Wednesday 31 December 2008
Thursday 18 December 2008
Thursday 4 December 2008
Kick-Ass-tronaut Love Triangle Evening
"Change of plans," announced the always thinking David Scrimshaw. "We are going to have a Dork Bot kind of evening instead. Young Keir and Jenni Benny you are welcome to join us."
Jo Stockton, this post goes out to you and your own particular kind of friendly gatherings.
Young Keir made cool enviable head-phones out of a dollar store pair of ear-protectors. They are completely sound proof, so that you don't have to play music at an ear damaging volume while riding on a noisy bus.
Jenni Benny chatted with me and knit while I spent an hour unraveling the wool for my project.
Jimmi Jettz fiddled with a 3 year project to build an amplifier. He and Young Keir mumbled something about it going to number 11 which made them laugh.
David Scrimshaw wired alligator clips to power supply plugs. This made sense to the guys and was greeted with approving grunts.
The glue gun short-circuited - it sizzled, popped, and let off stinky smoke. Jimmi Jetz performed an autopsy on it and cheerfully related the morbid details of it's spontaneous demise.
I, Manny Blue, baked cookies.
With the first batch, I forgot to add the eggs. Young Keir was amused with the look of them and named them Flatturds. David tried one, and declared them incredibly good.
Yes, I always bake in high heels and a boa.
Tuesday 25 November 2008
Balloon Orchestra
School for Studies in Art and Culture (Music)
Carleton University Balloon Orchestra to Give World Premiere Performance
Students from professor Jesse Stewart’s course, “Introduction to Instrumentation”
Thursday, November 27, 2008 at 4:00 p.m.
Room A900, Tower A, Loeb Building
Free admission, but space is limited
For more information, contact Dr. Jesse Stewart at ext. 4348 or Jesse_Stewart@carleton.ca
Sunday 23 November 2008
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
That's right. We won't need a tap-dancing saxophonist if we get lots of bubble wrap.
Progress on Large American Car
Jimmi and I made progress on Large American yesterday evening during an impromptu practice. We have the chords now: E, A, B... In the verses, we need to make really clear, definite and dramatic chord changes. No more meandering, blurry, shit.
Wednesday 19 November 2008
Monday 17 November 2008
Sunday 16 November 2008
Saturday 15 November 2008
Our French Song
I hope Daniel Belanger doesn't think we are making fun of him, or worse, riffing on his gig.
Friday 14 November 2008
Wednesday 15 October 2008
The Martian Hop
While we wait for Aggie to give us the inspirational tracks she says she has for us, here is something to take us into the weekend:
Saturday 16 August 2008
Bella!
I have been investigating fashion boutiques for inspiration for ALT costumes. I found one little gem, bella bella boutique, at 102-240 Bank St. (corner of Lisgar). The owners were friendly and thrilled that I took an interest in their shinny fashions. Below are some items that, had I not already spent my cash on a few necessities, I would have bought for us.
Silver skulls and crossbones for David:
Silver money theme for Jimmi Jettz:
Short but sweet little black and silver number for Aggie:
Sexy hoodie with silver studding for Sassy:
Silver animal print with snake bosom brooch for Manny Blue:
Thursday 14 August 2008
Monday 11 August 2008
Inspiration for the ALT Song
This opening sequence from the 60s B&W TV show that was one of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's very early precursors to another "Supermarionation" show, Thunderbirds, is very cool and groovy. But the main event, the Fireball XL5 Theme, begins at about 1:30. I think we can learn great things from this!
Wednesday 30 July 2008
Check out Laurie Anderson - another Space Punk
Interview with her on Smithsonian.com. Excerpt:
What do you need to "escape" from?
At heart, I'm an anthropologist. I try to jump out of my skin. I normally see the world as an artist first, second as a New Yorker and third as a woman. That's a perspective that I sometimes would like to escape. It's why in my performances I use audio filters to change my voice. That's a way to escape as well.
To become somebody else?
Yeah, to have another voice. If you sound different you find that you have different things. If you sound like (high voice) a little kid or (low voice) you sound like a guy that's just sort of lost. It's just a way to switch perspectives and that's really important to me.
And if you read the interview, you'll see that she became the first artist-in-residence at NASA. I don't imagine we're in line for that gig.
Tuesday 15 July 2008
A New Objective for the Band
- Write a song with some numbers between 1 and 10, or letters of the alphabet.
- Record the song.
- Release the song.
- Have it become well known.
- Say "yes" when the Children's Television Workshop asks if they can do a modified version for Sesame Street.
Thursday 3 July 2008
Springtime Mixed Tape Meme
Pandora tagged Astronaut Love Triangle, and asked us to name 7 songs that we are into right now. How about the 7 below? Jimmy, Aggie, David, Sassy, do you all agree?
* What I Don't Deserve - Astronaut Love Triangle
* May Cause Heartburn (The Side Effects Song) - Astronaut Love Triangle
* Haben Sie Ein Plattenspieler? - Astronaut Love Triangle
* Dave's French Song - Astronaut Love Triangle
* Academic Wanker - Astronaut Love Triangle
* If You're Holy and You Know it - Astronaut Love Triangle
* Cyberstalking Blues - Astronaut Love Triangle
!
Thursday 5 June 2008
Amazing Hand Painting - Dan Dunn
Imagine Sassy and Manny painting while ALT musicians play music and sing!
Amazing Hand Painting - Watch more funny videos here
Sunday 1 June 2008
Another Song on our Myspace Profile
Fans of Astronaut Love Triangle have a special treat on our MySpace Profile. [2020 update: Oddly, our MySpace Profile seems to be empty.] It is a rare recording of our song creation process. Here we have Jimmy, Aggie and Dave working on the Platen Spieler song with a pertinent intervention from Manny Blue.
The sound quality suffered in the upload from MP3 format to Streaming Audio, so you may wish to download the MP3 stored here [3.3 MB].
Thursday 22 May 2008
Monday 5 May 2008
Tuesday 15 April 2008
Tuesday 8 April 2008
Wednesday 19 March 2008
Monday 10 March 2008
Thursday 6 March 2008
Tuesday 4 March 2008
A Present from our Top Fans
Kathy and Roy went to Florida and they brought back presents for the members of Astronaut Love Triangle!
Mission patches:
Sunday 2 March 2008
Wednesday 13 February 2008
Sunday 3 February 2008
Steve Martin in the Smithsonian
How the pathbreaking comedian got his act together
The act tightened. It became more physical. It was true I couldn't sing or dance, but singing funny and dancing funny were another matter. All I had to do was free my mind and start. I would abruptly stop the show and sing loudly, in my best lounge-singer voice, "Grampa bought a rubber." Walking up to the mike, I would say, "Here's something you don't often see," and I'd spread my mouth wide with my fingers and leap into the air while screaming. Or, invoking a remembered phrase from my days working in a magic shop, I would shout, "Uh-oh, I'm getting happy feet!" and then dance uncontrollably across the stage, my feet moving like Balla's painting of a Futurist dog, while my face told the audience that I wanted to stop but couldn't. Closing the show, I'd say, "I'd like to thank each and every one of you for coming here tonight." Then I would walk into the audience and, in fast motion, thank everyone individually.
The new physicality brought an unexpected element into the act: precision. My routines wove the verbal with the physical, and I found pleasure trying to bring them in line. Each spoken idea had to be physically expressed as well. My teenage attempt at a magician's grace was being transformed into an awkward comic grace. I felt as though every part of me was working. Some nights it seemed that it wasn't the line that got the laugh, but the tip of my finger. I tried to make voice and posture as crucial as jokes and gags. Silence, too, brought forth laughs. Sometimes I would stop and, saying nothing, stare at the audience with a look of mock disdain, and on a good night, it struck us all as funny, as if we were in on the joke even though there was no actual joke we could point to. Finally, I understood an E. E. Cummings quote I had puzzled over in college: "Like the burlesque comedian, I am abnormally fond of that precision which creates movement." Precision was moving the plot forward, was filling every moment with content, was keeping the audience engaged.
VIDEO: Steve Martin's groundbreaking performance on "The Tonight Show"
Wednesday 30 January 2008
Foam Animals: Tap that Shit
It is my most sincere wish that someday Foam Animals will ask Astronaut Love Triangle to do a cameo in one of their videos, or maybe even open for them. Sure it's a dream, but aim for the stars, I say.
Here is their latest hit: Tap that Shit.
Urban Dictionary:
1. tap that shit
To "get up in that", as the homies like to say; also to "tap that ass"
I tapped that shit, yo!
Sunday 27 January 2008
Saturday 26 January 2008
More on Hooping
Manny Blue gained some extra fame points this week. Her posting on taking the hula hoop on the bus was picked up by Hooping.org, the hub around which the worldwide hooping community revolves. They quote her post and then point out:
While taking your hoop with you might get you some unwanted attention, it's also the ultimate beacon for us to find one another.
Not that Manny got unwanted attention. "Unwanted attention" is an oxymoron where she is concerned.
Tuesday 22 January 2008
Saturday 19 January 2008
Manny Blue Rides on the Bus with Her Hula Hoop
Can you believe it... the hula hoop got me all kinds of attention! I know... your mouth is hanging open and you're thinking - wow - really?
After letting in his passengers... a #85 bus driver sees me in the bus shelter with my hula hoop and says: Hey, I remember when those came out... were you fund raising? HaHa... have a good night!
On the #96
I sit down beside a cute young man.
Cute Young Man: What's with the hula hoop? Were you performing at the bus stop? (laughs in a friendly way)
Manny Blue: No, I was practicing a routine for my performance art band... we're all about the art... and we're art because we say so... (I go on a bit more à la David Scrimshaw)
CYM: Do you have a web site?
Manny Blue: A blog... but look us up on Facebook under Astronaut Love Triangle.
CYM: Cool, I will! See ya... (he gets off the bus)
Young woman sits beside me - very, very pretty and friendly.
Pretty Young Woman: Hey, I've got two hula hoops at home and I've been practicing... but I can only go in one direction.
Manny Blue: What? Oh, I never thought of spinning the opposite way...
PYW: Oh, ya... you need to do both sides... you should also use two hula hoops... then you can spin one around your chest and one around your waist (I look at her bosom - ok she's not much bigger then I am... must be feasible)... and you can spin them on your wrists... (god she's bubbly - but oh her skin is such a nice color - just like warm caramel)
Well, she blah, blahs for a while... then she's gone too...
That was fun... I need little calling cards that I can hand out during such moments with our blog address...
