Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Ten For Tuesday EPisode 077: It's A Funny Story............



Well, this was a last minute thing. My planned episode fell away because sometimes technology in all it''s greatness isn't always dependable. Still, this episode has some great music so enjoy.

Bob Mould - Keep Believing
Radon - Lying To You
Iron Chic - Spooky Action At A Distance
Street Dogs - Cutdown On The 12th
NOFX - Professional Punk
Jaya The Cat - Put A Boombox On My Grave
Filibuster - Pale Writer
TSOL - Thoughts Of Yesterday
The Untouchables - Free Yourself
Adam Ant - Vive Le Rock

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com Twitter:@notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Old Episodes can be found by going to www.archive.org and searching for Ten For Tuesday

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Upcoming Stuff I May Go To (Wife And Job Permitting)

Yeah, so here's a list of things I've found out about recently that I'm considering going to so long as my wife gives me the time and I get off of work. If only I didn't have to work and money wasn't a problem. Ah well, you do what you can when you can. In a dream world going to all of these events would me my job but how could you monetize that? Hmmmmm. At least I'll be doing some of the things on this list, the idea is to get off my butt and expose myself (not like that, get your mind out of the gutter) to other people and other ideas thereby creating more opportunities for me to be creative. It's a vicious circle don't ya know?

March 1st - Tulsa Punk Rock Flea Market (definitely going)
March 6th-7th - Salad Days Documentary
March 11th - Ok, So Story Slam (definitely going)
March 17th - Tulsa SXSW Showcase
March 23rd - Single Mothers & Riot Waves
March 28th - Dirty Mugs & Riot Waves
March 29th - Lizard Police & The Riot Waves Holy Mountain in-store (definitely going)
April 1st - Bad Religion & Off!
April 18th - Record Store Day (definitely going to Holy Mountain)
April 19th - The English Beat (definitely going, it's free!)
May 2nd - Free Comic Book Day (definitely going)
May 8th - Rush (Oh I'm getting a ticket as soon as I get the cash)
May 23rd - Zex
May 30th - Tulsa Zine Fest (definitely going)
May 31st - OC45
Every Tuesday - Writers/Spoken Word/Poetry/Rap/Thing (got to find a day to go)

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

notmovingpictures Podcast Episode 031: Ok, So Story Slam And More



February has been a rather good month for me, at least from the perspective of finally getting off of my butt and doing something. I found out about Ok, So Story Slam six days before their next event and decided not only was it something that I wanted to but I was going to do it. The concept is fairly simple, you have five minutes to tell a story from a theme that is given out well in advance. You cannot read it, it has to be done without any assistance. I had a story that fit the Love/Lust theme and I went up and it went over well. Afterwards I was happy because it felt like I was doing something I think I can do well. Not that I'm bragging mind you it's just been a long time coming. I thought my mp3 player didn't record it but it did and I've tagged it on after the episode.

This is a short episode but after talking about telling my story I go into the subject of zines and how I'm planning on doing one, a record store I found called Holy Mountain and some upcoming events in Tulsa like The Tulsa Punk Rock Flea Market and The Tulsa Zine Fest but to hear everything you'll need to listen because I'm far too lazy to type all of it out. I got stuff to do man.

Opening music: Alloy - Live To See The Day

Email: notmovingpictures@gmail.com Twitter: @notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Older episodes can also be found @ www.archive.org, just search for notmovingpictures.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Friday, February 13, 2015

So I Did The OK So Story Slam And...........

Wednesday night I stepped out of my comfort zone and finally took a chance. I found out six days previous of a monthly event here in Tulsa called the OK So Story Slam held at Enso downtown. The idea is that you have five minutes to tell a true story from memory (no reading) on an announced theme. They let you know well in advance what the theme is (next month it's crazy, this month it was love/lust) so that you can prepare, the idea being that you will be surrounded by like minded people who enjoy telling and listening to what the storytellers have to say. Hopefully.

I guess you could say I've been moving in this direction for a long time. Right before I got out of the Army in 1995 I became very interested in spoken word poetry. Regular poetry with it's rules and rhyming schemes was something that never interested me but spoken word was very intriguing. Henry Rollins opened that door for me and I wanted to, no, I felt the need to do it but never could bring myself to take that leap. After all, the idea of standing in front of a room full of strangers and baring your soul can be quite a nerve wracking thought. Several times I had shown my poetry to people and they had liked it but had commented that they felt like it needed to be heard in my voice more than it needed to be read. Still, I did nothing.

For me the line between doing spoken word and telling a story can be very thin indeed. It's all in the same realm though there are differences to be sure. So why did it take me so long to do it? Some of my old confidence problems are at the root of it although having read Steven Pressfield's "The War Of Art" it has also introduced me to the concept of how we create resistance and make it a real viable thing. Not only is there a fear of failure but also one of success. I cannot recommend his books enough and feel like I need to read them again to get a different perspective now that I've actually done something.

The question you may be asking is how did it go? It was frightening and scary and terrifying right up until the time I heard my name announced and then I calmly walked up the stairs, stood in front of the microphone, looked into the crowd and told my story. Every doubt, every fear, every negative reason I ever conjured up against doing something like this disappeared as I told my story. Through the rest of the evening I had several people tell me that they really liked my story and one of the organizers even came to talk to me and tell me how much she liked it especially since it was the first time I'd ever done something like this.

Sure, I've given speeches and I've taught both children and adults before in various settings but this was by far a much more personal experience. This was me standing in front of a room full of strangers sharing a piece of myself. The difficult thing for me though would be going person to person or even table to table and speak with those strangers. I am not a very social person nor am I comfortable in social settings. That night I sat by myself at the back of the room only interacting when somebody else spoke to me first. Perhaps that will change as I do this more. Yes that does mean I will do it again. How could I not after getting such an incredible ego boost? It feels like it's something that I need to do, like it fits me and more of that kind of feeling could only be a good thing.

One last note, I didn't win but that was never my goal. To paraphrase a sports cliche it was about me getting out of the stands and getting into the game. Sure winning would have been nice but it wasn't necessary. The most important thing for me was to just do it and my reward was the reaction I saw and heard during my story and after I finished. It made it all worthwhile and made me happy. Unfortunately while I thought I had recorded it on my portable recorder I must not have hit the button correctly. I would have liked playing it on my podcast. I'll have to record myself telling it again and put it up although I really wish I had audio from that night because it's just not the same. This is all so new to me so maybe next time I'll get it right. Maybe next time.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Have I Been Missing Out On Peru?

There is an English language website called Living In Peru that I visit so that I can get information about what''s happening in my wife's home country of Peru. Of course it can't encompass everything that is happening there and get it translated to English but they get a lot. It's updated with news pretty much Monday through Friday and I normally visit the page on those days. Now, this isn't for my wife's benefit, it's for mine because I've been able to visit Peru twice and I love it there. Hell, I'd move there tomorrow if I could be debt free here and have the possibility of a job (or jobs) there.

Living In Peru just put up a new article about the top ten must see destinations in Peru that you can read here. As I glanced through it I realized that I have only been to two of their ten destinations. Does this mean I've missed out on something or that I have my work cut out for me the next time I visit? Truthfully this is just someones list and it's arbitrary. It really depends on what you as an individual are interested in because there are tons more places and things to see in Peru than what is on this list.

If you don't want to go read the whole article I'll just list the places with a few comments of my own added:

1. Cusco - To get to Machu Picchu you gotta go to Cusco first, haven't been there but intend to go
2. Islands of Lake Titicaca - Far south in Peru I've heard it's pretty amazing, would love to go
3. Machu Picchu - Most known sight to see in Peru, intend to go
4. The Sacred Valley - Haven't been there at some point would like to go
5. Colca Canyon - Haven't been there, see number 4
6. Iquitos and the Amazon River - Haven't been there but if you want to go for an Ayahuasca medicine trip this is one of the top places and I would like that
7. Puerto Maldonado and the Tambopata River - Haven't been there, don't know much about it
8. Arequipa - City of writers, we almost went there the last time we were in Peru
9. Lima - Spent much time there, tons of things to do and see, love it
10. Paracas Wildlife Reserve - On our trip to Ica we saw the island as well as Huacachina and other things, had a great time

The majority of my time in Peru has been spent in Lima visiting family and friends of my wife. Most  vacationers tend to only use Lima as an overnight rest place before going on to see the more famous places which is their mistake in my opinion. Come on, You don't think that there are things to see and do in a city of ten million people that could keep you occupied for a few days? Get real. It's true that there is a lot of crime and poverty but there's also a lot of culture and pretty cool people. I can't wait to go back.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Ten For Tuesday Episode 076: A Hybrid Missile Jumper Chemical Kind Of Thing



Unbelievable! Another episode after only one week! Since I had this one in the can right after recording Episode 75 AND it had been so long in getting that one out I thought why not? After this one I'll try and resume the every two weeks schedule. If I'm lucky. Most of the music this time around came from bandcamp (last time too) and I have to say I'm pretty happy with it. I've already got a ton of more new stuff to listen to and I found a really cool little record store here in town and I'm going to go back and (hopefully) trade in some records that I don't care too much about for other records that I am sure I'll like better. Check it out yourself, Holy Mountain on 11th St in Tulsa. Lot's of cool stuff happening en mi casa so stay tuned.

Jimmy Doyle &; The Engineers - I'll Come See You
Slow Faction - Me Generation
Accidente - Las Victorias Mas Bellas
Holiday - Missiles On The Roof
Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers
Defaite - Panique
Terrorista - Darren Vs. Bag
Antarctigo Vespucci - You Don't Scare Me
Nixon's The One - Seven Thousand Chemicals
No Limbs - Hybrid Moments

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Learning To Ride

Since it was such an unusually nice day today my wife thought it was time that we taught our soon to be eight year old son how to ride a bicycle sans training wheels. He had won a one hundred dollar gift card in a anti-smoking contest last year so at Christmas we bought him a brand new bike and helmet. Off we drove to the park closest to the house where I unloaded the bike and imparted upon him my considerable bike-related wisdom.

 
The problem was that he didn't listen to my instructions because he was very afraid of falling and when he doesn't listen I tend to get frustrated. I managed to calm down enough to let him know that even when I let go for a second or two that I was still going to hold on again and not let him fall. He was slightly better than when we began but is still far away from going solo. He's having difficulty understanding how to keep himself from leaning over.
 
The plan is that if the weather is nice again next weekend we'll go over to Riverside Park where I'll be able to rent a bicycle and let him see the old man in action and perhaps by observing he'll learn something. If I had the money I'd go out and buy a bike for me right now so that we could ride all the time. Of course I haven't ridden one in about twenty years so it's possible that when I write next week it'll be about my new bruises and abrasions. It is possible that it all could come back to me nicely but I'm not counting on it.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Thoughts Of Jenny Toomey, Tsunami And My Time In D.C.


Last week during the course of my work I came across a person with the last name of Toomey and immediately I thought of Jenny Toomey. She was the singer of a band called Tsunami (amongst others) and she also co-ran an indie record label in the Washington D.C. area during my time there called Simple Machines. I bought a lot of Tsunami 7" singles in addition to other releases by Simple Machines. Also in the area was a band called Velocity Girl who were friends with Toomey and the rest of Tsunami.

While musing over my time in D.C. and pulling out the aforementioned vinyl I realized that I had been an idiot and wasted a lot of time there. True, I was going through a rather horrid broken marriage and divorce and was (okay am) a creature of habit so it was very difficult for me to break out of my comfort zone once one had been established. For instance, even though I bought their music I never actually got to see Tsunami, Velocity Girl or hell, even Fugazi and D.C. was pretty much their damn town. And when I say got to see I really mean I never made it happen, a failing that has followed me thus far in life.

Let me back it up for a moment. In 1992 while on active duty in the Army I was stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center which is located in the far North of Washington D.C. Once there I slowly started to make some feeble attempts to find something different culturally and musically. The greater D.C. area is a great place for that. The first place I gravitated to was the 9:30 Club, a dark, dank hole in the wall club located on 9:30 F Street. I loved it there. The way it looked on the outside was the way I felt on the inside. While I could have gone there (or any other club for that matter) much more often I was able to see many very cool bands like Sugar, Cracker, Jesus Lizard, Rocket From The Crypt and Clutch to name a few.

Once firmly established with a music venue I found myself a record store that was only about two to three miles from post. It was called Vinyl Ink and it was legendary. Unfortunately I was too intimidated by the staff and my own lack of knowledge for indie music so I never tried to really connect with them and be guided to some vital music. Had I done so perhaps life would have been much simpler. Instead I would just go in, leaf through the bins and eventually decide on something to buy which still worked out rather well. Within a few miles from post was everything I thought I needed, a McDonalds, a Chinese restaurant, a Jamaican restaurant (something new for me), my record store and even a movie theater. The only thing I had to travel for was live music.

I had it all or at least I thought I did. Even after I moved off post into the surrounding suburbs in Maryland I still stayed true to my comfort zone only adding a video store and changing to a theater and a McDonalds less than a mile from my apartment. The truth is I missed out on a lot. I could have seen far more bands play in a lot of different places. What’s more I could have gone to the people who ran the indie music labels and at the very least become friendly with them. It’s more than likely they wouldn’t have minded some goofy soldier volunteering and helping them out from time to time. What an education that would have been and it would have come in handy for some things I’m thinking about doing now.

Those days were the baby steps I was taking towards becoming the person I wanted to be but it’s only now that I’m becoming mature and realizing that doing the things I always dreamed about can be accomplished. It’s beginning to look like this will be the year that I finally get out and do some spoken word. I’ve found a place in Tulsa that encourages writers creatively like that as well as another that hosts a monthly Story Slam night. There are a few different kinds of music venues that I just became aware of catering to punk/indie music that I’m going to check out even though I’ll probably be labeled as the creepy old guy but that’s all right. I’ve been called better and I’ve been called worse.

Lastly, I’m finally writing lyrics/spoken word the way I’ve wanted to since I got out of the Army back in 1995. Yeah it’s been that long ago, what can I say, I’m lazy like that. My best friend and his son are going to work with me to put some of my words to music and the goal will then be to record them and get them into the Internet-osphere in some form or another. Presuming I can get that done doing a live show wouldn’t be totally out of the question although it would be rather terrifying. You see, another motivating factor is I want my son to see me doing things, making my dreams come true, so that I can teach him to live a life doing what he dreams of instead of waiting around for something to happen like his old man did. After all, actions speak louder than words and I’ve grown tired of talking about it.

Now it’s time to get out and do it. We'll see what the future holds very soon because it's never too late to learn. It just would have made things a whole lot simpler if it hadn't taken me so long
Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Razorcake Around The Work Site or Anarchy In The OK

Lately I've taken to leaving printed copies of Razercake.org articles and interviews around the hospital I work at once I've read them. Usually it's in the mens rooms because hey, I've got to have something to read while I'm in there, right? While I know that housekeeping will throw them away once they find them at least this way there is a chance that somebody else could discover one of them and take it to read. Perhaps they could also be intrigued enough to look up Razorcake or the bands and find something new for their life. I mean how else is the word going to get out to someone who doesn't know what they're missing or looking for unless they find something like this to lead them there?

Really it's also my way of injecting a little life into a pretty boring, straightlaced environment. Did I mention that it's a Catholic hospital? I'm not sure how much the administration would appreciate what I'm doing since most of the articles have a few expletives in them and talk about some things that most religious types shy away from. To make a bit of a confession it's also my way of getting back a little at a system that likes to stifle creativity and make conformity the norm. I'm not fooling myself that I'm doing some great feat or that I'm some kind of anarchist here. It's not that. I just want there to be even a small chance that someone can be reached. It couldn't hurt.

Razercake has opened up a whole new world for me and my podcasts. Just trying to create possibilities and pay them back some and that's never a bad thing. Well, almost never.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Ten For Tuesday Episode 075: The Late, Late, Late, Late, Late........Late One



Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, this one should have been out a few weeks ago but stuff happens. At least I can say that the next episode is already done so there will be no reason whatsoever for it to be late......unless it is. Anyway, I've been getting lot's of music from Bandcamp and that's what comprises most of this episode as well as some from record label comps. And a group from Uruguay and another from Tiajuna, Mexico. See if you can guess which ones they are.

The Estranged - No Love
The Brokedowns - Running In The Front
The Fur Coats - Talking To Myself
DFMK - Nowhere Man
Hard Girls - Hot For The Halo
Molina Y Los Cosmicos - Y.T.C En El Fin Del Mundo
Jimmy Doyle & The Engineers - Dear Jimmy
By Surprise - Wear That Crown
P.S. Eliot - Augustus
Ten Volt Shock - Be Cruel

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Monday, February 2, 2015

notmovingpictures Episode 030



Time for another solo episode and this time, well I decided to just cover quite a few issues. There were no shortages of douchebags to draw my ire as of late and I decided to unload on all of them at once. First up is the tale of recently demoted Catholic Cardinal Raymond Burke who blames a feminized church for sexual abuses, hell he blames feminists for turning men gay and making them sexually abuse children. Then it's on to Duke University where a proposed once a week Muslim call to prayer was savaged by Franklin (son of Billy) Graham. Next up was the suit filed by the Oklahoma and Nebraska Attorney Generals against Colorado for having legalized marijuana. After that it's Sheldon Silver, the New York State Representative who has blocked MMA being allowed in that state and has been caught receiving bribes. I close it out coming back to Oklahoma and deal with Sally Kerns, a Republican State Representative who recently introduced three anti-homosexual bills. If you listen you will hear how all of the above are complete douchebags and need to be dealt with by someone far greater than I.

Closing song - Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros - Get Down Moses

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.