Alex Roth on trumpet and vocalist Kalmia Traver.  Theirs is an eclectic sound kept in check by an unerring sense of melody and inventive song structures and arrangements. 


‘Carousel Ride’, which can be found on 2014’s ‘Survival Sounds’, clicked with me, almost immediately.  And this group looks as if they would be incredibly entertaining in a live setting. I know I’m late to the party, but I didn’t want this one to go without a mention.
















Monday, November 24, 2014

Wonderland Burlesque's Turdscooter of the Week: Jack Whitley


Wonderland Burlesque's 
Turdscooter of the Week: 
Jack Whitley

Jack Whitley, chairman of the Big Stone County Republican Party, issued a couple of character defining comments on his Facebook page last week (see below), causing quite a bit of outcry from the Muslim community.  Yet, he’s refusing to retract or apologize for them, despite state GOP officials condemning his statements, calling them “outrageous”.



 The Minneapolis Star Tribune contacted Mr. Whitley and he had this to say:

“Muslims are terrorists. They don’t belong in this country. Their attitude and their agenda don’t belong in this country. They cause terror and discontent, total chaos everywhere they are.  I have no desire to hold hands and play patty-cake with these people. It's pointless. They don't understand peace...They understand one thing, and that's aggressive force."

“I don’t really see much of Islam being peaceful at all. Don’t come into this country, infiltrating this country with your terrorist activities and terrorist agendas and call it a ‘holy war.”

"You have the right to follow any path of religion you choose, as long as it does not violate other people's peace. Your association with those in your religion who have those terrorist activities, and your unwillingness to call them on the carpet for it?  No, you no longer have the right to practice that religion if it infringes on the peace and the tranquility of this nation and the people around you. That nullifies your constitutional right to practice your freedom of religion."

Based on his other Facebook posts, Mr. Whitley would also seem to have issues with gays (big surprise) and (gasp) Communists.

First spotted by the Bluestem Prairie blog, Mr. Whitley’s ravings garnered plenty of attention from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR-Minnesota executive director Lori Saroya weighed in: “It’s very disturbing to see a Republican Party leader engage in outright bigotry and hate. These broad-brush smears of the entire Muslim community remind us of similar smears against Catholics, Jews and others in the past.”

Sigh.

Seems a tad hypocritical of Mr. Whitley, wouldn’t agree?  I mean calling a group of people terrorists and then threatening to ‘frag’ them?  But then, something tells me that Mr. Whitley isn’t one for personal self-reflection or reason.

So, in light of his limited world view and lack of perception, let’s all raise our AK-47’s of enlightenment, as a means of saluting Wonderland Burlesque’s Turdscooter of the Week, this sadly narrow-minded, ignorant, and misinformed GOP official.

Mr. Whitley?  You can go 'frag' yourself!

I Want To Ask Him, "Where is 'Soon'?"


I Want To Ask Him, "Where is 'Soon'?"

I grieve, too.

For the loss of his son, the English language, and our public school system.




Thursday, November 20, 2014

Of Note: ‘Hey, Boy’ by Goapele


Of Note
‘Hey, Boy’ by Goapele



Stylish, jazzy, on the cool side, and somewhat reminiscent of Sade, Goapele (pronounced gwa-puh-LAY), is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter with roots in South Africa. An artist who actively seeks community change, her name means ‘to move forward’ in Setswana, a Southern African language.

‘Stronger Than Glass’ is her fifth album, released on her own label, Skyblaze with distribution via BMG.

She’s a class act; smart, vocally alluring, and visually stunning.











Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Of Note: 'Runaway' by Electric Youth


Of Note: 'Runaway' by Electric Youth



The first time I heard this song I thought to myself, "So this is what it sounds like to have a dream fully realized.  To create something exactly as you envisioned it and achieve a kind of personal perfection."  Rich and warm and yet icily ethereal, 'Runaway' manages precisely that. 

Electric Youth is a duo from Ontario, Canada featuring the lush sounds of Austin Garrick and the hypnotic vocals of Bronwyn Griffin.  'Runaway' can be found on their latest album, 'Innerworld'.










Friday, November 14, 2014

Of Note: Catey Shaw, ‘Outerspace’


Of Note: Catey Shaw, ‘Outerspace’

Catey Shaw, who hails from Brooklyn, NY, has released her second EP which includes the singles ‘Brooklyn Girls’ and ‘Human Contact’.  She recently wrote a piece for The Huffington Post in reaction to Taylor Swift pulling all her music from Spotify, coming out in favor of the music site.  She’s also a very gifted painter.



I stumbled on her song ‘Outerspace’, from the same EP, and was immediately won over.  She has an incredible sense of melody and I think the lyrics are clever and sweet.


“Of Note’ is a new series, spotlighting 
new and upcoming recording artists.