purple words on a gray background


Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park #83, 1975

* Top ten conservative idiots. excerpt:

6. The Oil Barons

"But let's be reasonable about this. If the Bush administration imposed mandatory reductions on carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, the nation's struggling oil companies could face financial ruin. Take Exxon-Mobil, for example, which last week posted an annual profit of just $39.5 billion.

"Now, you might say to yourself, 'Hey, isn't that the largest profit ever posted by any company in the history of the world?' And you'd be right. But think about it. First, it's nice to know that last year's record gas prices didn't go to waste. And second, Exxon-Mobil's profit is still less than half of what George W. Bush wants to spend on sending more troops to Iraq. So it's not that much money really. And if Exxon Mobil had to settle for an annual profit of, say, $20 billion, well then where would we be? I'll tell you where - Commie Town.

"No, it's quite simple. Climate change is already here, we didn't do anything about it until it was too late, and now it is too late, well, why bother? I mean, talk about closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. Sheesh.

"So we might as well just enjoy the time we have left by giving our hard-earned taxes to George W. Bush so that he can keep sending troops to Iraq so that we can protect the interests of the Oil Barons who bring that sweet, sweet crude back to the homeland. Then we can jump in our Hummers and crawl through rush hour to work so that we can give more money to George W. Bush so he can send more troops to Iraq, and so on. It's the circle of life, my friends."

* 2004 Interview of Dean and Britta. excerpt:

Q: You've done several covers of different songs called 'Indian Summer' - one by the Beat Happening with Luna and the one by the Doors that's featured on L'Avventura. Ever played them back to back live?

Britta: No, those songs have remained exclusive to each 'band.'
Dean: It's a good idea though. And there's another song by Lee Hazlewood entitled 'L'Ete Indien' that we could do also.

Q: What attracted you to covering both 'Indian Summers'?
Britta: Dean picked all of the covers.
Dean: The Doors one is easily the best thing on Morrison Hotel. A nice lyric and very nice playing by Robbie Krieger. Both songs are elegantly simple.

Q: 'Night Nurse', the lead track off L'Avventura, is obviously heavily influenced by the old Lee Hazlewood song 'Your Sweet Love'. Can you take us through how 'Night Nurse' came about - did you start with the string sample and go from there?

Britta: The strings were not sampled, they were played on a keyboard and then doubled by Scorchio String Quartet. We started with the drums. Dean and I played bass and guitar along with Matt Johnson, but we ended up replacing our parts. Then Dean added the Omnichord and Tony added the strings. It ended up sounding a lot like a hi-fi version of Dean's home demo.

Q: It seems that Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood and Serge Gainsbourg/Jane Birkin were the leaping off point for L'Avventura. Or were there other duet records that inspired you? Glen Campbell & Bobbie Gentry?

Dean: My parents had the Glen Campbell & Bobbie Gentry album when I was a kid, I'm very fond of it, it's quite similar to the Nancy & Lee sound. Hazlewood actually recorded a version of 'Ode to Billie Joe.'

Q: Have you heard the new Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood record - Nancy and Lee 3?

Dean: I haven't heard it yet, I think it's only been released in Australia. She has another new album of duets out right now. I did get to meet Lee Hazlewood a few years ago, I interviewed him for a U.S. magazine, that was very exciting. I flew down to his place near Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida, and we drank wine and smoked a lot of cigarettes. People told me he would be grumpy, but he wasn't at all.

Q: Dean - your vocal style's been likened to Kermit D. Frog's. Do you appreciate the similarities?

Dean: I think I'm a better singer than Kermit, I know that may sound boastful.

Q: Is it hard being green?

Dean: Again with the Kermit thing...

Q: Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what's on the other side?
Dean: Because life is nasty, brutish and short?

Q: What attracted you to re-designing Madonna's 'I Deserve It'?

Dean: That song by Madonna and Mirwais has several great elements, one of which is a great drum machine pattern. I am a fan of Ray of Light and Music. Though the lyrics can be a little hard to take.

* "As long as the outside does not put a value on you it remains outside but when it does put a value on you then it gets inside or rather if the outside puts a value on you then all your inside gets to be outside." -- Gertrude Stein