More meme

eeknight asks about

1 cosmic wimpout
The greatest dice game ever. Dead simple to learn and wonderful fun to play. I'll make sure I have a set with me at Pythonacon as well

2 goon show
British comedy as we love it (Python and all) starts right here. Absurd, odd, silly and brilliant. If you are a Python fan and have not heard the Goons. you must. This was also the start of Peter Sellers career. More at the end of the list.

3 jodi lynn nye
Delightful writer, delightful person. The Xeno-Archeologist Traveling Road Show is a must see.

4 scruffy the cat
Great rootsy rock band from the 80s. I was in bands with a couple of guys in it when we all lived in Des Moines. I've been listening to them again recently and their stuff holds up very well. Charlie Chesterman went on to a solo career and has a half dozen or so records out, which are also great.

5 house concerts
I love doing house concerts and it's been too damn long since I've done one. With the new record out perhaps that will change.

6 steven wright
I lost a button hole.

7 spike milligan
The writer of the Goon Shows. During a tribute a tape of Prince Charles was played, in which the Prince talked about what a fan he was and how he considered Spike one of his close friends. Spike's response was "groveling little bastard" which prompted outrage throughout England. Charles couldn't stop laughing and went on the news to show the fax from Spike that read "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question now?"

Capt Beefheart's 10 commandments for guitar players

1. Listen to the birds.
That's where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren't going anywhere.

2. Your guitar is not really a guitar Your guitar is a divining rod.
Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you're good, you'll land a big one.

3. Practice in front of a bush
Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush dosen't shake, eat another piece of bread.

4. Walk with the devil
Old Delta blues players referred to guitar amplifiers as the "devil box." And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employerin terms of who you're brining over from the other side. Electricity attracts devils and demons. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub.

5. If you're guilty of thinking, you're out
If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing.

6. Never point your guitar at anyone
Your instrument has more clout than lightning. Just hit a big chord then run outside to hear it. But make sure you are not standing in an open field.

7. Always carry a church key
That's your key-man clause. Like One String Sam. He's one. He was a Detroit street musician who played in the fifties on a homemade instrument. His song "I Need a Hundered Dollars" is warm pie. Another key to the church is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf's guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty-making you want to look up her dress the whole time to see how he's doing it.

8. Don't wipe the sweat off your instrument
You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

9. Keep your guitar in a dark place
When you're not playin your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. If you don't play your guitar for more than a day, be sure you put a saucer of water in with it.

10. You gotta have a hood for your engine
Keep that hat on. A hat is a pressure cooker. If you have a roof on your house, the hot air can't escape. Even a lima bean has to have a piece of wet paper around it to make it grow.